Women's Roles in Society
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Noelle Brando
29 November 2012
College Writing I Perception of Women in Advertising
Print advertising portrays females as sex objects. Different ads and commercials increase the sexual attention given to women in our society. Women are used through sex appeal to sell products that may attract males. An issue that results in this method of advertising could result in violent sexual acts that enable violence against women. The provocative clothing that women where in print ads encourage no respect from males because the women themselves are not respecting their bodies’ privacy. Women seek to be treated as more than sex objects, but males view these ads and see the way females are presenting themselves through the media. Sex sells. Our society has proven through movies and songs that sex is always on our minds. It could be considered an obsession. Advertising often uses sex to help sell their product because they know it will appeal to a large part of our society. Products that primarily attract males will be advertised with a female figure having sex appeal. Whether it is a girl in a bikini seductively leaning on a Ferrari or a blond bombshell hugging a man using a Macho razor, the sex appeal will attract to possible male buyers. Francine Rosselli who studies the perceptions of women through the media, argues that women are victims in advertising because they are being used a sex objects. She claims that one of every two advertisements feature females in women’s magazines as sex objects. This statistic proves that sex does sell, if it did not then half of advertisements would not base their possible sales on sex appeal. A study conducted by Tom Reichert proves that the less clothing female models wear in advertising, the higher the sales will be. He assessed the levels of clothing in advertisings effectiveness. For example, his research consisted of four conditions of ads featuring a fragrance. The first ad was by itself without a female model, the
Noelle Brando
29 November 2012
College Writing I Perception of Women in Advertising
Print advertising portrays females as sex objects. Different ads and commercials increase the sexual attention given to women in our society. Women are used through sex appeal to sell products that may attract males. An issue that results in this method of advertising could result in violent sexual acts that enable violence against women. The provocative clothing that women where in print ads encourage no respect from males because the women themselves are not respecting their bodies’ privacy. Women seek to be treated as more than sex objects, but males view these ads and see the way females are presenting themselves through the media. Sex sells. Our society has proven through movies and songs that sex is always on our minds. It could be considered an obsession. Advertising often uses sex to help sell their product because they know it will appeal to a large part of our society. Products that primarily attract males will be advertised with a female figure having sex appeal. Whether it is a girl in a bikini seductively leaning on a Ferrari or a blond bombshell hugging a man using a Macho razor, the sex appeal will attract to possible male buyers. Francine Rosselli who studies the perceptions of women through the media, argues that women are victims in advertising because they are being used a sex objects. She claims that one of every two advertisements feature females in women’s magazines as sex objects. This statistic proves that sex does sell, if it did not then half of advertisements would not base their possible sales on sex appeal. A study conducted by Tom Reichert proves that the less clothing female models wear in advertising, the higher the sales will be. He assessed the levels of clothing in advertisings effectiveness. For example, his research consisted of four conditions of ads featuring a fragrance. The first ad was by itself without a female model, the
Cited: Wallis, Cara. "Performing Gender: A Content Analysis of Gender Display in Music Videos." Sex Roles 64.3-4 (2011): 160-72. ProQuest Central. Web. 28 Nov. 2012. Reichert, Tom. "Sex in Advertising Research: A Review of Content, Effects, and Functions of Sexual Information in Consumer Advertising." Annual Review of Sex Research 13 (2002): 241-73. ProQuest Central. Web. 28 Nov. 2012. Rosselli, Francine. “Women as Sex Objects and Victims in Print Advertisements.” Sex Roles (2008) 58:579–589. ProQuest Central. Web. 28 Nov. 2012. Cofer, Judith Ortiz. "The Myth of the Latin Woman: I Just Met a Girl Named Maria." 50 Essays. Ed. Samuel Cohen. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2011. 91-97. Print.