Blog Post 2

Olivia Lakes
Prof. Melissa Santos
EN199-003
6 February 2015

Advertisements are a huge part of mainstream media, especially in todays world. It is said that by age 18, a teenager will have seen over 350,000 commercials. Not only can the content of these commercials and advertisements be seen as “racy,” but the way that women are portrayed in said commercials has always been a problem.  In Andi Zeisler’s book Feminism and Pop Culture, she touches on the different ways women are not only exposed to advertisements, but also the ways they are depicted in them, and how that affects the image of women.

In chapter two, Zeisler talks about the way women are depicted in ads directed towards men versus women. She states the noticeable difference that when ads are directed towards men, even when they have nothing to do with women, the women in the ads are barely clothed and over sexualized. This can be seen in ads ranging from mens cologne to razor products, and they never fail to place a skinny, sexy, half clothed model next to the man, in order to enhance his “masculinity,” leaving the impression that if you buy said product, you will be more of a man and attract women like the ones in the ads. In contrast with this, ads directed at women tend to be either more about love and romance rather than sex, or aim to embarrass women and make them feel insecure. For example, ads directed at women will come with slogans like “be the one he marries...forever,” but will be selling products like listerine and soap for “feminine odors.” This is suggesting that without these products, you’ll never marry, which was supposed to be every woman’s goal in life.

I think these ads were incredibly problematic, not only because of the inaccurate portrayal of women, but also because of the legitimate lies that they are selling. It is disturbing to see women objectified to sell cars, clothes, soap, perfume and many other things. However what I found more disturbing was when things like soap for feminine odor were advertised as something necessary to find a man, when in reality, use of those products is unnecessary and in some cases unhealthy. The fact that women are told not only how to look, how to act, but also how to smell, and that natural smells are disgusting and embarrassing, is worrisome. The fact that women are put down daily by 30 second advertisements that the entire world can be exposed to, and therefore creates a platform for society to build off of, will forever be an issue.