Women in Advertisements

Lauren Turcotte
13 February 2015
Blog Entry 3

Women in Advertisements

     In the 70s and 80s women were often advertised as a sex symbol and Ziesler goes into details about how they were stereotyped but I want to focus more on how women are still being treat the same way in ads, nothing had really changed. From self -image, body image and feminine odor, they all use the same tactics. The media never seems to be satisfied with women and always wants to change us. One way they attack our self image is by having a celebrity tell us to do something or buy something. For example, you could have Beyonce in a commercial telling women to be strong and not be afraid to show they're sexuality, but it's just telling us that we have to be sexy or have the 'Beyonce body to be strong. It attacks women's self- esteem in a way where women might be hurting themselves or altering their bodies on ways to achieve that strong and sexy body that the commercial portrayed. The advertisers may think they are sending a positive message but are not realizing who is actually watching the ads and what affect it could be having on them. It's really no different toady then in was in the 80s when Madonna was telling girls to be themselves but in doing that she looked and dressed a certain way.

      Body image is a very common way that women are stereotyped, In Victoria Secret commercials they promote undergarments and show unbelievably thin models modeling the products. In reality no one really looks like that, even the models in the commercials don;t look like that. It sends a bad message that only thin girls will look the part in their clothes and you feel weird walking into the store to buy something when you know you don't look like the women in the ads. There have been numerous times when I've walked into a store and said I wish I looked like that, but it's not realistic. It's vary rare that you see plus size models modeling clothes because advertisers know that it's not what they want their product to look like. 

     Lastly feminine odor is almost impossible to avoid. There are dozens of ads telling women to keep that area clean and fresh or you won't come off as 'attractive' or men won't like you. It sends a terrible message to women because cleaning that area to much could lead to infection but we do it anyways because if we don't then were considered dirty. Sometimes you're better off leaving things the way they are supposed to be without trying to alter them. So even though times have changed they way women are being treated still have a long way to go. Because of technology there are so many ways that advertisers can get a hold of us but we just have to remember to to fall under the pressure because no one is perfect.