Download Sex in Advertising: Comparison Ads Compare how males and

Constructing Gender In
The Media – EMS3O w/ Mr.
R
Beauty
 What is YOUR definition of beauty?
 Is our collective definition of beauty the
same?
 Is our collective definition of beauty purely
cultural?
 Is our collective definition of beauty purely
personal?
 Are they separate?
 Can you have a personal concept of beauty
that is not influence by external factors?
Show me beauty!
 Media products communicate the
dominant culture’s idea of beauty…
…and what is not!
Imagine this!
Sex In Advertising:
Comparison Ads
Comparison Ads
 Both the Vuitton and Milk campaigns use a
man and a woman to sell the same product,
but note how the images of women are more
sexualized than those of the men
• It is human nature to be curious about sex.
You know this and so do advertisers.
• Sex communicates at various levels:
biological, physical/emotional and spiritual
• From a biological standpoint, sex is a
reproductive mechanism
• Emotionally, sex is a profound expression of
feeling
• Spiritually, it cements an unearthly connection
between two individuals
• When sexuality is used in advertising, certain
values and attitudes towards sex are being
“sold” to consumers along with the products.
• The serious question that must be asked when
deconstructing any advertisement is, “what
underlying message is being sold by this ad?”
THE PROBLEM IS: THOSE
MESSAGES AREN’T
AWLAYS HEALTHY…
• In some advertisements, women are dehumanized and
have no meaning other than a sexual one.
• Linz, a leading media critic, argues that media
depicting women in degrading and subordinate
situations, even if not explicitly sexual or violent in
nature, will lead to increased violent behavior of men
against women in society.
• “Males exposed to ads where females are portrayed as
sex objects are more accepting of rape-supportive
attitudes and predictive of subjective levels of
exploitation”
-GenderAd.com
Sisley Clothing
What do these ads have to do
with clothes?
Would anyone want his or
her daughter represented
like the woman in that ad?
Is this how women
should be presented?
What are the
implications for a
democratic society
when we are telling our
citizens that it’s alright to
sexually touch and
assault women?
What is being
glamorized here?
Clothing, really?
• Images of highly
sexualized youth are
not just a marketing
tool.
• They also deliver
powerful messages
about sexual behaviour
to young people.
• This series of ads for
Buffalo jeans appeared
in the adolescentoriented magazine,
CosmoGirl.
GUCCI and sexual
violence
• Ads containing sexualized images
also deliver strong messages about
gender relations.
• This Gucci ad campaign uses young
females to promote its clothing, but
with overtones of violence and
domination.
• The positioning of the young
woman’s hands (one protecting her
genitals and the other possibly
lifting herself up from a prone
position)
• The expression on her face and the
pronounced genital “bulge” of the
headless and assertive male conjure
up images of rape.
SISLEY and sexual
violence
PERRY ELLIS
• Depict men in dominant
poses over seemingly
lifeless women.
• Ellis is capitalizing on
objectified images of
women, blended with
violent and fetishist
overtones.
• Dismemberment is also a
prominent feature of this
campaign.
Competition for
“eyeballs”
 Advertising often pushes the boundaries of good
taste because of competition for “eyeballs.”
 Any image that entices a reader to linger over an ad
– whether tasteful or not – causes that person to
remember the particular brand advertised. Even
controversy can be effective in getting a brand or
name into the public eye (as SISLEY has proved)
“SEX SELLS”

There can be no denying that “sex sells.”

Abercrombie & Fitch, one of the most successful and
trendy US clothing manufacturers, puts catalogues in
plastic bags (what other magazines come in plastic
bags?)

Abercrombie has even moved into more homo-erotic
advertising in order to try to gain sales from the
largely untapped gay male buyers
Effects of Sexualized
Images?

Child development experts have long raised concerns
about children's exposure to sexualized images. There
is speculation that, physiologically, early exposure to
these images (combined with other factors) may
trigger the onset of puberty.
More consequences…

Continual exposure to sexualized images may lead
young people to believe that more teens are sexually
active than is actually the case and that “fringe” or
exploitative sexual behaviour is normal.

As we know, increased exposure to unrealistic,
sexualized role models – for both boys and girls – can
also affect self-esteem, body image and expectations
regarding the behaviour of the opposite sex.
Blog Entry #1 for Nov
 Go to www.genderads.com
 Choose a category
 Select an image number from the long list
and post this image number and section in
your blog.
 Then write a response that deconstructs that
advertisement.
 Answer these questions:
November Blog Entry #1
 What is the product being sold?
 What advertisement technique is being used?
 What is the explicit message?
 What is the implied message?
 How is this ad dangerous or counter-intuitive to a
positive, healthy representation of women in
Western society?
 What does it say about a woman’s role in
relation to men?
Try to deconstruct these
ads on your own…
Sex in Advertising
ASSIGNMENT
 Does this word get your attention?
 Why?
 It is human nature to be curious about sex. You
know this and so do advertisers
 In the marketing world it is no secret that sex
sells. But what is sex?
 When we define sexuality, we can look at it
from a biological, emotional/physical or
spiritual point of view
 Who can think of a biological definition of
sexuality?
is a reflection of a biological (innate) need to reproduce
the species, shared by
all animals
 it is hormonally controlled
 Who can give me an emotional, or physical
definition of sexuality?
is a physical expression
of the emotional bond
between two individuals
 sex represents a bond between two individuals
 it is an expression of profound emotional feelings
 it is a physical manifestation of emotions of love,
trust, and caring
 Who can think of a spiritual definition of
sexuality?
is a spiritual connection
between two individuals
 sex is an expression of inner human spiritual life
 it is an ethereal, unearthly connection between
two individuals
 But sex is not always used positively. What are some
ways that sex can be used in a negative manner?
 Sometimes, sexuality can be used to dominate or
control another individual
can be utilized to exert
dominance or power
over another individual
 When sexuality is used in advertising, certain
values and attitudes towards sex are being
'sold' to consumers along with the products.
The overriding question that must be asked
when deconstructing any advertisement, is
"what underlying message is being sold by
this ad?"
 what messages do you receive from the
following (or similar) ads ???
Calvin Klein
 the message that innocence is sexy - the concept
of the "sexy virgin" - most often through the
depiction of young people in provocative poses.
Versace
 featuring Madonna (linking pain and violence
with sexiness and glamour)
Gasoline Jeanswear
and Escape Perfume
 (When men dominate, the result is both natural
and sexy, and women enjoy being dominated in
this way.)
Budweiser Beer
 (If women could choose, they would sell sex
whenever they could - that if you buy a certain
product, the woman comes with it.)
Wonderbra
 (Women are sexual objects to be looked at and
played with - naughty but legal.)
 Historically, the trend in advertising has been
to eroticize women more often than men.
However, in recent years we have begun to
see young men portrayed in a similar
manner, though you are still more likely to see
women sexualized in advertisements. This
becomes very apparent when you look at ads
that depict couples together, or in advertising
campaigns that use men and women to
advertise the same product
 (remember the Louis Vuitton and MILK ads)
 Why do you think women tend to be sexualized
more often than men?
 Why might young men now be sexualized in the
same manner?

Answer the following questions for the four advertisements
you have chosen
1. What is the product being sold by the ad?
2. Who is the target audience for this ad? (Include age range, culture,
gender, race, socio-economic level.)
3. What underlying message or value is being sold by the ad? Is it obvious
or subliminal?
4. Do you agree/disagree with this message?
5. Which aspect of human sexuality is being appealed to?
(Emotional/physical? Spiritual? Biological?)
6. In this a postive or negative portrayal of sexuality?
 In your 'couple' advertisement
1. What is the women doing?
2. What is the man doing?
3. Who is in the foreground?
4. Who is in the background?
5. How is juxtaposition used to convey meaning?
6. Is the woman or man placed beside objects that send out specific
messages?
7. Who is active?
8. Who is not?
9. Is one person more eroticized than another?
10. What is the message you receive about this relationship?
11. Who has the power in this relationship?
12. Is this a positive or negative depiction of relationships and
sexuality?