Sexism in the 21st century
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Nowadays we live in the world with almost everything easily accessible In such a developed world, it’s preconceived that while people fight for the equality, the respect of religion, color of skin, sexuality, women have already received enough rights and equality. Is it possible for the sexism to arise during such a pro-feminist time?
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Even though it doesn’t sound realistic at all, we should be aware of the relation of gender and advertising as well as an understanding of the social, cultural, political, personal, psychological and other effects of gender and advertising.
A typical for previous centuries division between the duties of women and men has significantly diminished. Of course, there are some families, in which the tradition is kept but it’s rarely seen a phenomenon. The argument between the obstinate community of feminists and the tradition-keepers (let’s be honest – this side consists mostly of men) has lasted for decades and doesn’t seem to stop.
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Women are shown as objects, usually sexually marked ones, with the role of mothers and housewives assigned. It may sound ridiculous, but we should think about the messages sent to the next generations, which can be damaging for the female society. Look more closely at the ads that reveal the culture tropes, which we’re not fully aware of. Not only youngsters are exposed to the impact of such a hidden meaning, but also ironically – women. They are told that they can still use their bodies to get what they want, that the greatest indicator of their success is the level of attractiveness among the opposite sex. They are obligated to have a lovely family to care about and a perfectly clean house – it determines their value. The analysis of such advertisements is quite complicated because of its ambiguity. Of course, it’s commonly known that some gender roles have broken down but at the same time the options of a career and life choices for some women haven’t expanded even a little and the humiliating way of treating the female sex is still an unfortunate reality in all cultures.
We’re able to distinguish a great contrast between the portrayal of women and men in advertisements. When they are shown together, the female sex is usually shown as a weaker and fragile, males are the one, who are depicted as intelligent, strong and a cultural side. Surprisingly, the gender and stereotypical concept appears also in male ads. They are meant to act tough, without showing emotions. A number of initial ads can be shown as the instance of a stereotypical social perception of masculinity.
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If these ads are meant to be only funny, they only strengthen the division among the society and lead to the reversion of the old, not-accurate- to- the- times , way of treating other sexes. It would be such a needless throwback to squander the years of the fights of feminists and the opportunity of the equality among the society.
Sources:
www.wikipedia.org
Compare these advertisements of males with those of females. What similarities and/or differences do you see?
Do you consider ads seen above as offensive or just funny?
When is objectification wrong?
How far can the advertiser go when it comes to unfair role assignation to sexes?
Tomasz Gelo, I haven't met you, but I already like you :) I'm curious about other people's comments on the topic.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I'm both relieved that I live in times when I can work and fulfill my dreams as a normal person, not my husband's property - and, at the same time, really concerned that misogyny still exists in such a broad extend.
Some people undervalue the role of media (such as advertisements mentioned in the article) in society. They see ads like this as something funny or "not a big deal". However, media really play a big role in our lives and influence masses - including children. If we use sexist content in ads, TV, radio, etc. - many people think it's normal and that everyone does that!
I can't even list all the negative effect it has... Beginning with women's insecurity about their body image, negative comments on every woman that doesn't fulfill a man's vision, or treating them as either an annoying housewife or a sexual object.
And, as to the questions asked at the ending:
When is objectification wrong?
ALWAYS. :)
I think that most of all we should be fighting for equality. I don't believe that women are obligated to have family and a perfect clean house and I never felt that way. I think we see less and less of sexist advertising because women are aware and don't like it. One thing that I don't like is that all the toys at the store for girls are vacuum cleaners, kitchens and cleaning supplies and boy get all the cool toys (As a child I played a lot with lego and cars :D). And let me say that in my house my father cooks a lot and he also took care of me and my sister when we were babies a lot.
ReplyDeleteHowever there are cases when feminists get outraged over some really stupid stuff. For example video games or a few weeks ago they were mad because of a t-shirt that a scientist wore for an interview. (By the way the t-shirt was made by a woman, and the guy wanted to help her out). Check this story out:
http://nypost.com/2014/11/17/the-outrage-machine-insande-ado-about-sexist-shirt/
http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2014/11/15/shirt-comet-girls-feminism-column/19083607/
I believe that people should really have equal rights and not only the ones that they feel that are beneficial for them at the moment. Women get lesser jail sentences than man for committing the same crimes or get custody of the children in most cases just because they're "the mothers" even if a father objectively would be a better guardian. I think for now we should focus on trying to make people of different genders/religions/nationalities/sexuality to have the same chances in life and helping other less developed courtiers where women are still treated like worse kind of people.
In my opinion sexism is very often present in advertisement campaigns. There is clearly visible difference between advertisements of males and those of females. The most conspicuous is that ads for instance of insurance or banking companies (when client should trust and see professional approach) in great majority shows male person. However woman is always shown as sexual object, in dress with deep neckline or in lingerie.
ReplyDeleteI consider ads seen above as offensive, there is nothing funny in them and it seems that creator's intention wasn't to make customer laugh. Showing naked women that covers her intimate body space with advertised product is definitely going away to far and unfair.
To sum up advertisement campaigns should not contain naked bodies, woman shown as sexual object or mock anyone. Frequently emphasized stereotypes like those, that woman can not drive car or that she should spend her life in kitchen are also unacceptable.
This topic is pretty similar to previous one...
ReplyDeleteI think that It doesn't matter how product is advertise. The most succesfull way to achive this is to make ads controvelsial. It's well known that the most effective way to sell something must have something sexual. Even products for children have tit. Good example would be Mattel comercials.
It is hard to say where is the line of objectification. As I said before it does not matter how you present the product in the adevert but how you sell it.
@Katarzyna, I can't agree with you; it may not matter to the seller, who only cares about money; but I believe money isn't a good excuse for any kind of intolerance, especially if it has such a wide effect on society.
ReplyDelete@Paulina, I agree with you on the subject of feminism; however, in every group of people there are some radicals, who make a bad reputation for the whole group. For example, most environmentalists are just normal people - but there is a small group of them who tie themselves to the trees to riot; and when people hear the word "ecologist", many think of the latter, not the former. The same goes with feminism - most of feminists are just normal people (and, by the way, MOST of the people in our society actually are feminists by the definition), but some of people tend to visualise all feminists as rioting women, burning their bras or turning up naked in front of parliament, which, obviously, isn't true.
Mostly I agree with Paulina's comment. I also have a feeling that there is less and less sexist situations in our daily life. Of course there is still problem with making an object from a women but sometimes men are also discriminated - as Paulina said - fathers much less get the custody of the children.
ReplyDeleteAs well I despite those feminist movemants that are overemphesize - they want to have everything man have like going to the army, but when some guy wouldn't open the door in front of them, they would be also outraged.
Of course I don't want to be treated like stupid cow, made for kitchen work, but I think men are also changing and they want to take bigger part in family/home life and not to be perceived like non feeling, only working with mistress/lover on the side husband.
That's why I think that we should find some moderation in all of this. And what is more important? Respect our partner in life, even if he or she works at home taking care of children and home - it's also a hard work.
use of sexism reflects to some extent human needs. It has an interesting effect on the mind of young people, especially children, because it shapes their perception of reality.
ReplyDeleteAs far as these ads are concerned, the only one I found improper was the tire ad. The rest is harmless in my opinion and some are even funny. My favorite is the one about the wife cleaning – just notice the look on her face – in what way does she show the feeling of humiliation ? :P
ReplyDeleteI think that the feminists crying about the commercials might be slightly exaggerating – man are treated in equally sexist way – they HAVE to make a lot of money, be strong and super-handsome.
I think it is just the way it works in the real life. It is sad but it is true…
But If we take look at he music videos – that's a whole different story. They are similar to 70s exploitation movies. Looking at how music clips have changed in the last decade, we might be at the point where we will see the first obscene soft-porn music videos any day …
What came to me as a surprise is the fact, that feminists are nowadays showing hysteria about a sexist ad, at the same time praising movies like "Sponsoring" that are glorifying selling woman's body and dignity for money or abortion is heavily promoted, while the pioneers of feminist movement saw it as one of men's "tools of repression". I can't see any logic in those attitudes.
Many feminists would say about half-naked women in ads that this is sexist but how about asking those models? They know they are beautiful and they do not want to hide it. Of course they are paid but not forced to show their sexy body.
ReplyDeleteIn the article there is a short video presenting that everything men think is sex and how they treat women. As a counter-argument I present the following videos:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDZX4ooRsWs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxtIRArhVD4
Are you sure only men present women as sex objects? Is'n it what some women want?
I'm so bored of these ubiquitous ads, sometimes I've the impression that breasts are everywhere. An example from the last few days: a poster of 'Pani z przedszkola' movie... embarrasing thing. These ads aren't funny, not even scandalous, because sexuality is everywhere.
ReplyDeleteAs Patrycja said before, objectification is always wrong. It's wrong in every way and in every form. And if we change the roles, we have something like that: http://www.winkbingo.com/images/welcome-bonus-530x269.jpg That's creepy, just like these mentioned in article :)
Sexism is used in advertising very often because it attracts the client’s attention. It is clearly visible in the presented ads that woman is a weaker sex. Feminists who watch these ads might feel insulted that is why we should not compare the both sexes this way.
ReplyDeleteNowadays sexism is everywhere. If You open one of the most popular Polish web portal like onet or wp, You will see a lot of sexist pictures. Also advertisement campaigns and music video contain a lot of sexist images.
ReplyDeleteFew days ago We found out that the model will not be presented in a bikini on the Miss World election because Organizers say the more important is personality than apperance. I also agree with this opinion however, I think that's the kind of contests lead to objectification.
Of course, objectification is always wrong.
@Marcin Sexism is everywhere especially in the advertisement because it attracts attention of large amount of people. You have to remember, talk about strange and shocking advertising campaign that is the purpose of placing that kind of photos or text in the commercials
ReplyDeleteI agree with most people writing before me. As noted by Marcin sexism is everywhere. This notice all the people who read the newspaper. Such advertising is simple. Whether someone bothered whether they like it - note commercial.
ReplyDeletePersonally i notice this kind of commercial but them i don`t buy this products. The effect is the opposite. But maybe there are people who do not mind sexism.
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ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteCompare these advertisements of males with those of females. What similarities and/or differences do you see?
ReplyDeleteNo differences. One add is focused on males, the other on females. What's the point here?
Do you consider ads seen above as offensive or just funny?
Don't care. Somewhat funny, but just stupid.
When is objectification wrong?
Allways.
How far can the advertiser go when it comes to unfair role assignation to sexes?
Unfair? Like what? You'd prefer to see breasts of males in advertisements? They are not pretty.
I don't know You and I don't like You already. reading the comments I think everyone is focusing on the wrong things again - just like with the races and black people. You cannot call a black dude a "black dude" cause it's offensive and racial somehow. Same thing with women now...
Don't pretend to be offended for no apparent reason, just because You can. Pushing it to far can cause what we have done with races nowadays.