Our class discussion this week was about gendered media. As
we looked at many different advertisements I was surprised at how many ads
there were out in today’s current media that are offensive to women. I was also
surprised that many advertisements came from very popular and well known businesses.
There is one particular aspect that I want to focus on that the author Wood
states in our text, “Women as victims and sex objects/Men as aggressors. A
final theme in media’s representations of relationships is that women continue
to be portrayed as sex objects for men’s pleasure (274).
I found a couple of images that are offensive to women. Both
of them are ads that are implying to the public that women are nothing more
than sex objects. The first image is from a fashion designer advertising the
clothes. The woman is selling herself to the man who is outside the window
display. This is saying that the guy thinks that she is pretty and wants to
have her. The woman notices him and holds up a sold sign as if saying that she
is his to take. The message that this ad saying that women are objects that can
be bought for men’s’ pleasure.
The other image that I found came from a Burger King
advertisement. This is also another image that says to the public that women
are nothing but sex objects. I don’t think I need to give any explanation on
the image itself because it pretty much speaks for itself.
I just don’t understand what goes through the minds of the
people who put this stuff in the media. Surly they would know that these ads
will be offensive to the public and especially to women. It’s repulsive, crude,
and downright degrading so why in the world do they think that it’s okay to put
garbage like that for people to see. I guess I can see some people saying that
it’s what people think about in society today, they are only trying to present
in a tasteful manner of how society sees things. There is nothing tasteful with
ads like these.
Wood, J.T. (2011). Gendered Lives: Communication, Gender, and Culture.
Boston: Wadsworth.
