This week, we discussed Kilbourne's essay " Two Ways a Woman Can Get Hurt", which in part analyzes the objectification and sexuality of women in advertising. For my blog post, I found three advertisements that are aimed at women, and objectify men. The first is an ad for Helmi Liquor:
In this ad, three women can be seen to be playing a game of chess using men as the pieces. The women are in control, and the men are small and anonymous. The message this ad sends to women is that drinking Helmi liquors will make you make you confident and in control. The next ad is for Dolce and Gabana Gold Martini's.
In this ad, the men are props. They are giving the woman complete, undivided attention. The woman, however, is not making eye contact with any of the men. The message is that drinking this martini will make you absolutely irresistible to men. It is the same tactic beer commercials use to target men, only this time applied to women. The third advertisement is for Zu Shoes.
Like the other two advertisements, the men are in multitude, for the most part faceless, and at the complete mercy of the women who are the focus of the ad. This woman leaves a wake of men behind her, and never looks back to notice. The message is similar to the other two ads, the product will make the woman powerful and irresistible.
While these advertisements use men as props, objects, and game pieces, the message still implies that the end-goal of any woman is to attract a man. I find it interesting that the advertisers think the most effective way to appeal to women is to appeal to their ability to attract men. In the interest of fairness, however, the same tactics are used when advertising to men. There is a reason advertisers say, "sex sells".
No comments:
Post a Comment