Sexism in Advertising and General Media Essays - 898 Words

From TV commercials and product placement to billboards and posters, thousands of advertisements bombard the average American every day. To be effective, an ad must attract the consumer’s attention, maintain the public’s interest, create or stimulate desire, and create a call for action. These advertisements can be small enough to fit on a three-inch screen or large enough to cover the side of a building. But no matter what the size, in this world of ever-shrinking attention spans and patience levels, ads have to be efficient in portraying their ideas. In order to successfully depict certain ideas, advertisements rely on shortcuts. These shortcuts usually involve stereotypes. In the media, stereotypes are inevitable because the audience†¦show more content†¦This cultural script has been written into the culture long before a baby is born. It is transmitted to children through family, peers, teachers, and the media. Advertising mirrors society, and therefore ad s that use stereotypes not only reflect but also tend to reinforce the stereotypical representations that are already present in a culture. Sexist ads show that society is dominated by the same masculine values that have controlled the image of women in the media for years. Sexist advertisement reinforces gender stereotypes and roles, or uses sex appeal to sell products, which degrades the overall public perception of women. The idea that sexism is such a rampant problem comes from the stereotypes that are so deeply embedded into today’s society that they almost seem to be socially acceptable, although they are nowhere near politically correct. Images that objectify women seem to be almost a staple in media and advertising: attractive women are plastered all over ads. The images perpetuate an image of the modern woman, a gender stereotype that is reinforced time and time again by the media. These images are accepted as â€Å"okay† in advertising, to depict a particular product as sexy or attractive. And if the product is sexy, so shall be the consumer. In the 1970s, groups of women initially took issue wit h the objectification of women in advertisements and with the limited roles in which these ads showed women. If they weren’t pin-ups, they were delicateShow MoreRelated Killing Us Softly through Advertising Essay523 Words   |  3 Pagesâ€Å"Killing Us Softly† through Advertising One of the films that struck me the most was â€Å"Killing Us Softly†, the documentary on how advertising and the whole media in general can basically run this entire world. Sounds a bit drastic, but I really believe that this statement is true because of the many horrible incidents that happen throughout the world today. 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For example, in this paper the author will be using the world of mass media advertising as his subject. Certainly there will be some ads that fall outside of this argument. The author intends the following paper to focus more on the culture and general immoral intentions of mass media advertisingRead MoreWhat Does It Mean?901 Words   |  4 Pagespredict the effect of my own career. the career choices include however an associate’s degree can begin to situate me for my future, are teaching and research, careers in archiving and heritage, career in politics, careers in media, business and commerce, marketing, advertising and public relation and lastly careers in law. When receiving a history degree, many of graduates are interest in careers in teaching and research. 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In the article â€Å"Two Way a Woman Can Get Hurt: Advertising and Violence†, Jean Kilbourne argues that there is violence in our culture, particularly sexualized violence controlled by the media. With the help of Kilbourne’s article, it emphasizes clearly that women are seen as a joke while men are take n seriously and presume authority.   Ã‚  Ã‚   In the first article, â€Å"The Wonder