Has Media Gotten Any Better for Women?
Thomas Paine is famously quoted as proclaiming that he will “offer nothing more than simple facts” in his famous work, Common Sense (Paine). I too have nothing other than facts and reason to give you about the sexist media and marketing humanity exposes itself to every day. Today’s media seemingly inundates itself with messages of feminism, from movie stars promoting t-shirts proclaiming their feminism to quotes about social equality on Pinterest boards. Sexism of the past is over, and now the world is more equal. Right? It is all fine to think that the world has surpassed the sexism of old and begun a new age of equality, but that is not the truth. The truth is sexism in media and marketing has not gone away so much as hidden itself from most eyes. …show more content…
While today’s ads will definitively never be as flagrantly sexist as some of the ads then, such as an ad for a food processor that proudly proclaims that the kitchenware “does everything but cook – that’s what wives are for” (Kenwood). No, today’s ads veil their sexism behind the excuse of so-called artistic choices. These “artistic choices” often lead to unnecessary sexualization of women and occasionally inanimate objects. It seems a better alternative to straightforward sexism, but in truth, this morphed form of sexism is nothing more than that – a morphed form of sexism. It is a simple fact – seduction is exceedingly unnecessary to sell products, whether it is food or
Thomas Paine is famously quoted as proclaiming that he will “offer nothing more than simple facts” in his famous work, Common Sense (Paine). I too have nothing other than facts and reason to give you about the sexist media and marketing humanity exposes itself to every day. Today’s media seemingly inundates itself with messages of feminism, from movie stars promoting t-shirts proclaiming their feminism to quotes about social equality on Pinterest boards. Sexism of the past is over, and now the world is more equal. Right? It is all fine to think that the world has surpassed the sexism of old and begun a new age of equality, but that is not the truth. The truth is sexism in media and marketing has not gone away so much as hidden itself from most eyes. …show more content…
While today’s ads will definitively never be as flagrantly sexist as some of the ads then, such as an ad for a food processor that proudly proclaims that the kitchenware “does everything but cook – that’s what wives are for” (Kenwood). No, today’s ads veil their sexism behind the excuse of so-called artistic choices. These “artistic choices” often lead to unnecessary sexualization of women and occasionally inanimate objects. It seems a better alternative to straightforward sexism, but in truth, this morphed form of sexism is nothing more than that – a morphed form of sexism. It is a simple fact – seduction is exceedingly unnecessary to sell products, whether it is food or