The difference between the sexes has been accentuated in advertisements for years. Companies know the way our society is structured and it gives them an easy split of demographic to pander and sell to. Sex sells, and it sells differently to men than to women. Businesses capitalize and, push their ideals further and further continuing to shape our views of both sexes as a whole. The video Killing us softly 4 clearly shows the drastic differences between how men and women are presented and marketed to in advertisements. The first most important aspect is how women and men are displayed in advertisements. Often women are shown as weak and childish; always in need of a man to come protect and save her. When a woman is shown as sexy she is splayed
…show more content…
They can’t have a single flaw without someone belittling them. An actor can be almost any size without being reprimanded, but an actress will be publicly shamed for gaining any weight, even as little as 5 pounds. Often after a woman has a baby she is seen as less appealing and worth less because of gained weight or other tolls a baby may have had on her body. She isn’t praised for being a mother she is criticized for it. Men are shown as people and are more easily forgiven for having lost muscle or gaining a small bit of weight. They are given more common decency such as having their face be the focus of covers, or the articles being about their health more than the gained weight. The media and advertisements push being thin so much that it causes young girls to starve themselves in the hope of being like the models; who are digitally altered to appear that thin. Weight loss products have been marketed to both genders though in my experience for every one aimed at men there are three for women. The imagery is always more extreme for women 's weight loss. While men might want to remove their pot-belly, women are told to “strive to become nothing,” to be anorexically thin and fit into size 0 or 00 designer clothing. Women are shamed when they eat, often having it portrayed as if they were cheating. Food becomes sexual, dominering the woman in place of the man. It’s a pleasure they can only have in secret, and only once in awhile. Male commercials show the opposite, that eating is something done publicly, and necessary for the day to day to stay strong and
They can’t have a single flaw without someone belittling them. An actor can be almost any size without being reprimanded, but an actress will be publicly shamed for gaining any weight, even as little as 5 pounds. Often after a woman has a baby she is seen as less appealing and worth less because of gained weight or other tolls a baby may have had on her body. She isn’t praised for being a mother she is criticized for it. Men are shown as people and are more easily forgiven for having lost muscle or gaining a small bit of weight. They are given more common decency such as having their face be the focus of covers, or the articles being about their health more than the gained weight. The media and advertisements push being thin so much that it causes young girls to starve themselves in the hope of being like the models; who are digitally altered to appear that thin. Weight loss products have been marketed to both genders though in my experience for every one aimed at men there are three for women. The imagery is always more extreme for women 's weight loss. While men might want to remove their pot-belly, women are told to “strive to become nothing,” to be anorexically thin and fit into size 0 or 00 designer clothing. Women are shamed when they eat, often having it portrayed as if they were cheating. Food becomes sexual, dominering the woman in place of the man. It’s a pleasure they can only have in secret, and only once in awhile. Male commercials show the opposite, that eating is something done publicly, and necessary for the day to day to stay strong and