Male Dominance In Advertising

Advertisements are a means of selling and promoting a product for a better profit. Content within advertisements is often a topic of debate. In a lecture on October 17, 2016, to a COMM 1100 class, Professor Braithwaite stated that ideologies are an encouraged way of thinking and often demonstrated in advertisements. This Calvin Klein advertisement specifically demonstrates an ideology of male domination and female subordination to the audience. This is a common trope seen in advertisements. This Calvin Klein advertisement is also selling the idea of misogyny to the audience. Misogyny in the context of male superiority over female. The ideology that women are solely dependent on men. The advertisement persuades its viewers with physically …show more content…
J., & Covell, K, 1997, p.3). The presence of male dominance in advertisements allows female objectification and acceptance of rape myths (MacKay, N. J., & Covell, K, 1997, p.3). Advertisements have the power of self-reflection in the minds of their audience, and portraying the wrong message could have potentially disastrous effects (Diedrichs, P. C., & Lee, C, 2010, p.2). Moreover, advertisements have a significant effect on the viewer’s image of their own body. The models in the Calvin Klein advertisement are on two different ends of a muscular spectrum. The male is muscular and healthy, his abdominal muscles present. The female has a gaunt look about her face. Her cheek bones protrude, and the outline of her ribs is seen under her translucent skin. The female model’s image of near-starvation impacts and influences women’s perception of themselves (Wasylkiw, L., Emms, A. A., Meuse, R., & Poirier, K. F, 2009, p.1). “Among young women and men, exposure to mass media images depicting ultra-thin women and muscular men is associated with poor body image” (Diedrichs, P. C., & Lee, C, 2010, p.1). Portraying unrealistic and unattainable body types in advertisements problematic. The slim, frail figures and appearances shown are not representative of the general public (Diedrichs, P. C., & Lee, C, 2010, p.2). The fashion models depicted in media images are assumed to be the social embodiment of ideals and success (Diedrich’s, P. C., & Lee, C, 2010, p.2). This Calvin Klein advertisement subliminally enforces the ideology that both the models have superior bodies. The term “upward comparison” is defined as one’s comparison of themselves to another whom they view as “better” in physical aspects and achievements. An “upward comparison” occurs upon initial sight of an advertisement within the viewer. The “upward comparison” forces them to