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Sexism is very apparent through advertisements. Most advertisements in the past have been targeted towards men and they still are today. Some advertisements are highly offensive and they objectify women. A majority of the ads from the mid to late 20th century objectified women. The ads promoted sex and domestication, which definitely glorified men and emphasized the role of a woman in the household. There is definitely a sense of patriotism that sometimes presents itself as subliminal messages in advertisements. This Tom Ford cologne advertisement clearly illustrates sexism. For example, in Berger’s Ways of Seeing  he says, "to be able to buy is the same thing as being sexually desirable... Usually it is the implicit message, i.e. if you are able to buy this product you will be loveable. If you cannot buy it, you will be less loveable. (Berger 144)"

Hegemony is the influence or authority over others. If you have hegemony then you have power and they go hand in hand. In  Bell Hooks Representations of Whiteness in the Black Imagination, Hooks describes how black people were brain washed by white people.For centuries white people have had control over black people from the period of slavery, after slavery while segregation was heavily enforced in the south and even still today even though it may not be a direct force. Hooks states, "systems of domination, imperialism, colonialism, and racism actively coerce black folks to internalize negative perceptions of blackness, to be self hating.Yet blacks who imitate whites (adopting their values, speech, habits of being, etc.) continue to regard whiteness without suspicion, fear, and even hatred.(Hooks, 2)" This can be compared to the same way that advertisers try to convince people to be to be something that they are not.

In Barbara Kruger's Remote Control she explains how people are easily sucked into what they see on TV and it has a great impact on people's lives. When people watch television they enter a state of passiveness and just retain the information that they receive from television almost like a sponge.Kruger says, "Our bodies, the flesh and blood of it all, have given away to representations: figures that cavort on TV,movie and computer screens. Propped up and ultra relaxed, we teeter on the cusp of narcolepsy and believe everything or nothing (Kruger, 2)." Popular culture sets the standard for the rest of America. Even if a person is not actively trying to remember or engaging in what they see on TV there is a strong chance that they will begin to have certain ideas programmed into the their heads because of the amount of TV a person could potentially watch in a day or over the course of a lifetime.

consumer/consumption is starting to be a major problem for people in today's century because people are spending more money on products that they don't really need. Berger's argument is that people are very susceptible to being pulled in to advertisements because of how seductive they can be at times. Advertisements twist their products around and find a way to make consumers believe that if they purchase this product somehow their life will get better. Marketers play on insecurities and dreams and try to convince people that they need the product instead of just wanting it. Based on the ads of what makes a person a glamorous person according to Berger people began following the trends of what would make them a highly desired person solely from the ads and commercials that they saw in their daily lives. The ads represented something that seemed to be in reach for average people who desired to be more important or wanted to have a higher status.


The media present spectacles to their consumers because they believe that consumers will be impressed. In Lucy Lippard's Double Take, she discusses how images can be perceived in different ways. In the narrative there was a picture being taken of Native people, but the picture could have been perceived in two different ways. Image is everything, especially in today's society where bigger is better. Movies have more special effects, more explosions, and now there are more options for people to watch in TV. The media has shifted our mindsets into believing that we need to be satisfied visually in order to be happy. Media sells the most usually when it is visually stimulating.

The gaze started as a masculine concept that in movies, gave viewers the perception of a man's mind. In began way before films had color or even sound for that matter. This included shooting a woman's body to spark her seductiveness, or to show how a man dominating her in some way.  

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