Manipulation by Advertisements

Advertisements are constantly around us, yet we've grown so accustomed to these images that are continuously thrown in our faces that the media has to create more images that will catch our attention once again. To instill and guarantee a shock from the audience, media companies must keep up and exceed our expectations. Therefore, media content becomes more and more sexualized as we we become more used to seeing the same images around us. Not only are advertisements sexist against women, but they also potray racism and power hierarchies.

Many women relate to the Dove campaign because their message is based on real beauty and no matter what size, shape, or skin color,  you are beautiful the way they are. Yet, even Dove campaigns that are supposed to empower women to feel comfortable within their own skin have advertisements that can be seen as racist. 

From one perspective this image is showing how your skin can change from rough and scaly to nice and smooth by using the Dove lotions. But, from another perspective you see three women all different skin colors in a specific order that if you use the Dove lotions your skin will become more like a White woman's skin as opposed to an African American woman or a Spanish woman. Along with their body type, as the women get smoother skin they also become much skinner. Even if an advertisement is trying to send off a positive message, like most Dove advertisements try to do, they still have to incorporate their message in a way that is going to sell their product.

Advertisements use women's body to sell their products. The images that women see on the advertisements are meant to make them feel self conscious about their own bodies and their own image and force them to look like the model that they see in front of them. As Jean Kilbourne stated, "The culture, both reflected and reinforced by advertising urges girls to adopt a false self, to bury alive their real selves, to become "feminine," which means to be nice and kind and sweet, to compete with other girls for the attention of boys, and to value romantic relationships with boys above all else" (The More You Subtract, The More Your Add). Women learn to compare themselves to the “ideal” women on the advertisement, and to compete with other women for male attention. Advertisements use women as a way to make other women insecure. Therefore, they will find women whom are considered ‘ideal’ in today’s society. When carefully analyzed or not, people know that advertisements are ways to gain the attention of people. They are images that try to manipulate people into buying their product. However, many people are guilty into ‘falling into their trap

In most advertisements women are being overpowered by a man or numerous men. It doesn't matter how beautiful or sexy the model can be, the message that the man still has power over the woman still has to be represented in one way or another. Naomi Wolf said, "Women are mere "beauties" in men's culture so that culture can be kept male" (Culture). The brand Dolce & Gabbana seems to have the right kind of advertisements that shows men overpowering a woman, the men are in control of the woman. This ad tells men that if they have this brand there are able to treat women they way this ad is representing the men doing, its the right thing to do.

If you purchase a women's magazine don't expect any articles reading "Women CEO's" it would be more along the lines of "How To Get The Perfect Body For The Summer". Young girls and women are taught to look sexy and be appealing to men because that is all that we are given. We accept being sexualized because the media tells us that its ok for men to control us and have the power. This clip just ties in everything we've been discussing in class and how the media affects even the youngest girls, not giving them the chance to become beautiful in their own way before they bombard them with images of what they should look like. 

If more ads were made like this, I bet women would have all the power!