Try Not to Ads Anything to My Body

“What in Gods name am I looking at?” “What the hell is the purpose of these ads?” “Why in the world do I feel somewhat humiliated and dehumanized?”

These are the questions I’ve been asking myself every time I see an ad. Wherever I go, I see an ad and I start analyzing it. Why are the models posed like this? Why are the male models fully clothed than the female models? What are they wearing? Why does he/she look so flawless and young? Why are the female models buttocks turned all the way to the camera? Why is it so focused on their ass? Their boobs? Why do they look so perfect? Why? The reason why is “..advertising gives us a constant stream of representation of perfect and of course unattainable female beauty.” (57, Cortese) Which is true, because ads has this effect on our subconscious to believe that whatever is published is considered the ideal body.

Why do ads do this to us? Why do they always make us feel some sort of low self-worth. To be honest, this is completely wrong for advertisements to do, and yet we fall for it every time. "Advertising effects the powerless and the marginal. Especially ethnic minorities and women are seduced into a commodifying system."(75 Cortese) We are so blinded by the fact that advertisements can easily manipulate us, and it has this power over us that makes us feel vulnerable. We give into this crazy industry that can dictate our emotions and motives. "They tell us who we are and who we should be."(121, Kilbourne) We shouldn't allow them to do this to us, but we do because we are fragile individuals that are easily persuaded.

Ads has had this effect on us since we were kids, to the point that kids have been under the influence."The oppressive and draconian images of the ideal or perfect women is harmed nearly continuously into little girls. Adolescents and women by the unrealistic representation in advertising." (56 Cortese) These images have appeared all over our today's culture that it is deemed 'okay', or 'normal' to publish images, like the one above, all over the media. In addition, certain companies, like for example American Apparel, begin to get their model's younger. The picture above this paragraph is one of images that is posted on American Apparel's website.

These advertisements not only effects our mind set of what is ideally perfect of a body but they have over sexualized women bodies. They have dehumanized us, women, and portraying us as sex objects. We have become to use to this that overtime ads have made it seem acceptable to dehumanize women. We accept this, which is unacceptable.
"One of the things we are angriest about, because the strategy has been so successful, is the way we have become alienate from our own bodies. We have learned to despise. "(11-12, Douglas) This what these ads have done to us,which is fixating our minds to hate our own body. To not accept our body for its true beauty, for its true potential. [The]“..attempts by girls and women to beautify themselves their bodies, hair, and faces go way back.”(76, Cortese) This is true because this dates back during the time of when the sitcom, Gidget, existed back in the 1960's.

"Women are angry at the media, because a full twenty years after the women's movement, diet soda companies, women's magazines, and Sports Illustrated "swimsuit issue" still bombard us with smiling air-brushed, anorexic, and compliant women whose message seems to be "Shut up, get a face-lift, and stop eating."(11,Douglas) More women today should be upset with the media on how they portray us. This is why certain ads, like American Apparel or Calvin Klein, need to stop picturing women as objects. Ads shouldn't be allowed to have women looking like they are opened to being taken advantage of, or looking to be raped. For example, check out the Calvin Klein video that I have linked below this paragraph. Ads should make women look independent individuals who should be taken seriously. Maybe clothe these models with a more of a classy, sophisticated look that can still make women look beautiful. Certain clothing stores shouldn't having to show women's entire top half of their body to the wide web to make it seem acceptable. This even goes for men as well, because even men begin to feel self conscious about themselves if they don't have that 6-pack body.

I feel like advertising can have a strong effect on everyone, but it needs to be used correctly. It needs to be attacked from a different approach that everyone feels accepted in their own skin without having to objectify or dehumanize ones body.

Work Cited:

Cortese, Anthony Joseph Paul. Provocateur: Images Of Women And Minorities In Advertising. Lanham : Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2008. Print.

Kilbourne, Jean. “Beauty… and the Beast of Advertising.” Reading Culture. Ed. Diana George and John Trimbur. 4th ed. New York: Longman, 2001. 121-125.

Susan J. Douglas - Where the girls are: Growing up female with the mass media. New York. Times Books. 1995