Post 3

Throughout our class discussions and readings we've talked about how problematic the mass media is when it comes to depicting sexuality, gender roles, and race. However, advertising in particular is perhaps the most sinister medium. The troubling thing about advertising is it is inescapable and very effective (even when we don't want to admit it). It is on every form of media (TV, computers, phones, newspapers, magazines, subway stations and cars, etc.) It prompts our decision making as consumers. Some of the most troubling aspects of advertising center around its depiction of women. As Berger points out, the woman is the object and Kilbourne expands, "The sex object is a mannequin, a shell. Conventional beauty is her only attribute" (122).  The woman as a sex object exists solely to sell an idea; usually the kind of idea that continues to promote the "imperialist white-supremacist capitalist patriarchy" (hooks 17). The woman is never shown to be as powerful as the man.

The sex objects.

In most advertising women are treated as props to either satisfy the heterosexual male gaze or to promote the unobtainable to other women. This is where the harmful, yet all too common restrictive body type ideal come in. By and large, thin is seen as the only acceptable body type --a thinness that goes beyond being healthy.  This pervading imagery only feeds "our well-documented food disorders" (Bordo 105).   

Unhealthy standards

In addition to the obsession with thinness, there is also one with race. A lot of ads show white women, whereas women of color are scarily absent (or in the times they are shown they are victims of cultural appropriation, or their representation is based solely on stereotypes). The comedy video I have included below addresses this phenomenon. While it isn't a real commercial audition, the actress Nicole Byer spoke about a real experience she had for McDonald's that mirrors this parody. 

Cultural appropriation

These toxic depictions of  sexuality, body image, and race present the viewer with an ideal image they are supposed to live up to or desire to attain; however narrow-minded and unrealistic that may be. The images we are confronted with are deeply ingrained in our psyche. They support the patriarchal institution that governs the majority of our popular culture. Even though many people object to these images, they are still far too prevalent. Probably because it takes a while for the higher ups (usually rich, old, white men) to catch on. These images sell products, which is the ultimate goal. Advertisers generally don't think about the effects of negative depictions of women, otherwise we wouldn't be seeing the images we are today. Pop culture is hugely impacted by the beauty standards found in advertising. Pop culture also feeds the advertising beast via celebrity endorsements, tropes, fashion, etc. 

However, as the group who presented advertising argued, not every ad is negative. Some companies have realized the error of their ways and resolved to promote healthier images. While we could debate whether or not these efforts are sincere, the fact remains even if they are only motivated by profit, at least we aren't seeing the same tired unhealthy images over and over. Yes, there is still progress to be made but as we've mentioned it is not going to happen overnight. 

Lane Bryant's Plus is Equal campaign

Trans woman model

These ads show a more realistic portrayal of sexuality, gender roles, and race. It seems to me that this course of action should continue. People enjoy when they can relate to something depicted in the mass media (whether it be a tv show character, ad campaign, etc.), and feel left out when they aren't (as bell hooks mentions in her piece on the oppositional gaze). I would much rather live in a consumer culture that promotes real standards instead of forcing the impossible in order to sell products. In order to continue this new wave of advertising, companies should seek to hire underrepresented voices. It is just as problematic to have the white heterosexual perspective on "diversity" (which I am sure happens, in fact some of these ads might be a result of this). If we want genuine representations of real life, then we have to expand the sources. In doing so, more positive images would likely surface.   

I don't think the advertising industry will ever die, so it seems more beneficial to revamp rather than destroy. It would be nice to live in a world where we weren't constantly being bombarded to purchase goods and services, but as technology continues to grow, ads thrive. I think a lot of the images we see currently are promoted by fear. We want to be perceived as "normal", an idea that doesn't really exist; no one wants to be an outlier. Companies don't want to make ads that might disrupt this phony ideal. If we could continue to dismantle this fear culture, things would only get better.

Works Cited: Berger "Ways of Seeing"; hooks "The Oppositional Gaze";Kilbourne "Beauty and the Beast of Advertising"; hooks "Understanding Patriarchy"; Bordo "Hunger as Ideology"