Sexism in print adverts, does it still exist today?
It’s easy to conclude that advertisements from the past had a definite separation between men and women; there were adverts for men and then adverts for women, even if it was selling the same product. Men and women were very different back then and they certainly had their (stereotypical) roles to play; whether it was a woman in the house or man in the work-place, everyone had an idea of what they had to become and what they were going to do in the future. Adverts from then only outlined the divisions that had already formed, selling house-hold products to women and only women, because who else would need it? Certainly not a man. Therefore so called ‘sexism’ was ignored back then; everyone was sexist and believed that men were superior simply because that’s all they were ever taught. However, times change and everything now is much more “PC” whether it’s skin colour, weight or gender we have terms for everything to avoid secluding and/or offending others. From this it wouldn’t be ludicrous to think that adverts are too PC and therefore not sexist in the slightest, although investigations have proven that this is not always the case.Adverts aimed at women are usually presented in a more vulnerable light, especially when they concern appearance (i.e. make-up, hair dye, diet pills) they draw in the audience highlighting their “problems” and then giving them solutions through the product they’re selling. Usually this accompanies a picture of a ‘beautiful’ woman (i.e. the Marilyn Monroe make-up advert from 1950) who’s used the product successfully which in itself convinces the audience to buy the product. However, others, like household cleaning adverts (i.e. the fairy liquid advert 2011), could be outlined as extremely sexist. The advert presents women at the sink washing dishes with fairy liquid through-out the years. Although it would very much be expected for a woman to be at the sink earlier on in the advert (40s/50s etc.) it may not be for the latter half. Yet the fairy liquid advert presents women all the way through, selling the product to all women alike and not men at all. Considering that a washing up liquid could be and is used by both men and women it’s stupid to think that this advert presents itself as a woman only product. It gives a typical impression of women just like the older adverts would have: stay at home mums that cook and clean but don’t work.Men’s adverts however are different as they usually take a more technical approach, actually showing results and giving the audience facts so they understand what makes the product better than all of the others. Generally there isn’t a problem with this at all because the techniques used have a lot more to do with actually selling the product rather than being ‘sexist’ to either men or women. On the other hand however, it is slightly insulting to see the mass adverts that are being produced day by day just to sell ‘beauty’ products etc. like it’s essential for every woman alive. Although men are starting to take more pride in their appearance and using much more beauty products, like women most of the products being sold to men are usually necessities not something to make them look more ‘attractive’. Sometimes if products can be sold to both genders such as cars then the adverts are presented as gender-neutral which should eliminate ‘sexist’ hints as the product is for both genders and therefore has no need to add selling quirks to just attract one gender. Yet most of the time in these so called ‘gender-neutral’ advertisements men are at the forefront, whether it’s building the car, buying the car or driving the car the male character is always the lead leaving the women in the background, if they’re even there at all. A great example of this would be the Volkswagen advert (watch here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NvSgrxp8Yg) mostly the advert is taken up by a little boy trying to use ‘the force’ and is left bitterly disappointed by his lack of magical skills until his father does something with the car so his child believes he is actually the one who created the effect. The therefore sexist part resigns at the end of the advert when the father of the family comes home from work driving the car and his wife is in the kitchen and has presumably been there all day looking after their child. Although most people wouldn’t be offended by this advert, it is troubling to think about how some people do believe in the ideals of the past, when a man worked and a woman stayed at home, much like the older adverts that I have already mentioned.
To create something that isn’t sexist idealistically has to be equal for both men and women, although it would be nice to believe that one day everything could be equal and we’d all like and believe in the same things it isn’t necessarily going to happen. It’s hard to create anything equal when people in general, not just men and women, are different and have different interests; creating an advert for any product is going to be difficult, the company needs to decide who their audience is and from there sell it to them. So really if a company needs to sell their product to a woman through advertising, is it really sexist to use the best techniques they know just to sell the product? Even if it is things such as using personalisation in the text or using “before and after” images that create an idea of the ‘woman ideal’. Although it is wrong to suggest that products would only be for one gender, such as make-up for women… who knows? A man might just as well want to use foundation. Or an aftershave “just for men”; does that really limit us to only using products that are designed for our gender? However yet again advertisers can only try and sell their products to the majority to get the best sales possible therefore the minority wouldn’t register as ‘buyers’ at all.
It is fair to say that the world of advertising is far from equal when it comes to gender. Yet advertising techniques cannot be blamed when their objective is to sell products and not necessarily be PC. If anything it is mostly society’s ideals for people that create these ideas and illusions of what a man and a woman should be and therefore creating an image for both, whether it’s in the media or just generally.
To create something that isn’t sexist idealistically has to be equal for both men and women, although it would be nice to believe that one day everything could be equal and we’d all like and believe in the same things it isn’t necessarily going to happen. It’s hard to create anything equal when people in general, not just men and women, are different and have different interests; creating an advert for any product is going to be difficult, the company needs to decide who their audience is and from there sell it to them. So really if a company needs to sell their product to a woman through advertising, is it really sexist to use the best techniques they know just to sell the product? Even if it is things such as using personalisation in the text or using “before and after” images that create an idea of the ‘woman ideal’. Although it is wrong to suggest that products would only be for one gender, such as make-up for women… who knows? A man might just as well want to use foundation. Or an aftershave “just for men”; does that really limit us to only using products that are designed for our gender? However yet again advertisers can only try and sell their products to the majority to get the best sales possible therefore the minority wouldn’t register as ‘buyers’ at all.
It is fair to say that the world of advertising is far from equal when it comes to gender. Yet advertising techniques cannot be blamed when their objective is to sell products and not necessarily be PC. If anything it is mostly society’s ideals for people that create these ideas and illusions of what a man and a woman should be and therefore creating an image for both, whether it’s in the media or just generally.
