Positive Advertisement example essay topic

... re worrying then that women are represented so badly in advertisements. Some might say that images of women on television and in other media have improved in recent years. To a limited extent this is true, because in some serials, women do play strong and intelligent roles. In most shows, however, men are still the major characters and women are cast as glamorous objects, scheming villains, or servants; and, for every contemporary show that includes more positive images of women, there are numerous others in which women are shown as either sidekicks of men, sexual objects, or helpless imbeciles (Anderson 2003)". Advertising is our environment" (Kilbourne 1999). Kilbourne hit it on the nose; advertising is part of our environment.

It's all over the place, buses, signs, books, magazine, you name it's being advertised. We cannot escape it. Kilbourne (1999) also states, "The average American is exposed to at least three thousand ads every day and will spend three years of his or her life watching television commercials". When analyzing and observing the magazine advertisements it seems like most of the ads only focused on sex. Is that the only thing these advertisers want us to focus on?

You see the Calvin Klein Perfume ad with a woman and men in a sexual position and half dressed, even foods are being promoted in a sexual way. Is this the type of imagine you want to give young adults or teens? These types of advertisements lead to mishaps to our society". Sex-role socialization has many sources, the most important if which are parents, teachers, siblings, and peers. In addition to these primary sources, the contemporary child has available a multitude of compelling models via the entertainment media, particularly television" (Tuch man, Daniels, and Benet 1978).

Therefore, television could often be described as sexist, if it is true that it reinforces prejudice sex-role stereotypes. These would include the idea that women are supposed to look very pretty, be domestic, have children and then look after them while the man goes out to work, and these kinds of things. Another distinction that can be made is between sex-roles, quite literally the roles played, and sex-traits, which are personality attributes typically displayed by men or women (supposedly). This is a little like the difference between sex, which is biological, and gender, which can describe the traits a sex is supposed to have. Sex-trait stereotypes include the idea that women are more emotional than men, easily flustered, fearful and anxious and other such notions. These are the stereotypical point of views that advertisers implant into their commercials, billboards, ads, etc.

Another major influence of the media is eating disorders, alcoholism, smoking, etc. Anorexia in particular is a disease with a complicated etiology and media images probably don't play a major role. However, these images certainly contribute to the body-hatred so many young women feel and to some the resulting eating problems, which range from bulimia to compulsive overeating to simply being obsessed with controlling one's appetite. Advertising does promote abusive and abnormal attitudes about eating, drinking, and thinness.

It thus provides fertile soil for these obsessions to take root in and creates a climate of denial in which these diseases flourish (Kilbourne 1999). While conducting my research I watched over five weight commercials within one hour. This is the type of advertising that leads to one having disorders or feeling down on themselves. The commercials were LA Weight Loss Center and how you could change your whole life and be skinny and happy, the Gastric Bypass Surgery Commercial, with Connie Wilson, on how you could have surgery and loss all this weight in an instant, and Zantrex 3 to promote instant weight loss within a certain time period, plus energy. These types of advertisements are mind boggling. They keep running them within this hour to implant these images into an individuals mind thought.

Individuals then become obsessed with one's weight and then it's made to seem the norm. Another magazine advertisement I analyzed was a clothing line for Abercrombie and Fitch. The girls in the advertisements were skin and bone (literally); I was able to see bones from places I didn't know they were able to appear. Of course this advertisement also promoted sex, plus the clothing. However, my point is that most of all the models in the magazines with Caucasian females who approximately weighed about 100-105 lbs. You always hear the phrase, "Do I look fat?" This is the trend now, everyone is worried about their figure and how things fit.

Conversely, I believe a person should only focus on their well being, their health. In conclusion, advertising is an essential part of our society, as is the role of the media. After conducting my research I believe that media definitely affects the society's thoughts and actions within themselves. Television certainly supports the mainstream ideology of our contemporary culture. The media seems to attempt to break the gender roles barriers, however it hasn't accomplished yet. Unfortunately, out of the hundreds of commercials that I've watched within the three hours of critical observing I probably ran across one positive advertisement.

This shows that the media needs more progress to change the effects of gender roles. Our minds are being molded and changed into effects that can ruin our lives. We need to bring positive things into the media. For example, the commercial for "Truth" (the non-smokers commercial), it brings facts and statistics showing how individuals die from lung cancer and second hand smoke. That's a positive outlook for the future. The media needs to implement positive images of males and females in their advertisements and commercials all over the world.

Television allows people to see more things and so choose what they want to be - but unfortunately that choice for girls and boys are often one full of impossible contradictions in what they are shown, meaning that television perhaps confuses further an issue which it could help to resolve with more equal and less stereotypical portrayals of women and men. The advertisers are making plenty of money promoting this rubbish; nonetheless I believe there may be slight changes in the future. On the other hand, the major adjustment is going to take time to draw closer.

Bibliography

Anderson, Margaret L. 2000.
Thinking about Women: Sociological Perspectives on Sex and Gender. Pearson Education, Inc. Butler, Matilda. 1980.
Women and the Mass Media. New York, NY: Human Sciences Press. Melville, Dennis A. ; Cornish, Ian M. "Conservatism and Gender in the Perception of Sex-Roles in Television Advertisements". Perceptual and Motor Skills. 1993, Vol.