Gender Differences in Advertisements Essay

It has been evident for the past decades that advertisers dummy up use pigeonhole images of men and women in their advertisements. This nookie say that the pursuit for equality is still not grasped by the society. The images we see in magazines, in televisions, in billboards introduce a truly old perception of sex activity, especially the inferiority and slavish nature of women, with their bodies utilise as mere sexual objects, if not, still used as household cargontakers. Women atomic number 18 as well as deemed to be beautiful if they lay hold of slim bodies, fair complexion and long shiny hair.Men, on the different move on, ar portrayed to be strong, dominant and successful in their c atomic number 18ers. For this essay, I will be showing two examples of images, which reveals the still existing gender inequality. I will be referring to some themes and issues to support my arguments. Also, for my basic summary of advertisements, I will be using Katherine Friths 199 8 approach shot in Un set uping the Ad Reading Culture in Advertising Lukas, 2002. It includes a get along meaning, the advertisers intended meaning, and the cultural or ideological meaning.For the semiotic level, which connotes the social themes in advertisements, I will be reserveing Erving Goffmans 1979 approach in Gender Advertisements. For the first example, I will use the Gucci mag advertisement as sh knowledge in Figure 1 in the appendix. tho by looking at the picture, you disregard already see that thither is gender inequality. Before dwelling into that, I will first apply a basic analysis of the ad. 1. The Sur search nub It can be seen that thither ar two subjects in the picture. It is very evident that peerless is female, firearm the other bingle can be assumed to be male.It is because of its manlike features, as seen in the upper body though the face was not explicitly shown. The female is down on the floor, touching the c dole outhe of the male. She is wea ring a sexy gold dress. The male is standing, wearing unaccompanied khaki pants. Both vesture are assumed to be low the brand, Gucci. The setting is in the desert and the overall appeal of the image is very earthy. There are no words or taglines in the ad, only if Gucci. 2. Advertisers Intended Meaning The advertiser might be showcasing the earthy tones and summer styles of Gucci, as seen in the very comfortable and impractical clothes the subjects are wearing.There is still a certain social class in the style, whether you put them in the dessert or just wherever. 3. ethnical or Ideological Meaning The picture obviously depicts the dominance of males over females. To be more(prenominal) detailed, we use Goffmans approach by winning into consideration the social themes being depicted here. The positioning of the subject explicitly exposes gender bias. The man is standing while adult femalehood is down on floor. It just shows that men are in control and have big businessma n over women. The woman is way below under his legs, at his feet to be exact. She is even touching his shoes.It reminds me of a servant, wiping the dirt of his master in the desert. The woman here really looked inferior and if we extend the picture upward, exposing the face of the man, it can be that he is looking down on her, seeing the condensate of his abdomen in the picture. Moreover, such(prenominal) display of abs connotes a very masculine and strong appeal. We know that men who have well developed abs are the ones who are the most physically fit. The woman on one hand is thin and sexy, with her body commences, especially the legs and the cleavage, generally exposed.Reexamining the Nature/Culture Paradigm, we are reminded of the vertical perspective, which organizes the relationships of male and female Tilleuil, 2002. The woman is labeled as the rule and the man is labeled as the dominant. According to the sociologist, Claude Herne, In the advertising image, in order to ma ke the woman feel inferior, signs multiply and underline the weakness, the inadequacy of self-confidence, fragility, hesitation, dissimulation, submission, childishness and infantilization, too. Tilleuil, 2002. This signs are very well depicted in this ad.The woman looks fragile, and she displays a look of submission in her eyes, like a slave. This leads us to another example of an advertisement, which now depicts heavy military force to women. The ad to be examined here is figure 2 of the appendix. It is an ad from Dolce and Gabbana. 1. The Surface Meaning In the ad, there are six subjects. There are volt males and one female. It looks like they are in a roof chair of some lag/hotel. Some men are wearing fitted Polos, while others are fractional naked. Their skins are very shiny. It looks like theres oil or sweat in them.One man is on top of the woman, while others are watching intently to the scene in the middle. The woman is imposition down on the floor, wearing a sexy bla ck dress and high heels. 2. Advertisers Intended Meaning The advertiser here is showcasing the sexy formal styles of Dolce and Gabbana, with their breezy polos, stylish dresses. It looks like the clothing is part of their summer collection. 3. Cultural or Ideological Meaning/Goffmans approach It is very evident in the picture that the scene is characterization a gang rape. This is extreme sexual violence veracious at your eyes.Such violence is even portrayed in classy way, with the clothing of Dolce and Gabbana at display. We look back to the inferiority and grovellingness of the woman here. The woman is again down on the floor, but this time, she is lying down, about(predicate) to be raped by the first guy on top of her. But we also see here that they are being watched by other men. One of them is already topless, while, one is semi-buttoned, with his chest exposed. There is also one who is only wearing a sleeveless undershirt, while the exit guy is still fully dressed up. Th ey all have this sultry look to the woman.The woman here is about to give herself to the man, with her hips going upward. Yet, you can see that the man is locking her arms in the floor, and it looks like she cannot get away with his grasp. The woman has been the subject of sexual pleasure. Violence here is part of the pleasure package. As we have been exposed in the media, we can recover about the whipping, the slapping of women, their being tied up to different places, exposing a lot of skin, with their bodies being molded to different erotic positions. In most cases women are victims of such violence, since men being tied up would not be a delightful sight for them.Overall, as seen in most advertisements, women are always the weaker player, being taken advantaged of men, who are more superior. Women are still being depicted as mere objects of sexual desire Sharabi, n. d. . Women are seen only as domestic providers, who do not have their own decision making powers. According to t he blog of Daughter of Liberty 2007, she say that the following are some important points to take note in advertisements 1. Canting It can be seen through the body language that women are submissive and they have low self-confidence. For our examples, it is explicitly shown with the woman on the floor, with no control. 2. comedy It can be seen that women are usually posed like an guileless child in the ads, which connotes ignorance (stupidity perhaps) and practically it tells us that women are easily dominated. 3. habituation Women are seen to be very dependent to men, which can be specially found in the first advertisement, where the woman is touching the shoes of the man. 4. dismemberment Dismemberment is described as focusing on a special body part. However, for our first example, it was the man who was dismembered. 5. Dominance/violence This is evidently seen in both of our examples, especially in the Dolce and Gabbana ad, which depicts a gang rape.I think ads these days h ave become more violent and more associated to sex than ever before, due to change of perception of our society. Sex and violence is not a taboo anymore, and we can just makely dissertate those issues in a coffee table. However, being a more open society must teach us to be less neat and degrading. Women and men were created equally. More ads should focus on empowering women, like what is happening in Dove. We must not let ourselves, especially our children to be exposed to such violence because images convey very powerful images and it can impact ones behavior.