Sexual Advertising in Ads-Kate Tellez

Research:

There are plenty of social issues in the world, that in a very fortunate luck, many have been resolved in certain terminology, but many have not. Therefore, one of the problems that society faces is the sexualization of models in advertising. Commercial marketing “gives” what viewers are expecting, in order to please consumers in order to make their “satisfaction” hit a high mark. Consumers of brands such as, Victoria Secret, Abercrombie & Fitch, Calvin Klein etc. are the focus groups for consumerism. Commercial marketing has affected both males and female models to be sexualized in ads. According to the article, Magazine trends study finds increase in advertisements using sex by Tom Reichert, “advertisers use sex because it can be very effective…sex sells because it attracts attention…people are hard wired…so ads with sexual content get noticed.” This is a clear example that clearly define sexual imagery in ads is conducted in order to increase sells since it holds the viewers’ attention and wants. Not only that, but advertising is another acceptable social norm that tells the viewers tells us what sexy means, and anything that isn’t posed as such, is not.

   Another study, Researchers measure increasing sexualization of images in magazines by Saskia de Melker, “social psychologist Sarah Murnen has studied the hypersexualization of women in media for more than 25 years… “we’ve seen three trends associated with these images…it’s now common to see more parts of the body exposed…there is more emphasis on the size of women’s breasts. And east access to all these images has made it all more acceptable to us.” It seem as if now, there is a social platform constructed in order to make many feel attractive and sexy.

References: 

Melker, Saskia De. "Researchers Measure Increasing Sexualization of Images in Magazines." PBS. PBS, 21 Dec. 2013. Web. 28 Nov. 2016.

Reichert, Tom. "UGA Today." Magazine Trends Study Finds Increase in Advertisements Using Sex. N.p., 5 June 2005. Web. 15 Nov. 2016.

This issue is important because I know many young girls out there grow up praising models that look or act a certain way and it shouldn’t be that way.  All females should feel beautiful, pretty, sexy, and attractive. Females of all ages should feel comfortable and content with what they have and not what society says we need more or less off. The sexualizing of the body in ads has affected someone close to me and it’s hard to watch her speak of herself so negatively. The issue doesn’t target a certain age, it targets any woman out there who feel that they aren’t attractive or sexy. Teaching others to know about the kind of advertising that is being done, is part of helping others including myself be aware of the clothes we buy. I feel like in many instances, we buy clothes because it’s “pretty”, but we should be more mindful of what the clothes represent and what the company values. If we can do that, and that includes males, than we can start changing perspectives one step at a time. 

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