'Ad Bank Semiotic Analysis: Cosmopolitan And Maxim Magazines'

Sex Sells: Motto Gone Wrong

The feminine body has been extremely exploited throughout advertisement history. Advertisers have been using the female body to sell magazines for years. Nowadays all though irrelevant, many products are being linked with explicit sexual body imagery of women on the verge of pornography. This concept has rapidly turned into a stereotype that portray women as sexual objects. Not only women have been objectified, but also the average female reader has been forced to face an unrealistic misconception towards the female body. In Grace Bai’s article Ad Bank Semiotic Analysis: Cosmopolitan and Maxim Magazines we encounter the stereotyped female figure and how contemporary advertising customs create ultra sexist notions

It is as if a guide on how to be accepted by men. As a matter of fact, I can agree with the writer on this point. According to the writer it is downgrading for women to read this magazine. As a reader myself, I disagree. “In our society women stand for the side of life that seems to be outside history—for personal relationships, love and sex – so that these aspects of life actually seem to become women’s areas.” (Williamson 101). As the writer uses this quote from Williamson she states that the content of magazines like Cosmo are unnecessary, and downright humiliating for women. The writer also argues that the magazine should include concepts such as politics, economics or global issues. Now this argument she makes, is a reason for me to drift away from her thoughts and oppose her idea. In my opinion the author weakens her argument by stating such a thing. Cosmopolitan Magazine is not a magazine on politics etc. It’s a magazine that includes carefree topics. The genre of the magazine is not politics or economics, it is a magazine that includes only female interests. This does not mean that the only interests women have are sex, fashion or makeup. These topics are

In today’s business world, women are used as an object to attract consumers’ attention to the products that firms sell. They are exploited as a marketing instrument in a wide range of firms’ activities. Womenappear as a sexual object in any kind of advertisement or as an attractive material standing nearby a product. Sometimes firms use sexual sales women to facilitate the sale or to attract consumers’ attention to the firm or product. Particularly, it is very common to use sexually attractive women in advertisementsregardless of the product is related to sexuality. The use of sexual women images in advertisements is so widespread that such images are found in the advertisements for most product types from clothing to motor cars, from cosmetics to furniture. It is an interesting choice to expose a women’s body when trying to promote a hamburger. This type of advertisement is a way of downgrading women and objectifying them. As Bai states “The Guess advertisement from Maxim has the women aware of being wathced and posed to reveal her sexual prowess. Her legs are splayed in a provocative manner, connoting sexual openness (Bai,5)”. When imagined, this image does not make the client think of a jeans advent. This type of advertisement is the exploitation of female sexuality in order to gain profit. The motto “Sex Sells” has been over used to an extent where we’re not able to see