Gender Stereotypes: The Objectification Of Women In Advertising

Advertisements are meant to be memorable, that’s how products are sold. From infomercials to billboards, advertisements have a slight moment to make their product desired. One of the most common methods that advertisers utilize is creating an idealized version of a person, such that someone could project themselves onto said idealized self. Oftentimes, this idealized self is sexually superior, and the way that advertisements show this is by offering, usually as a result of using their product, an idealized sexual life featuring a member of the opposite sex. The advertisers use the promise of sex to sell their product to consumers. This, however, shouldn’t always work. Usually, the ‘idealized sexual life’ that advertisers offer is one between

Some ads only have the sexuality, and completely ignore the target audience, in hopes that sex on its own will be enough to sell the product. One such ad campaign made by a Scandinavian underwear company features only a half-naked woman with a pair of men’s underwear. Men, regardless of their attraction to women, will wear their underwear. So then why target only heterosexual men? Why objectify a woman's body in order to sell a product targeted towards men? These types of sexual advertisements, in hopes that it will help sell their product to straight individuals, end up erasing the identities of queer individuals who, under normal circumstances, would have been willing to purchase their product. Advertisements that adhere to heteronormative stereotypes will, in the end, lose a large part of their potential profits due to faulty

Her black and white dress is spilling off of her body revealing her large, nearly exposed breasts. Her legs are spread wide open, her crotchal region just barely covered by her dress (JBS Underwear). This maid appeared in one of the JBS Textile Group’s advertisements for men’s underwear. The JBS Textile Group, then called JBS Underwear, is a Scandinavian underwear supplier. The ad campaign that JBS Underwear ran in 2007 all featured half-naked women. In one there was a half-naked nurse, while in the other a nun. In all of them, the women are deriving deep pleasure from holding a pair of men’s underwear. The ad featuring the maid takes place in a bedroom. The maid is sitting on the bed, nearly completely exposed, with a pair of white men’s underwear in her hand. Lying behind the maid, on the bed, is an overturned lamp, and on top of that lamp is a pair of lacy women’s underwear. Also on the bed are a few rumpled pillows and a messy blanket. The maid, however, seems to be unperturbed with the dishevelment of the room around her. Rather, her attention seems to be focused on the underwear in her left hand. She is entranced with the white pair of men’s underwear, so much so that her eyes are tightly closed and lips are slightly parted right up against the underwear. In the bottom-right corner of the advertisement, the logo of JBS Men’s Underwear is seen, making it very clear what the intended product of this