The Dehumanization Of Women In Advertising And Women

1586 Words7 Pages
In this society, the equality which stands between men and women is almost non- existent. It is widely believed that we live in a man’s world. Even something as common to our culture as the English language stands guilty to the possession of a rape content. With the “language of rape” surrounding our everyday lives and yet still being ignored as an issue seeking attention, it is common for many people to overlook the equally degrading images in which advertising agencies surround us with day in and day out. “Advertising contributes to people’s attitudes about gender, sex, and violence,” states Jean Kilbourne in her article, Two Ways a Woman Can Get Hurt With advertising agencies standing by the notion that “Sex Sells” it isn’t uncommon to find sex tied into a number of advertisements seen everywhere on a daily basis. “Sex in advertising is pornographic because it dehumanizes and objectifies people, especially women …” (Kilbourne, 271). The objectification of women in our society is more prevalent than many would like to believe. Women being portrayed as passive, easy, innocent, needy, submissive and dependent beings create an understanding that women are less human than men. “Turning a human being into a thing, an object, is almost always the first step toward justifying violence against that person” (Kilbourne,278). When advertisers continuously use women as sex objects in order to sell their products they begin to form the mindset that “all women, regardless of age, are