Portrayal Of Women In Advertising Essay

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This research paper presents a content analysis on the portrayal of women in advertisements. This paper is written to better understand the stereotypes of women in advertising. The paper will also include the harsh realities female receivers have to face due to the portrayal of unrealistically thin and technologically perfected super models. Many women are portrayed as sexual objects and are constantly being degraded. Few examples of using sex appeal will also be discussed in this paper. Introduction: The oxford dictionary defines advertising as publicize (goods to promote sales, or a vacancy, to encourage applications). Advertising is a very well known and significant part of the marketing world for any business. Advertising makes millions …show more content…

From deodorant advertisements to clothes, women are shown as constantly running behind these hunky men as though they are a prized catch. This shows women in the worst light, that they would fall for the smell of a perfume or for a well dressed man. Men are barely portrayed as doing housework or taking care of children, since it has been stereotyped that this is a woman’s job. When sexual imagery is used, advertisements often consist of nonverbal cues as a signal to show that women lack control and authority than men. Women are shown as relatively smaller in height and their body language as being submissive, whereas the men stand tall and strong. This places men in a position of power and rank. The only similarity between the portrayal of men and women in advertisements is their perfect physical appearance. Men have perfect skin; heads full of thick hair, a square jaw line and six pack abs. Men are also falling prey to the cultural ideals of beauty. Many advertisements try to sell us values and make us feel sad, happy or fearful. Women then fall prey to these advertisements and become obsessed with what the ideal female beauty is. Women mostly look up to thin, tall, blonde white women with blue eyes and go to great extents to achieve this look. Men also play a part, as they judge women in real life based on what they are shown in advertisements, the warped