What's Progress?

This disturbs me. A young woman portrayed to look even younger, holding a teddy bear, being "sexy". This is a vintage ad that makes sex symbols out of children to sell a perfume. How awful! What's worse is that people refuse to think ads like these are still around because women have come so far! False. There are ads everywhere that continue to make sex symbols out of women to sell their products. I guess that's because sex sells, but only because we let it. This ad made me curious to find other vintage ads like this one. I came across It's Guy Code, a blog, that had posted Ads that Degraded Women. The post was full of vintage ads like this one that showed how women were degraded "back in the day" (notice the past tense degraded in the title and not the present tense degrades). I was startled by other ads such as:

And what's worse it there were more that shocked me. After seeing all of these ads and being well aware that women are sexualized in advertising to sell products, I began searching for ads today that mimicked the "vintage" ads to prove that just because they are vintage, doesn't mean the concepts have been laid to rest.

There's a lot wrong with these ads. The worst part of these ads are the fact that we see everything wrong and degrading about them, but they have stuck around for decades because we continue to buy the products. Women are degraded every day in the media, in the workplace, and sometimes at home. Outside of that, what do these ads say to young girls? That you have to grow up to be sexy. The first ad showing the comparison between a vintage ad where the man is stepping on her head is no different than the caged woman in the bebe ad. Women are to be seen but not heard, sexy, and locked away until their presence is needed. The burger king ad sexualizes a sandwich, the men eating it can compare the taste to oral sex... doubtful. However, I'm sure the sandwich was a success amongst men.

In class we often talk about seeing these ads and pointing out everything wrong with the ads. They're everywhere. You can't flip through a magazine, watch TV, get on the internet, do nearly anything without being bombarded with "sex selling" advertisement. We've talked recently in class about culture jamming these advertisements and during my search I came across an example of culture jamming the sexual advertisements for an Ad-Busting blog.

Though the language is offensive, there is truth in the statement. It calls to light the sexualized nature of the advertisement. I'm sure every girl is worried about how her lipstick looks when she's eating a strawberry... not. A girl/woman is worried about how the lipstick will last and how it will look. Culture jamming in a magazine at a doctors office is a great start, but it doesn't reach a mass audience. Plastering it on the internet gains a much larger audience. This way of fighting back to the advertising companies is great, but only if it works. When we see these ads that are degrading it has to translate to action, or rather non-action by not purchasing these products. If the ads and techniques no longer work, then new techniques can take their place. As women/girls, we must begin to use our consumer power to put an end to degradation!