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Jello
Joined: Jul 16, 2002
Posts: 2 (view all)
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Gender & Age: Female & 28
Country: United States
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negative media images of women
September 19, 2002 - 10:06 AM
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what do you all think of some of the negative images of women portrayed in the media, especially advertising (for cosmetics, clothing, etc.)? i came across a site the other day, http://www.about-face.org that is dedicated to reforming the way the media portrays women. they have an offenders list as well as a winners list. i must say, i was appalled at some of the advertisements i saw on there (likewise, i think a few of them were a bit misconstrued) and wondered why there weren't a lot more women protesting this type of advertising. for example, haven't you ever noticed how cosmetic and clothing advertisements often show women in demeaning ways? (i.e. how often do you see female models looking directly at the camera, looking comfortable, standing or sitting in a comfortable position versus how often you might see a male model in some awkward or compromising stance.) also, why is it that many cosmetic and clothing ads resort to cutting out certain parts of the body, such as the head, or showing just the impossibly-full-and-perfectly-shaped-and-colored lips? this reduces the woman to an object (i.e. her lips, or whatever) or strips her of her identity when her head is completely removed from the ad.
and then there are the cigarette and liquor/beer ads (clothing and cosmetic ads can portray women in this way also) that show women as being a)seductresses who are out to lure a man to his demise b)objects for men to have their way with c)objects that can be attained by drinking/smoking the advertised product. what is up with that?
and then there is the all-too-common additude of indifference regarding this issue. is it that this has become something that is so common in our culture that we've become oblivious to it? or maybe the majority of us just aren't exposed to a lot of these offensive ads. take, for example, and ad from diesel that advertises a pair of snug-fitting jeans. it suggests, as a way to fit into the jeans, liposuction. is that disgusting, or what? another ad (for a handbag, mind you) showed some "beauty queen" whose sash read "diet queen" now you tell me what being thin or dieting has to do with a handbag? not a thing. there are also a few ads from the Sisley, a division of Benetton, which are rather offensive. one shows a girl in a rather sheer dress sprawled in an awkward and compromising position on a lawn chair. (and i regret to say that i spent my summer working in a benetton outlet store) about-face includes offensive ads from many popular names, such as Gucci, Christian Dior, PETA, Guess, Skyy Vodka, bebe, and others. And what's even sadder is that i've only seen one (so far) ad that they have on their offenders list that portrays a man in a negative manner. that just goes to show how women are treated in the media.
i encourage you all too browse through the site http://www.about-face.org and see what you think, then tell me what your ideas are on this issue, as well as why it is this way and what can be done.
~peace love and jello~
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Michael Furdyk
Joined: Aug 12, 2000
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 TIG Staff
Gender & Age: Male, 29
Country: Canada
Province/State: Ontario
City: Toronto
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another site about this...
September 19, 2002 - 11:54 AM
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We helped several NGO's in Toronto launch their web sites -- amongst them was MediaWatch's Youth Site: http://www.mediawatchyouth.ca/
Ads are just messed up..... but the problem is that the typical approach actually WORKS because people see the ads amongst other "trusted" content in a magazine, which seems like a harmless purchase to most parents.... what is a wider solution to the problem? anti-ads?
What do you think of our Fashion18 ad suggesting TIG as a place where the typically suggested purchasing and consumption doesn't matter:
http://www.takingitglobal.org/aboutus/ads.html
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Karam Lakshman
Joined: May 29, 2002
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I dunno...
October 30, 2002 - 05:51 AM
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Is the way women are portrayed in Ads really offensive ?
Let me pose the question another way;
Most of the companies that have ads like this are immensly sucessful multinational companies. Corporate Icons even.
Their success is based on people buying their products.
In order to get people to buy their products, they make the product attractive through the use of Ads and other promotional mediums.
So people look at the Ad, like what they see and buy the product.
My question is, if the Ads are so offensive why are people still buying gucci, versace and Guess ?
Could it be on some level that- while they maintain that the Ad is demeaning- they like what they see ?
Another way of putting it is, why do people watch reality-tv shows like "fear factor", some of the stuff they show is totally disgusting yet you cant help but watching.
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