Blog Post 3: Women For Sale: Sexism In Advertising

My head just about exploded when I read this blog assignment…there are literally hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of examples of sexism in advertising. In fact, I really think that one of the main powers that sustains our consistently sexist attitudes is the media – and specifically, advertising. As the text points out, “Advertising is one of the most potent messengers in a culture that can be toxic to girls’ self-esteem…if we looked only at advertising images, this would be a bleak world for females” (Kirk 232).

After much deliberation, I decided upon this example:


This is an advertisement for Red Tape, an apparel company for men that mostly sells shoes. The only way I would have known that this ad was attempting to sell shoes is from the icon of a shoe in the upper right hand corner, combined with the awkward-looking distortion of the man’s foot, meant to emphasize the shoes he’s wearing, but not necessarily noticeable on first glance.

The text contains the words “Live Your Fantasy”, presumably meaning that in an ideal world, men would be able to purchase their choice of skinny, slutty-looking white women from a 24-hour cafeteria vending machine. Each of the women has a name listed over them, reminiscent of soda flavors – a redhead in a turquoise dress is listed as “Blue Crush”, among others. The women are also viewed in sexy, reclining poses, heads tilted seductively, with ultra-short skirts hiked up to reveal lots of toned, glistening leg. The man, on the other hand, is seen in the position of dominance and control here, fully dressed and making his selection. The ones he does not pick will just have to wait their turn, until the next purple-vested guy shows up.

This ad does affect women’s’ ability to feel good about themselves, because of the way the women are presented. Here they are seen as a product to be bought, and objectified, rather than being shown as real people with thoughts and feelings. Instead, their sense of worth comes from how they look and their physical attributes. Additionally, it is worth noting that this advertisement perpetuates the “standard” of beauty, portraying the women as “thin, lean, tall, young, white…with flawless skin and well-groomed hair” (Kirk 208). The ad fails to show any real diversity other than hair color – it appears as though the man is choosing between redhead, blonde, brunette and dark brown haired women, because that’s pretty much all that differentiates between them.

Unfortunately this is just one example from the media that pervades our culture. These images depict a perverted view of our society and create real issues and problems for many who cannot live up to the impossible standards that are presented.

Works Cited
Kirk, Gwyn, and Margo Okazawa-Rey. Women's Lives: Multicultural Perspectives. 5th ed. Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill, 2010.