It is important to understand that this type of attitude pervades our society, and that it also perpetuates violence. Women are being shown that they aren't as important as men, and men are being shown that they should control and dominate women. Maybe advertisements aren't the cause of violence against women, but they are an important factor. Media reaches almost the whole world, and its messages are influential. If we can change what's in the media, maybe we can begin to establish gender equality and lessen the impact of gender violence.
We decided to blog about this issue because we wanted to use the media in a positive way. Just as it can be used to perpetuate violence, it can also be used to spread awareness and work towards change. If we want to change the media, we're going to have to start the movement ourselves. We might not be able to affect the workings of the big corporations, but we can use our own resources and work our way up.
How do you think advertisements perpetuate gender violence? Did seeing our interpretations of the ads shift your thinking in any way? What do you think we can do to change advertising and its inequalities?
I think the perpetuation of gender violence in advertising stems from the act that it seems to work. Sex and power both sell pretty well in America and most of Western civilization because they are allowed to sell well.
ReplyDeleteI think there is already a shift towards less outright subjective advertising, if not in activism, then in satire.
Take for instance the Old Spice commercials, where a man is very clearly making a sex object of himself. The concept of making a man buy a product through appealing to his girlfriend is, in some ways, camp. Maybe by continuing to point out how ridiculous gender violent advertising is, things will change.
I personally find gender roles as a whole to be a terrible idea. It sets up expectations that hinder a more honest development of character. The women in the ads bother me, as do the men, because neither party seems to question their position. It has the potential to fuel anger between the sexes, it leads those who are like this to believe their lifestyle is validated, and it spurs forth another generation of gender abuse.
ReplyDeleteI'm uncertain about the probability of competition within marriages being a contributing factor to rising divorce rates. Can anybody validate/rebuke this?
I remember once reading something about the likelihood of happier relationships being higher when the couple follows more egalitarian ideals/roles rather than traditional ones. (for ex., both members of the relationship do the laundry, clean, take care of kids, rather than it only being the woman's job)
ReplyDeleteAt this point, we're all pretty certain that the media definitely affects us. The media gives us an idea about how the world is (especially when we're younger) -- from these ads and other aspects of the media, we learn what our 'place' is in society. We learn how we should act. If these ads are showing violence towards women, people are going to think that is acceptable.
ReplyDeleteThese ads show woman as subordinates of men in many different ways. Even today as seen in the newer ads the woman are shown as much lower then men. The media however is only half to blame for this. Starting with the older ads it was what the culture believed where men were dominate therefore these ads were just pertraying what everyday thought was. Back then probably few thought otherwise. However in todays time after all the fights for equality woman are still positioned as subordinates in ads. This however is a different time and now woman are allowing themselves to put into these lower positions. It would not be that out of ordinary for a woman to say no to this and yet you can see that they don't. Woman are putting themselves in these lower positions contributing to the thought that we are subordinates. Media however is to blame on that only beauty will make us(woman) successful in this society.
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