The subordinate position of women in our culture is an important issue, currently and historically. But what does the “subordinate” position actually mean?
sub·or·di·nate
[adj., n. suh-bawr-dn-it]
1. placed in or belonging to a lower order or rank.
2. of less importance; secondary.
The term “subordinate” can mean many things. Often, when you think of women as “subordinate”, you might think of the wage gap between women and men (women earn 77% of what men earn as of 9/16/10)*, or you might think about the overwhelmingly disproportionate statistics about rape (99% of rapists are men)**.
This blog will focus on a more literal interpretation of the word "subordinate." The subordination of women is an extremely intricate subject matter; there is evidence of it all around us. But what happens when you take a closer look at the subordination of women in advertising? We noticed a pattern…
Remember that part of the definition of “subordinate” that has to do with something being lower? Check out these old magazine advertisements from the 1950s. Though women have gained more rights than they had in the fifties and sixties, the advertisements we have today are not that different from the ones that were common back then.
sub·or·di·nate
[adj., n. suh-bawr-dn-it]
1. placed in or belonging to a lower order or rank.
2. of less importance; secondary.
The term “subordinate” can mean many things. Often, when you think of women as “subordinate”, you might think of the wage gap between women and men (women earn 77% of what men earn as of 9/16/10)*, or you might think about the overwhelmingly disproportionate statistics about rape (99% of rapists are men)**.
This blog will focus on a more literal interpretation of the word "subordinate." The subordination of women is an extremely intricate subject matter; there is evidence of it all around us. But what happens when you take a closer look at the subordination of women in advertising? We noticed a pattern…
Remember that part of the definition of “subordinate” that has to do with something being lower? Check out these old magazine advertisements from the 1950s. Though women have gained more rights than they had in the fifties and sixties, the advertisements we have today are not that different from the ones that were common back then.
Take a look at these two advertisements, both of them from the 1950s. They both feature women lying on the floor, in positions that are either implied or directly subordinate to men. The first is a woman lying on the floor next to a shoe, with the copy reading “Keep her where she belongs…” It’s implied that this woman has less value than a man: where she belongs is on the floor. There’s also a hint that the woman’s only interest is in shoes and trivial things that a man can’t be bothered with—she belongs in a position where her only concern is for shoes and fashion.
The second ad is even worse. The copy reads, “It’s nice to have a woman around the house,” and depicts a woman, her body turned into a fur rug, on the floor, while a man’s foot holds her head down. This ad takes the theme of women being lesser than men several steps further. She has no body; she is a rug, turned into a furnishing. The only part of her body that’s left—her head, her brain—is being stepped on. The only thing she has left that can be considered valuable is being degraded as much as her body was by being turned into a rug. She’s not smart; she’s just there to look pretty. When we add all this to the copy, we can infer that it’s nice to have a woman around the house… as long as she’s not too smart and just sits around looking pretty, not getting in the man’s way.
Then there’s an ad like this one, which takes the theme almost as far as it can go. A man is portrayed as outright beating his wife for “getting flat, stale coffee.” It’s meant to be humorous, but instead becomes disturbing. It trivializes the problem of domestic violence in order to market a product. One would think we’ve moved past that mentality, but today’s ads prove that we haven’t.
Take a look at all of these and notice the positioning of the women's bodies, and compare it to the man's. They are always lower, always subordinate. Isn't that sending the message that a woman isn't as valued as a man?
Based on these ads, would you think today's advertisements are better or worse? Click "Older Posts" for the next entry and get a look at the advertisements of today, and keep these themes in mind.
I feel like the older set of advertisements were created to bring down women as a whole, just to degrade them to just inferior to men. I feel like the newer set of advertisements degrades women sexually, and shows women as sexual objects. The older set of advertisements made me angrier: I can't believe things like that were allowed to be published. "Keep her where she belongs", that is so ridiculous. The newer set just invokes a constant anger, the constant anger that is seen everywhere: in songs, on TV, in malls, in magazines, with real women in college. The belief that women are here only for sexual reasons, and how women today think that they can only draw attention to themselves in a sexual manner. The newer adds also show the ideal version of "sexy" with a perfect, tan, shiny body that only leads to problems with today's youth. It upsets me that women only think of themselves in this way and it is because of the media and ads like this and the unfortunate reality that this is a patriarchal society. Making an effort to not objectify women in the media would be fantastic but I don't think it will ever work. Sex is unfortunately what sells, it is what makes business works, it is what sickly attracts people. It can even be seen for men, for example, every time I walk past the Abercrombie and Fitch store at a mall there is a huge picture with a shirtless guy. How this sells Abercrombie clothes, as he is naked, I will never know, but it does. This however, does not degrade men in any way, it just proves that they, too, are exploited sexually.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting post about a very serious issue. The advertisements from the 50s are definitely very shocking.
ReplyDeleteIn response to your question, today's ads are different. Although they don't show women being stepped on or beaten by men, they subordination is a bit more disguised and psychological in modern advertisement.
In modern ads, women are most commonly objectified, and the female body is used to sell. They are better in the sense that we don't see domestic violence every time we open a magazine, but worse in the sense that the theme is more disguised, meaning that it is easier to overlook and easier to become ingrained in the minds of young girls and women. An example of this is the issue of body image...which is closely related to the idea of the subordination of women, because in the media, women are generally valued for the physical appearance rather than their intelligence or ability. If you look at sports: men in sports are generally displayed as athletes and are portrayed as powerful active figures...women in sports are more objectified...the emphasis is on their bodies, not their performance in the sport.
Unfortunately I would have to say that these kinds of ads are not only made in order to objectify women, but also because advertisers are aware of what they are doing. They know that a woman would notice this kind of ad more because it is degrading to them and therefore they pay more attention to it. On the other hand these same advertisements pop out at men more also on a more positive note, but they still pay more attention to it. Although it is horrible for companies and advertisements to depict women in these ways, it is what gets the attention of both men and women. The hard part is to just view it as what it is, an advertisement that should not effect how you feel about yourself or your gender in the real world. But trust me, I know it is not that simple.
ReplyDeleteThe change and progression of the ads throughout the decades is interesting -- it's like the first set of ads from the 50's were reflecting what life was like (women staying at home, not working, while it was the man who made money). Now that things have changed and more women are working, things have changed in the media too... women aren't necessarily depicted only as housewives but as sex objects which also reflects current culture
ReplyDeleteIt's hard to say if older or newer ads are worse. The old ones are shocking; hopefully, when people see them today, we're shocked and disgusted at how something like that could even be created. But that doesn't necessarily mean we're making lots of progress towards equality -- the ads of today are just as dangerous, just in different ways.
ReplyDeleteI am shocked at these ads, I never noticed this theme of lower positions of women (literally) in advertising - normally when you think of women as inferior, it is a more abstract and complex issue, but this blog suggests that it can also be seen it pretty simple (yet powerful) ways, such as a woman being lower to the ground than the man in an ad.
ReplyDeleteI am appalled by those advertisements! Wow, they took the idea of women being inferior to the extreme! I've never seen them before and I really have no words for how horrid they are. But I think in the sense of women being subordinate to men, advertising has changed today. The focus isn't so much on that as it is on sex appeal. Women are always photographed in as little clothing as possible, not even with men necessarily. Women are photographed in heels, sometimes appearing taller than the man, which is different then what is portrayed in the 1950s advertisements.
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