Falestine Awawdeh
Post three
For many including me when viewing advertisements, I don't see through a feminist perspective or a female one. I just focus if I ever find it interesting at all, is the message they're trying to sell to me as a viewer. At times I laugh, smile, or question their way of trying to sell their products not because I felt intimidated as a woman or disrespected. But because of how they visually created the ad that for me made no sense, was really idiotic and what the product represented and how they tried to display that never parallel. That was my blind eyes at first to ads, which for me I find still to this day strange, because of how I am as a female and what I try to be. But little did I know how big of an impact ads can be not only towards me as a female but to many young girls who are watching this can grow to believe, its okay for them to participate in ads or any art form that doesn't necessarily represent her as a female in the right way. But as long as she makes money and gets paid that's all that matters and how the male gender think about her is okay. As if "WE," the females had given them the right to do so, and forgotten when the boys not men, because men understand the basic english of respecting a female. Had given the okay in some form of language that they can treat, view and control us and what they say. I was blind then but not anymore and sexism, racism and power hierarchies are always displayed in ads but if you're blind like I was, you will never notice it until someone says something. But even then society doesn't allow for more change when MONEY is involved and what's just as powerful or close to money power is society's perceptions. Its hard to change things when gender ideals are in play.
Some of the ads below is basically that, money, power, gender perceptions and selling strategies. The cigarette ad that is written in Spanish saying, "Fumer, C'este etre L'esclave du table," which means smoking is to be the slave of tobacco. An ad that is clearly against smoking and has a great message but the image is complete disrespectful and applauding as a female. How can you spread a message with an image where a man is holding the head of a clearly young female with her mouth open for a cig thats being placed between the mans leg where his penis is at. How is that sending a message about being slaved to tobacco when this ad is going to completely remove the purpose behind it and become more of a sexual ad, insult many women who have been victims of sex slaves and most importantly. Why is the cig between the mans leg when the only way to smoke anything is between the lips of a human being called a mouth. Another example is the equinox ad, that is a brand and company providing the public with a multiple benefits and access to things in one place. Benefits such as the gym, organic health products where you can buy organic meals and drinks, books to read, and sit downs with your friends. However the ad on the other hand is portraying something else. Both actors with barely any clothing on has a man over the women both dressed in geeky style with a background of a bookshelf, and a statement made saying, "Brain Power. By Equinox." Yet again how is this suppose to represent equinox and their products and the company when its mostly known for its fitness. The only thing it represents is sexism and power hierarchies because most ads women are always nude and a man or more then one man is above a female trying to represent a product where in the ad doesn't really meet in the middle where it can confuse you to a point where are you trying to sell a product or create a sexy image.
Lastly a calvin klein ad that is trying to sell jeans has a half naked female shockingly sitting on top of the man instead of the man being on top of the woman as most ads are. Is where the confusions occurs like most of the ads I've spoken about, because is it really that necessary to have both actors half naked just to give more attention to your jeans when your already a multi million dollar company that doesn't need to have half naked women for a JEAN product. These companies constantly believe it is necessary to exploit females, have men lay over a female, and send messages that are too male gaze like instead of an artistic point of view and actually have your product and ads correlate with one another I can grantee you, that your products will still sell with or without sexism involved. This is not just a theory its reality because so many ads who actually create ads without sexism, racism where all the actors are always white, skinny, blonde, colored eyes, and fully clothed at that still get their message thru and still sell products. Its not impossible to that exact thing when it comes to anti-cig ads, jeans, and fitness we just have to understand that the product isn't hard to represent or sell because consumers will stay consumers. But what we have to do is change the minds of the company and what they believe is appropriate especially towards females and help them understand even though it is common sense at this point, that ads play major roles in how a young female views herself. Not only how she views herself but what she believes is okay to happen to her and the content that these ads thru images is giving to her and her access should be alarming for many. But in the end money sadly speaks louder then anything in this world including rape, abuse, sexism, harassment, power and more.
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