How have representations of men in advertising since the 1980's mirrored that of the representation of women since 1950's?
Along with other factors "Sexualization is when a person's value comes only from his/her sexual appeal or behavior, to the exclusion of other characteristics and when a person is sexually objectified"
<http://sites.google.com/site/mediasportrayalonwomen/Home/the-perfect-woman--1950-vs--today/the-sexualization-of-women> Sex in advertising is "words and images calculated to arouse sexual desire" (Ridgeway, J., and Plachy, S., 1996. P.42)
Women have been viewed and depicted as sexualised objects due to the ways in which they have been represented for centuries. For example images of naked women were commonly used in advertising tobacco in the 1800's, and "intimacy was emphasized to sell soap and lotions to ladies in the 1920s." <http://sexinadvertising.com/History/index.php> The images vary from overtly sexualised and erotic to subtle and suggestive.
Advertising is presented in many forms of media, such as magazines, pictures, television commercials, and the internet, in which women are usually the objects of sexualisation. <http://sites.google.com/site/mediasportrayalonwomen/Home/the-perfect-woman--1950-vs--today/the-sexualization-of-women>
Research suggests that increasingly women are beginning to treat themselves as sexual objects for the pleasure of men as that is how they are being portrayed. " the focus on female sexual attractiveness in advertisement aims to imply that women's primary reason for being is to be 'admired, manipulated and used by men'" (Monk-Turner, E., Wren, K., McGill, L., Matthiae, C., Brown, S., and Brooks, D., 2008. P.202) With women believing and "treating their bodies as sexual objects it then leads women to believe that that is all that is important. Also with these ads showing women as sexual objects, men then begin to believe that the sexual image of women is what is important and what makes them "attractive"." <http://sites.google.com/site/mediasportrayalonwomen/Home/the-perfect-woman--1950-vs--today/the-sexualization-of-women>
With overtly sexualised images in the media it has become increasingly hard for women to be happy with the way they look as "Sexualisation can lead to a lack of confidence with their bodies as well as depression and eating disorders."
<http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/6376421.stm> Increasingly this is similar to men as the use of men in advertising has become more prominent and men are now portrayed in similar roles as women.
Although overtly sexualised adverts contain women, men are now featuring in similar roles as women and are being used as sexual objects. I have found four main artefacts as examples which demonstrate similarities to how women have been depicted and sexualised throughout advertising history.
Two of these examples are images from adverts for clothing brands, one an electrical appliance advert for a vacuum company and one an aftershave advert.
Arguably the sexualisation of men has changed the advertising world, due to the way in which they are now depicted. It could be argued that there are direct links and references to the ways in which women were, and have been portrayed in advertising historically.
The first advert I want to consider is a clothing advert for Emporio Armani which pictures celebrity icon David Beckham. The image is in black and white which suggests nostalgia and romance this is suggested as it looks like its been taken with an old fashioned camera. He is photographed with his legs slightly spread apart and arms to the side; this enables the viewer to see the torso clearly. "images of very young men commonly focus on the abdominal/genital area" (Tallim, J., 2003.)
The image echoes those of women portrayed in paintings: such as The Venus of Urbino painted in 1538 by Italian painter Titian she is led on a bed looking directly at the viewer, her body is exposed however her private area is covered by her tightly closed legs and her hand so that the painting isn't overtly explicit, this is similar to the Armani advert where small briefs are being worn/advertised.
Another example of clothing adverts are those of Abercrombie and Fitch. The adverts are overtly sexualised with maximum flesh exposed and the main focus is on the males’ body. In this image it is only the torso that is presented. The photograph has been cropped from the neck up suggesting that this person does not have a head and the image goes no lower than the waist. Even though the 'sexual' organs area has been cut off this image is still suggestive and sexualised as the person is purely an object to be gazed at as it’s not considered to be a person.
The company has caused great controversies over how they advertise and how overtly sexual their images in advertising really are. "Abercrombie & Fitch, one of the most successful and trendy US clothing manufacturers, now puts its catalogues (which are geared to college students) in plastic bags to prevent them from being opened casually, because of controversy over the sexualized images of young people contained in them."
(Tallim, J., 2003.)
I then found an image that used a male in an overtly sexual way being dominated by a female, this is an extremely explicit example of sexualisation and domination. As this advert is for a vacuum company the imagery relies on sex to sell the product whilst the vacuum is in the corner of the image. The main focus of the advert is on the male with his hands tied behind his back by the cord of the vacuum, which is a direct connection to sex used to sell a fantasy.
Additionally an aftershave advert for Dolce & Gabbana- Light Blue, presents a male laid down with his arm behind his head looking seductive and sexual in a position which women are traditionally positioned in. The image echoes that of adverts and paintings such as the oil painting called La maja desnuda painted in 1797-1800 by the Spanish painter Francisco Goya and also an advert which pictures celebrity icon Beyonce Knowles dancing and moving in a sexual way. She is presenting her perfume called heat, this advert has now "been banned in Great Britain for its overtly sexual contact." <http://news.bgfashion.net/article/5115/12/beyonce-heat-perfume-ad-is-too-sexy-for-uk>
Research suggests that women, seem to have a certain look that they need to fulfil to give off the sexual aura in advertising. "Women's open, moist and lipstick-red lips, half closed eyelids or hands suggestively placed on a bare bosom or stomach are staple elements in pornography,"
(Paasonen, S. Nikunen, K. and Saarenmaa, L., 2007 P.1)
These adverts of males that I have focussed on surprised me, they all seem to have very similar looks such as the torso being the main focus. I think this demonstrates that when advertisers consider using sex in advertising similar methods are employed. This is also reflective in the use of women in advertising.
In todays society, looks and beauty are a major concern as "it becomes hard for women to be accepting of their own beauty and constantly compare themselves to images in the media" <http://sites.google.com/site/mediasportrayalonwomen/Home/the-perfect-woman--1950-vs--today/the-sexualization-of-women> Young children exposed to overtly sexualised advertising and images can be harmful and can lead to "eating disorders, low self-esteem and depression." <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/1543203/The-generation-of-damaged-girls.html> This is often spoken about with connection to young woman but not as well known in young men. Perhaps with males being increasingly presented as sex objects this could affect young boys which would lead to them being body conscious. Christina Hoff Sommers and Naomi Wolf are feminist authors who say that "women's sexual liberation has led many women to view men as sex objects"<http://www.mybodybeautiful.co.uk/Sexualisation%20of%20Society/Sexual_Objectification_Page2.htm> in which women are now viewing the male as the object of the gaze.
The objectification of men can lead to negative body image among men in which is similar to women; research has suggested these psychological effects.
Although men "have dropped their guard and admitted they care what women think of their looks." (Underhill, P., and Shirley, E., 2010.) it is this that is going to seriously affect young boys as the sexualisation does to young girls, arguably this will become more prevalent with increasing sexualised presentations of overtly sexualised images of men.
In conclusion I think that the use of males in advertising has caught up with how women are portrayed and they are being overtly sexualised as women always have been not only in advertising but also throughout art history. I think men being used in advertising is a problem for young boys and have the stress that young girls already are burdened with. "Increased exposure to unrealistic sexualised role models - for both boys and girls - can affect self-esteem, body image and expectations regarding the appearance and behaviour of the opposite sex." (Tallim, J., 2003.)
I think overtly sexualised images are not good for society as people are only aware and only consider how people look, making people only consider others beauty and making people conscious with the theory of identity and image leading to an image obsessed society.
This subject is very large and after my research I have realised I have only just touched the sides of this large issue.
Word count 1395
Bibliography:
Books:
Ridgeway, J., and Plachy, S., 1996. Red Light: Inside the Sex Industry. powerHouse Book. Page 42
Paasonen, S. Nikunen, K. and Saarenmaa, L., 2007 Pornification Sex and Sexuality in Media Culture. Berg Publishers. Page 1
Journals:
Monk-Turner, E., Wren, K., McGill, L., Matthiae, C., Brown, S., and Brooks, D., 2008. 'Who is gazing at whom? A look at how sex is used in magazine advertisements.' [eJournal] Journal of Gender Studies. Volume 17, Issue number 3, Available through: Business Source Premier database [Accessed February 2011] Page numbers 201-209. Quote from page 202
Tallim, J., 2003. 'Sexualized Images in Advertising' Media Awareness Network, [online] Available at:<http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/issues/stereotyping/women_and_girls/upload/article_sexualized_images.pdf> [Accessed February 2011] Pages 1-7 Quotes from page 1, 6 and 7
Underhill, P., and Shirley, E., 2010. All Is Vanity: Grooming Brands Target Men With Ads Using Sex, Humour. [eJournal] Volume 200, Issue number 59 Available through: Business Source Premier database. Accessed February 2011
Websites:
The Sexualization of Women in the Media. [online] Accessed February 2011. Available at: <http://sites.google.com/site/mediasportrayalonwomen/Home/the-perfect-woman--1950-vs--today/the-sexualization-of-women>
Reichert, T. History of Sex in Advertising. [online] Accessed February 2011. Available at: <http://sexinadvertising.com/History/index.php>
BBC News, 2007. Sexualisation 'harms' young girls. [online] Accessed February 2011. Available at: <http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/6376421.stm>
Fashion.bg, 2010. Beyonce's Heat perfume advertisement is too sexy for UK. [online] Accessed April 2011. Available at: <http://news.bgfashion.net/article/5115/12/beyonce-heat-perfume-ad-is-too-sexy-for-uk>
Womack, S. The Telegraph. 2007. The generation of 'damaged' girls. [online] Accessed February 2011. Available at: <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/1543203/The-generation-of-damaged-girls.html>
Sexual Objectification. [online] Accessed February 2011. Available at <http://www.mybodybeautiful.co.uk/Sexualisation%20of%20Society/Sexual_Objectification_Page2.htm>
Images:
Emporio Armani image of David Beckham advert
Posted by BBC/BBC Radio 1. Posted December 2007. Accessed March 2011
<http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/news/entertainment/galleries/beckhams_pants.shtml>
Abercrombie & Fitch, image of the torso advert
Posted by iNetGiant. Posted December 2009. Accessed March 2011
<http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_srp23_3aHgI/TEzdadyVkiI/AAAAAAAABvQ/TOs4_Q_cThI/s1600/a%252526f.jpg&imgrefurl=http://southeast.inetgiant.co.uk/reading/addetails/abercrombie-and-fitch-pink-polo-shirt/2660248&usg=__sCDGa0x84Llsu3-01q3YF0JrYCw=&h=511&w=679&sz=57&hl=en&start=0&zoom=1&tbnid=HWTUrjCkt2pPBM:&tbnh=130&tbnw=172&ei=rlLATdmXDoyFhQe-lvzIBQ&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dabercrombie%2Band%2Bfitch%2Badvert%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dsafari%26rls%3Den%26biw%3D1079%26bih%3D893%26tbm%3Disch1%2C0&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=496&vpy=119&dur=296&hovh=160&hovw=213&tx=147&ty=112&page=1&ndsp=25&ved=1t:429,r:2,s:0&biw=1079&bih=893>
A vacuum company advert
Posted by thisisbandit. Posted April 2009. Accessed March 2011
<http://thisisbandit.com/?p=2826>
Dolce & Gabbana, Light Blue advert
Posted bymodels.com. Posted Winter 2008. Accessed March 2011
<http://models.com/work/dolce-and-gabbana-light-blue-fragrance-fw-08>
The Venus of Urbino painted by Titian
Posted by mallymoodle. Posted November 2009. Accessed March 2011.
<http://no-point-stories.blogspot.com/2009_11_01_archive.html>
La maja denude painted by Francisco Goya
Posted by Public Domain Photos. Posted April 2011. Accessed May 2011
<http://www.public-domain-photos.org/2011/04>
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