Advertising: The Role Of Sexism In Advertising

Sexism in advertising has a long history behind it and comes as no surprise. It’s used as strategy in order to sell products and make money. It has trickled it’s way into our everyday lives from what we hear to the things we see in advertisements. Not only has sexism in advertising degraded women but it has enforced a misogynistic society and a presumed image of the role women take in society next to a man. Since the beginning of advertising, it has never been kind towards women. Sexism is embedded within American history and has still prevailed to this day. Advertisements perpetuate the same sexist narratives: the ideal woman, how women should act, and the gender role they play in society. Although the movement towards women’s rights has

It was the same concept: personal hygiene should be kept up to par for a man instead of simply for yourself. Hygiene is important for anyone regardless of gender, however advertisers marketed their products as another outlet to showcase how women could please men. Veto would market their deodorants as a product that was of necessity because ‘’you are the very air he breathes.’’ Instead of marketing it as a product that women should use for themselves for hygiene purposes, it was marketed by connecting the message that women should use hygiene products for men. Lysol ad’s particularly were offensive because they enforced the ideal ‘’good wife’’ image. Their feminine hygiene products were advertised as women who seemed to have all these perfect virtues but lacked feminine hygiene and therefore, their husbands no longer wanted to be with them. Other ad’s focused on women’s body hair and how men found it incredibly unattractive that they would divorce their wives. Therefore, anything served as potential to threaten your marriage. Every ad targeting women for their skin, hair, and hygiene was to teach women how to stay young and beautiful solemnly for their husbands. Beauty was dependent on the way others saw you, particularly how men saw you, instead of how you saw yourself. Women were put under the scrutiny of men and women judged themselves based upon it. Not only does sexism in advertising affect women, but it creates an unrealistic standard of women for men and creates an entitlement attitude to act a certain way towards women. Not only will men expect women to act and look certain way, but they will also come to the conclusion that if a woman doesn’t fit a criteria, she is deemed as unworthy. However, advertising for men was the opposite. Men were expected to be the bread winners, bask in their masculinity, and they were not under the scrutiny of women because men were fine as they