Summary Of Pin-Ups In Outdoor Advertising As Sexual Harassment

Women frequently encounter sexual objectification in advertisements such as billboards, bus benches, or on the exterior on public transportation. The sexualization of women has been highly debated, especially throughout the discussion of these advertisements. Social norms have constricted how we see ads so immensely that we are desensitized to seeing women being portrayed so poorly. In the article, “Pin-ups in Public Space Sexist Outdoor Advertising as Sexual Harassment”, Lauren Rosewarne solely focuses on women’s portrayal in congruence to outdoor ads, and how much the female bodies become victimized due to being objectified. Also, Rosewarne transitions into how pinups are almost identical to these advertisements. Throughout the article, Rosewarne

At once, she directly states what needs to be done to take these issues into account: “In order to deem sexist outdoor advertisements as sexual harassment, the idea of a sexist advertisement as a pin-up needs to be established” (317). After reading this, I assumed that Rosewarne would begin to give her own personal examples on how these issues need to be handled. Rosewarne indeed did give a personal example, which was how she would see multiple sexual outdoor advertisements during her daily commute. However, that was the only personal experience she gave; her article could’ve been well rounded if she included more experiences to back up her claims. For example, being able to appeal the audience’s emotions by expressing her experiences or even telling someone else’s involvement that corresponds to her

If she would’ve mentioned how these subjects can be affected by outdoor advertisements her article could’ve related to a broader audience. She fails to mention the experiences women of color have go through on the topic of sexualization. The problems faced by white women in over sexualized ads or the media are even more prevalent and at more concerning levels when compared to women of color in the media. In the Roles Projects, Scott Lukas states, “The theory of intersectionality looks at the multiple ways in which race, class, gender, sexuality and ability impact the agency of women in society” (Lukas 1). Rosewarne’s mistake in her article was completely missing many different groups of females that are struggling with sexualizing advertisements. Lukas perfectly describes how these women are being portrayed in sexualizing media and ads. He also explains well how African American women in media may be stereotyped as docile, domineering, and promiscuous. Latina women are seen as seducing, flirty; likewise, Native American women are shown as “seductive princesses”. These advertisements present women of color in a disturbing light. Most women of color are solely sexualized just because they are of a different ethnicity. By not mentioning these underlining problems,