How does advertisement and social media affect

young girls and women?

Advertisement and social media effects girls and women whether they realize or
not, on a daily basis what we see in the media through adverts or social media
leaves an impact on us, influences us and pushes into our understanding of the
world. Advertisement is a form of communication used to promote or sell
products, not only does it sell the product but its also a very powerful educational
force where it is exposed to everyone. Todays popular culture is all about
marketing, adverts are seen on the sides of buildings, billboards, bus stops,
buses themselves, cars, airplanes, offices, elevators, schools, doctors surgery,
supermarkets, food items, the internet, TV and so much more. We believe that
were not influenced by these adverts however we do process them very quickly
and subconsciously. Adverts sell values, they sell images, they sell concepts of
love and sexuality, of success and perhaps most important normalcy. To a great
extent they tell us who we are and who we should be. not only to the older
audience but the young generation too, particularly the younger girls, who are
easily influenced. By watching the documentary Killing Us Softly I was inspired
to look further into gender advertisement and social media, and how both can
affect a person. Within my essay I will be analyzing in detail, adverts portraying
women, and how they are stereotyped and how this can lead to sexism.
Advertisers are obsessed with using gender and gender relations as they can
communicate from a glance, leaving the viewers aware of the purpose of the
adverts instantly. They have applied stereotypes to both females and males to
maintain social constructions and norms. The advertisers have taken something
that already exist in the real world and have crafted it into a powerful image to
impersonate real life. The viewers believe they are seeing something completely
normal whereas in fact they are seeing a distorted reflection. The adverts, being
viewed from a young age create a lasting impact. They provide for you an image
of what women and men should look like and should act like, they leave you with
a definition femininity and masculinity and how these two factors are
implemented on the females and males. Thus, they leave little room for changes,
and so when something is portrayed out of the norms for example a strong willed,
driven, confident, powerful woman may instead be interpreted as her being
stubborn or bossy as we are used to a specific characterization of women e.g.
them being shown as playful, seductive, careless, sexy and sexually available,
holding an object or man for support, dressed like a child, body contorted,
vulnerable, confused, not alert, eyes closed, sitting on a bed or a chair, lying on
the floor, caressing object, touching self and so to us seeing something unusual
would be wrong within our minds. In contrast, men are also stereotyped however
their characterization can be viewed as more in control, breadwinners, powerful,
superior, intelligent, alert, brave, adventurous conscious of surrounding with them

being portrayed standing up, with their eyes open, physically active, looking
around, body controlled, masculinity, stern/mean expression on their face, often
gripping things tightly with their hands showing strength. When viewing these
factors a man would often come to mind. Advertisement has brainwashed society
into thinking this way, into having certain expectations of characteristics from
females and males with often not much questioning. This is not right, who said
this? Who made these rules? Who made these descriptions? This only adds
pressure to individuals, who are afraid and only want to be accepted by society.
However the way men are stereotyped as compared to women is not so much of
an insult as they are not humiliated but are shown to be more superior whereas
women are usually shown as lost causes that are very dependent on men.
The advertisement of gender roles started earlier than the 20 th century and is still
ongoing to present times. I researched in-depth the gender depictions of the 20 th
century particularly the 30s and 60s I found very classic looking stereotyped
adverts. In general I found that the adverts were making quite a mockery of
women, portraying them as beneath males in many different aspects, from
masculinity, to intelligence, to self-worth, status wise, in dominance, control and
independency.
In the first picture we can see the woman
has been portrayed via a domesticated role
of being a housewife, who has nothing else
to do but worship her husband and make
sure his life is comfortable. She is holding a
tray of food that she has prepared for him;
also she is presented on a lower level as she
is presented literally beneath him as she is
kneeling down showing the difference in
status and authority. He is proudly relaxing,
with a smirk and smug look on his face
whilst she is working and it is captioned
show her its a mans world. However,
although she is shown beneath him, she is
also presented as a woman who enjoys this
and believes it is her job this is as during the time it was produced the aimed
audience was mostly women and this was again to reinforce and remind them of
their duty and place. Whilst doing this it also reinforced to the men of their status
and how they should behave towards the women in their lives.
In the second picture which introduces us by the slogan so the harder a wife
works, the cuter she looks we see a woman staring in adoration towards her
husband whilst holding a duster, the husband is looking down to his wife with a

proud look. She is portrayed wearing an apron again in a domesticated situation

as a housewife who worships her husband. The comic strip on the bottom right
corner portrays again that a womans place is at home whereas a mans place is
out of the house at work, and that he expects everything done for him once hes
home. Gosh, funny, you seem to thrive on cooking cleaning and dusting here we
see the man sweet talking his missus but it also fits in with the purpose of the
adverts to reinforce thats where women belong, he is telling her what she enjoys
and not giving her the option again showing women to be defenceless and reliant
upon men. He then continues with and Im all tuckered up by closing time, whats
the answer? The idea of this advert does not scream vitamins but as a result of
the wifes answer vitamins, darling! I always get my vitamins this promotes the
product in a very positive and powerful light as it suggests the vitamins are the
reason behind the wife having so much energy and motivation. In conclusion this
image is used as a double depiction, one to
remind women and men of their different roles
but also to promote a product, the vitamins.

In this third picture, which may not be

understood straight away we see it captioned
keep her where she belongs with a woman
who is lying down naked admiring a mans
shoe. This in itself at first shows the depiction
of the woman as an object, and could be a
way of showing her as the second pair of the
shoe. The idea of the woman as the second
pair of the shoe suggests her place where
she belongs is at the bottom. Beneath a
man, and that she enjoys this status as she is
seen in a dreamy look almost shown as
fantasizing about this. As a contemporary
audience we would question why she is
naked however during the time this advert
was produced it could have been to portray her as vulnerable and bare, whilst
also sexualizing her as an object. This has also been brought into the
contemporary world, as even now where products are being advertised women
are sometimes portrayed as half naked even if it has no relevance towards the
item. The woman is also blonde suggesting naivety.
In this fourth image, a very sarcastic and surprised tone is taking place. You
mean a woman can open it? The irony is a woman herself is portrayed looking
shocked at this rhetorical question and at the fact that she can open a bottle of
ketchup. This is them reinforcing the idea that women cannot do much but as

they are trying to advertise this product and sell it they are trying to encourage
women as they are stating you can do this you do not need a man. The word
woman is underlined to add emphasis to this fact, that for once a woman is not
dependent on a man. The woman is characterized as a childlike figure, with big
shocked eyes and her mouth open in the shape of an o, as she is shown to be
very proud that she was able to do this task The depiction of dainty hands is
relevant to show she is small and very object like with pretty hands and a pretty
face.
Overall from the pictures analyzed we can come to the conclusion that women
are portrayed weak and submissive on different grounds from being
domesticated alone, them being shown as being beneath a man, unable to do
anything alone and always being reliant, but also to be enjoying this treatment
and the characterization of females in this way is also used to sell products but
also to reinforce to both the
males and females themselves
of their different roles. The
women are urged to promote
beauty and sex appeal and a
part of this is submission, the
idea that being submissive is
necessary for them and that
this is also attractive. All these
adverts portray the idea that
men enjoy being in control, I
have come to this judgment
based on all of my research including what I have blogged about. The idea that
men enjoy being in control reminds me of violence, that if women were not
submissive towards them they would get dealt with. It is portrayed almost as if
women must be afraid of their husbands like a child should be afraid of their
parents, however there is no reason for women to feel like this because they are
old enough. In cases where women are used to promote products for example
the vitamin advert the idea is that to keep your husband you must buy the
product if not he will leave you.
Advertising has not changed, a century later women are still being portrayed
stereotypically as weak, a lower status than men and that their main job is to look
pretty and stay in the kitchen. However, this isnt conveyed directly to you like the
adverts of the 20th century. Researching further into current advertisement, I
found that the fashion and beauty industry has become so big, with its influence
over everyone increasing massively. People have become so fixated by their
appearances so they can be accepted. Both industries have promoted this by
producing items, which will enable you to look attractive to others.

The industry advertises their product

using models, which are then
photoshopped in order to create an
image that they want to sell. This
image is unrealistic, as they have
removed all flaws from the model
such as her wrinkles, scars, blemishes
and pores. The magic of computer
retouching allows them to alter the
body figure as well as features,
sometimes you may think you are seeing one woman in an advert but youre
really seeing several women, one womans face, another womans hair, another
womans body etc. all these women put together to make the one perfect woman.
The dove commercial Evolution dramatically illustrates the process of
constructing the image you see on billboards and magazines, the advert
demonstrates to the viewers that the image you see is not real, its artificial.
However real women measure themselves against these images and strive to
achieve this idealistic look and feel guilty if its not achieved, and failure is
inevitable as no one can look like that. It is obvious that this ideal image of
beauty affects a womans self esteem because they go to extreme extents to
achieve this look; this then leads to many problems such as eating disorders
and depression. It also creates a prejudgment within men, as when they look at
real women they associate themselves with, they will compare them to the
women they see in adverts and magazines and subconsciously notice their
flaws.
In todays popular culture it is found that a womens body is constantly objectified,
for example in the advert to the right she becomes a part of a
video game. Womens bodies are also often dismembered in
adverts solely focusing on one part of her body such as
her breast, bum, thighs and legs. Not only does this affect
a
womans self esteem, it creates a climate which there
is a widespread violence against women as you
are dehumanizing her. In response the image in
the video game gives both genders false expectations and
impressions. They give off the impression this is what a woman's figure should
look like, therefore resulting in a woman fantasizing about this, wanting to
perhaps have a breast implant or Botox. Making a woman feel as though her own
body is not beautiful or sexy enough. This also plants an image of how a
woman's body should look like to men, therefore putting more pressure on
women as they feel this image is what they are in competition with.

Advertising and social media plays a big role when it comes to the younger
generation especially young females hitting puberty. Girls are getting the
message so young these days that they need to be incredibly beautiful, hot, sexy,
and extremely thin and they also get the message that they will fail and theres no
way to achieve it. Girls tend to feel perfectly fine with the way they look at the age
of 8,9 and 10, however when they hit puberty there is an intense emphasis on
physical perfection. Adverts give the impression that women are only acceptable
if they are young, thin, light-skinned, perfectly groomed, polished, plucked and
shaved. Any deviation from this ideal type is met with many confrontations and
hostility. Here are two different women in two different adverts one showing a
curvy figure and the second is a typical stereotype for a nerd.

The first advert from a teen magazine says, He said the first thing he notices
was your great personality, he lied. So girls are getting the message clearly, a
man will never be interested in her great personality but rather how good she
looks in those jeans. The second advert shows a woman who is considered ugly
and is ridiculed in adverts. This advert for premium light beer, Beer Goggles is
implying that the beer is only 2.9%, so the man is less likely of hooking up with an
ugly girl.
After analyzing and studying adverts I found this to be a great taster and mimic of
what goes on in the real world. Women, and young girls are judged. The two
adverts clarified to me of what is going on in today's society. Men and young boys
do not just have certain expectations purely based on their own attractions but
they have also been brainwashed and massively corrupted with what they should
expect in a woman. This only proves the power of social media and
advertisement, the subconscious views they put into brains, the stereotypes, girls
in glasses, with braces aren't beautiful, girls without glasses aren't smart. All
these promotions through social media and advertisement do create expectations
within society for both females and males.

We believe we are not influenced by adverts however only 8% of an adverts

message is received by the conscious mind. The rest is worked and reworked
deep within the recesses of the brain. Being surrounded by these adverts from a
very young age can influence their actions and mindset. Doves Beauty
Pressure commercial shows the real world in the eyes of a young girl, constantly
being told how she should look and behave. Some advertisements companies
such as dove dont follow the norms of typical companies such as Victoria Secret,
dove commercials make women feel confident about their bodies instead of
giving them an expectation of being a supermodel.
Therefore social media and advertisement clearly impact women's lives from
many different aspects, from their appearances to how they should act, enforcing
massive pressure on them. Whilst doing this they also impact men and the rest of
society on their expectations. In conclusion it is clear social media and
advertisement clearly create a difference as we are hit with these promotions
every day, and everywhere and so they act as a constant reminder of what
should be though it is not and cannot be a reality.

Bibliography
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-08qnL_Okw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-08qnL_Okw
Beauty Myth by Naomi Wolf
Everyday Sexism by Laura Bates
Women of Revolution, Forty Years of Feminism
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5qZedMTkkE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17j5QzF3kqE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=litXW91UauE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KM4Xe6Dlp0Y
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjJQBjWYDTs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VhB3l1gCz2E
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ei6JvK0W60I
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c96SNJihPjQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWTRwj9t-vU