Heather Holley- Women in Ads

In this advertisement we find a typical in a Calvin Klein ad. A very sexually driven ad promoting a product of Calvin Klein. The female in this ad seems to be object of the man and his desires, he seems to be in control and promoting the idea of sex and the female is quietly going along without protest. Her pants are much lowered than her male counterpart giving a sign of her being more of the sex object and appeal. Her male companion shows only a small sign of his bicep and his neck, while his face is covered by his hair and a deep shadow that hides his eyes. Her face is not hidden by a shadow mask. The male’s face seems to be the one dominating while hers shows an anticipation of his actions seeming as though he is the only one that should be making the moves.
Unfortunately I do not think that this would be viewed offensive in today’s society, mainly because of the desensitization of American viewers. Our televisions and magazines are plagued by advertisements promoting the idea that women are sex objects that are to be used to encourage buying into corporations. This ad shows the typical way that women are used in everyday propaganda that women need to fulfill the American ideology that thin is beautiful and that women are for sex. However with the exposure we have now-a-days and the lack of education of sexism, it is hard to draw the line between sexy and sexist. Today’s showing of these pictures has become routine, and regular and we find it hard to see the problems in such things.
I think that this ad is feminist, and I know many people would argue it is just an ad. But I have found after being better educated in the differences and judgments placed upon women, it is easier to find such problems being silently promoted. The views that companies place on women in order to sell their products is depressing. Women are used as sex attractions to promote products to increase company profit, which is very sexist. Why are men not promoted in this fashion?
These images of women are constantly influencing our society’s view on what is attractive in women. Women are shown as revealing, thin, and submissive. I think it is disgusting, and I hate that women are portrayed this way. We have more women suffering from eating disorders and depression because they do not feel that they can live up to the standards of society. These ad’s make it hard for women to be comfortable in their varying sizes. Many women look better with meat on their bones and I hate when they say that they have to lose weight, such as Star Jones who had surgery to remove her “excess weight”. I hate finding my 10 year old cousin stating she needs to loose weight because her legs are fat. I think that the companies should take more compassion in what they are selling, and realizing what their ad’s are doing to children and women of our society. I wonder if their daughter was suffering from these problems, they would start to change their take on what they are doing. I think that they should be taking more responsibility in the first place. They should see what they are doing to our society and feel a need to make a change.