Rationale

I have studied about gender stereotyping in my Language and Literature class, we studied it in part 2:
Language and mass communication. We have studied advertisements that involved gender stereotyping
that go under the radar because no one addresses it due to higher arrogant authorities mainly men. I
will be focusing on the topic of femininity and woman’s freedom. In the form of advertisements, I am
analyzing how companies objectify woman and strip them of their identity subtly which represents the
discriminatory dominance of men and their prejudice against woman.

My written task is based on an electronic mail to the head of advertising that permitted these
advertisements to be broadcasted, I will be arguing how woman are given no value or respect and are
seen as arousal tools rather than human beings in the media of advertising. I will be writing as the
person in charge of the National Organization for women. The tone of this electronic mail will be of an
upset and offended woman. To do this, I will support my arguments through two advertisements, the
American Apparel advertisement which displays an almost naked woman and the Burger King
advertisement which displays a woman with sexual facial expression. Both advertisements convey a
sexual meaning through woman to attract men to buy their products

In conclusion, the purpose of my written task is to show how advertisements can provide a powerful
message and change people’s perception on anything and anyone. This kind of objectification of woman
through advertisements has been happening since the very beginning and must be put to an end

Written task

From : NationalOrgWomen@gmail.com

To : HeadOfAdvertisers@gmail.com

CC : BurgerKingAdvertiser@gmail.com , AmericanApparel@gmail.com

Subject : Discrimination of females through advertisements

Greetings,

I am writing to you as the head of the National Organization for women where our aim is to focus on
women equal rights and femininity. Our organization was founded since 1966 and our aim has always
been to look for and make an important social change towards the objectification of women. We are the
voice of the society of women but are yet to be heard. I am writing this to you to hopefully make a
change in the perception of women in the media, in this case the media of advertising.

Women has always been considered lower than men since the beginning of time, discrimination has
existed for as long as we can remember, however us women tolerated that disrespect at first but it has
evolved into an insufferable and contempt treatment. Nowadays, people view us women as secondary
to men, worthless, arousing tools etc which is very disrespectful. The media has a major influence on
this as they shape the mindset of the audience, this could range from subtle things such as gender
stereotyping kids to certain activities to a more noticeable sexist advertisement. Where does it stop?

In 2013, the advertisement of the American Apparel was published, it is an advertisement for men’s
flannels. The first thing people look at is the half-naked woman exposing almost all of her skin to attract
and arouse men. Her breasts are barely being covered by the flannel and her seductive facial expression
will attract the attention of many men, the facial expression and her pose is screaming “I can pleasure
you” which is exactly what every men wants, to demean women. This creates a disgraceful image for the
perception of women as it further supports that we are nothing but pleasing tools to be used on
command. Her hands are on top of her head as if to say “I can be yours” if they purchase the clothing
brand, this is objectifying women and is unacceptable, this advertisement is indicating that if any male
were to purchase this flannel, a female would be ready for them as if she comes with the clothing as a
package which indicates she is an object that can be purchased. The picture of the man on the left is to
show that if guys dress up like him, they can get any woman they want within a snap of a finger.

Now these are the kind of advertisements unintentionally shape mindset of viewers, this mindset would
stick with the younger audiences as they grow up. The mindset of seeing women as men’s pets and sex
toys is not only disrespectful and degrading, but also it is wounding and infuriating to be viewed that
way. We lose so much of our dignity and value through such advertisements, it strips us of our identity
and there’s nothing we can do about it because we don’t have a voice. The sexist advertisements
exacerbates the perception of society on us

How hard is it to treat women equal to men? It seems as if this is an impossible task, We are human
beings too, just because we are biologically at a disadvantage in terms of strength, it does not mean we
should be treated with less respect. Is that what women have been shaped to be now? To be viewed as
an emotionless entity that can perform sexual activities on command?

It is not only men that are the main cause for this but many women too, some women like to be labeled
as sexy, seductive and good at arousing men which just demeans them. They don’t realize but this ruins
society’s perception on valuable women, we are seen as walking robots where our only purpose is to
please and obey men

Another advertisement that dehumanizes women is the Burger king advertisement released in 2009, it
depicts such a straightforward sexual reference as the woman has her mouth wide open ready to have a
seven inch sandwich shoved down her throat, this just screams “sex toy” for men. Her face has a
surprised reaction to show that she likes long male private parts, her mouth is wide open, and the word
“Blow” is used to signify a blowjob implying that she is ready to conduct oral sex immediately which is
absolutely dreadful.

To add insult to injury, they have added a woman who appears to be naked holding this advertisement,
her arms are exposed to show that she is not using any clothing and her nails are painted red to attract
attention as usually, single women who are looking for a partner would use the color red to catch the
eye. It depicts that women serve only one purpose in life and that is to be submissive to men, a woman
should be appreciated for who they are, not for what curves they have on their body. Sex is supposed to
be an intimate action with a special partner, however it is being portrayed as if women are willing to
conduct that act with any counterpart
Enough is enough, we cannot keep tolerating this kind of treatment, it will keep escalating until
eventually it causes even more major problems. This kind of treatment can put women into deep
depression and worst case scenario; suicide. This may seem as an exaggeration but it is bound to
happen if nothing is being done to avoid this

I am demanding you as representative of the voice of all women that you put an end to this criminal act
and start embracing women for more than just their body. The next time you publish an advertisement,
contemplate on how this may influence the mindset of the millions of people it is being published to. It
is not impossible to advertise your product through different methods that are respectful

We want you take this into consideration and bring us justice in the future

With appreciation,

(Name)

The Head of the National Organization of women

Works cited

tanjiatsfuca, Author: et al. “#NotBuyingIt: Super Bowl Commercials and Sexism.” cmns324, 3
Dec. 2016, cmns324.wordpress.com/2016/12/02/notbuyingit-super-bowl-commercials-
and-sexism/.

“Pin on #NotBuyingIt.” Pinterest, id.pinterest.com/pin/242772236136993787/.