The male gaze? How women are portrayed as sexual objects in
advertisements such as Armani’s ‘The Tip’
Women are always seen as objects while men are seen as subjects and
passive characters that in the past were "symbolically annihilated"
as in they were under represented in advertising.
This investigation will explain how female stereotypes are subverted or
reinforced, and how this method of sexualisation has an impact on society and
if it influences female consumer’s lifestyle.
The September 2010
Armani commercial called 'The Tip' starring Megan Fox is a perfect
example of over sexualisation in advertising. As producers use a variety of
shots to enhance the sexualisation of Hollywood actress Megan Fox therefore 'Advertisers assume that the use of sexy
models in promotional messages is what appeals to countless individuals
due to how the model is portrayed (Monk-Turner et al., 2007)'[1],
this is shown in ‘The Tip’ firstly
this is done by the use of a long shot of Megan fox capturing her
whole body into the camera creating a male gaze which allows males to fantasise
over the female actress and portraying the female actress as a sexual object.
Moreover different camera angles are used in advertisements to enhance
the representation of females in advertising, however these representations are
not always negative for instance a high angle shot is used to make Megan Fox
seem more superior compared to the male who’s looked down at from a high angle shot
pushing the trolley. Followed on by a use of a close up of shot of the
male waiters hand shaking whilst picking up the spoon shows that the female
character is more dominant within this shot breaking the patriarchal stereotype
as the man is seen as doing the work which is rarely seen across advertising.
Megan Fox is seen in a close up on the side of her face fixing her collars in a
masculine way this again shows that she is playing the dominant role in the
advert which is very unlikely as the male usually plays that role. In addition
to this Megan Fox is the first person to speak whilst a close up on the
male characters face shows his nervousness and highlighting Megan Fox’s
dominance, breaking dominant ideologies and post traditional values this
positive. This representation is also shown in ‘South African advert for
She-bear lingerie in 1999, for example, featured an attractive young white
woman wearing only her lingerie and a nun's habit and rosary. The slogan,
'Wear it for yourself', ties the brand identity to women who dress for
themselves rather than for men’[2]
this quote is showing that
females positions have now started to change from a ‘recent past, women's
cooking or domestic cleanliness or interior design skills were the focus
of advertisers' attention’[4] to now a more equal to men representation and showing
that women are not always portrayed as sexual objects, they are also portrayed
positively.
Furthermore although some cameras add a positive representation to
females, different camera angles also portray females as sexual objects in
advertisement. This is shown in ‘The tip’ by the use of a close up on the protagonist Megan
Fox bottom whilst putting on her jeans allows the audiences to recognise the
Armani logo and reinforcing to the audience that the advert is for Armani.
Moreover the advertisement is follow up by another close up at her chest
again creating a male gaze for males to look at and desire, this related to
Blumler and Katz uses and gratification theory as the media text provides
escapism as well as entertainment as audiences forget stresses and strains of
the outside world. This method of close up is used in ‘Many advertisements do depict women
with either alluring behavior or exposing some or the majority of
their bodies, which contributes to the consumers ability to
remember brand/product (Monk-Turner et al., 2007).’ [5]
this
quote shows that institutions present females as sexual objects in
advertisements as it is an effective way to catch audience’s attention and get
them to remember the product.
Moreover females are represented are sexual objects in advertisement
this is shown in ‘The tip’ as the female fattale in this commercial opens the
door half naked in just her bra and knickers this allows male audiences can
fantasise sexual thoughts over the females body. However it can also be
argued that this commercial is challenging the gender stereotypes as
females are usually seen as not wearing clothes or removing their clothes but
in this particular advert the female is putting clothes on showing that females
are now starting to cover up and are no longer subjects but objects. On the
other hand radical feminists would argue that woman are still always
represented and still seen as being sexually exploited and are seen as being
nothing more than just providing the next generation, Kilbourne (2002) suggested that the
dismemberment of women is a monstrous problem in advertising. Dismemberment ads
focus on one part of the body e.g. a womans breasts[3] again reinforcing typical stereotypes of female sexualisation in
advertising.
However although females are represented negatively there are also some
positive representation. For instance in ‘The tip’ advert we can see it
reflects a matriarchal society as the female protagonist is shown as being
dominant and powerful. This is shown as the male in the advert is shown as a
waiter and the connotations attached to a waiter are someone who takes orders
and does as they are told. Moreover the advert represents males as 'perverts'
as the male actor purposely drops the napkin to see where the 'sexy female' is
and to look and admire, again reinforcing the fact that females are sexual
objects that are in advertisements just for the male gaze. This idea of sexualisation
is now seen as the nature of advertisement and a promotion method that woman
are almost always represented sexually so it's now seen as a norm this is shown
in ‘The tip’ as the female protagonist Megan Fox smiles as she notices the
waiter is looking at her and she decides to smile back this shows that she
enjoys the attention of being seen in a sexualised way. Towards the end of the
advert the waiter rejects the tips and replies saying 'thank you' from this we
can see that Megan Fox was putting on some sort of sexual show and being a
sexual object, this relates to the Uses and Gratification of escapism and
entertainment keeping the main target audience of males engaged in what is
going on in the advert and forget about what is going on around them.
Megan Fox is seen role model and known for her looks and how beautiful she is, this then leads to aspirational audiences wanting to be like her and be sexual objects. Therefore audiences are ‘dumbed down’ to believe in Lacans mirror theory and begin to think by buying Armani jeans they would have the same impact on other males the same way Megan Fox was seen as ‘sexy’ to the waiter in ‘The tip’ advert.
Females’ which are represented as sexual objects in advertisements has had
a huge impact on how younger audiences look at themselves in society. For
instance Lacans theory of ‘the
mirror’ is the idea that people in society reflect what they see from
the media. He argues that younger audiences recognises females body and image
in advertising and begin to think about how others perceive them, this then
results in younger audiences modifying their appearance to satisfy their perceptions
of how others see them and like females in advertisements, young females also
want to be seen as sexual objects. Mulvey extends this idea when she writes
about ‘the silver screen’ which she suggest operates like a metaphorical
mirror; reflecting back to the female viewer representations of female
identity, but these representations are not genuine reflections of the viewer
but rather male perceptions of idealised femininity.
In addition another advertisement where females are portrayed as sexual
objects is Keira Knightly Coco Chanel advert. The female protagonist is
represented as a sexual object again by the use of camera angles. The advert
starts with a high angle shot looking down at the well-known female in the
advert 'Keira Knightly' this shows dominance and power to the audience and
showing the female as being powerless as she is being looked down upon. The
advert is then followed on up by a close up shot to the female fatale’s behind
creating a male gaze for men to use their imagination and creating an enigma and a fantasy in their
minds and representing the Hollywood star as a sexual object. However earlier on
in this advert typical stereotypes of females are subverted as she is
dressed revealing very little skin.
However later on in the advert typical stereotypes of females being
represented as sexual objects is reinforced as the male owns the photo shoot
and is in charge this showing hegemonic power and that the male in the advert
is the dominant ideology. The advert is then followed on up by a close up to
the females lips as she puts on lip gloss creating seduction to the male
audience and creating a male gaze. The advert then follows on up with the male taking
photos while the females carries out sexual poses this reinforces that females
are sexual objects. The male protagonist is then looking down at the female
fatale while she undresses herself showing that he's in control and in charge.
She then undresses herself creating a male gaze while the male is still in
clothes showing that she is weaker than the male.
However towards the end of the advert Keira Knightly then escapes and leaves the male standing with his shirt undone and this time she is dressed showing the female as being more powerful than the male and now the male is the object while the female is the subject. However feminists would argue that there is still unequal power share between the male and female. The soundtrack used in the advert 'it’s a man's world' again reinforces that male are more powerful and are the subjects.
However in contrast to the
historical Levi’s advert (1995) I analysed there has not been great change
in woman’s position and the way they are over sexualised. Firstly the advert
starts off with a long shot this is used to catch a whole image of the setting
of the petrol station. Followed on with the female trying to enter the women’s
toilets, however it is locked, she then walks into the men’s toilet being an
easy target for males and for sexual events to be carried out. The male drops
his stick and there’s a close up on the stick and his hand not being able to
pick up the stick on his first attempt indicates that he's blind.
Following onto quick shots of the female getting undressed to change her
identity and creating a male gaze. She then walks up to the blind man which is
eye level with the woman’s vagina with her buttons undone creating an enigma of
mystery of what will happen next and representing the female as sexual object,
she is then looking down at the male almost showing that she’s in control and
has power to do what she wants, however instead of any sexual activities taking
place she does her buttons up challenging the typical stereotypes. Moving on to
someone who makes a noise in the toilets, she then escapes having a quick look
back at the man again creating a enigma of what would of happened if that
person was not in the toilet. The advert also uses humour as throughout the
advert the man with the stick is assumed to be blind however it turns out to be
the man who comes out the toilet is actually the blind person therefore it’s as
if she was almost performing for the male while he just sat there and
reinforcing the fact that ‘women are
sexual objects that are around just to please men’[4].
The reason for producers to include sexuality is because ‘more and more ads are made to look sexual
because the new motto is “sex sells”(9) from this quote we can understand
that institutions main idea is to make profit and as a result the best way to promote
a product is by sexualising women and representing them as sexual objects. Furthermore ‘advertisers know that sexy woman appeal to men, so they use their
image to get males to buy certain products’[5]
as male audiences due to the media see females as sexual objects and may
want their wives or girlfriends to be ‘sexy’ and as a result buy certain
products which they believe may make them more attractive.
However although women are represented sexually, it is not only females
that are represented sexually, along with females men are also represented
sexually in advertising. As shown in the diet coke advert as the advert starts
off with woman informing each other about their 11.30 break, this is breaks
typical stereotypes as women are at work rather than at home playing the
expressive role. A repetition of ‘a diet break’ makes it simple for audiences
to know that the commercial is a diet coke advert. The females then gather up
by the window look out at the construction workers. There is then a close up to
the one of the females face and from the facial expression you can see that she
is happy with what she is looking at, the male protagonist then removes his
t-shirt showing sexualisation as audiences can look and admire the male’s
muscular and manly body. The advert then follows up with an aerial shot looking
down at the male this allows audiences to see the male from their point of
view. One of the females then quotes’ see you tomorrow’ and the other follows
up with a reply saying ’11.30’ this shows that watching the male target is like
watching a show and that females get pleasure out of watching the male.
Moreover the soundtrack used in the advert lyrics say ‘I just want to make love
to you’ shows that he is seen as an sexual object for females to carry out
sexual activities on.
In
addition Marxist believe that we live in a capitalist society where the ruling
class exploit the working class and use the working class in order to help them
make profit. This is reflected across Megan Fox’s advert as she is helping
promote a product of the bourgeoisie as ‘" Pro-feminist cultural critics such as
Robert Jensen and Sut Jhally accuse mass media and
advertising of promoting the objectification of women to help promote goods and
services"[6] as a result these products appeal to their audiences through
sexualisation and ‘“as
the hypodermic needle theory suggests that audiences are affected by what they
see in the media”[7] and believe what they see in media texts. According to Megan Fox’s Armani
advert audiences would believe that by wearing Armani they will be just as
attractive as the Hollywood actress as a result audiences are ‘dumbed down’ to
believe what they see. However feminists would argue that the exploitation of
women in advertising has led to society think that women are sexual objects. Feminists argue that
because advertisers have historically been sexist white males who are members
of the patriarchy and participants in the capitalist system, they have used
advertising as yet another instrument to oppress women. [8]
The increase in sexualisation has led to a moral panic of young girls.
As young girls are influenced by the media to have a ‘sexy body’ These adds overtly and covertly encourage a
women to view her body as many individual pieces rather than a whole[9] furthermore
if a women has less than satisfactory
legs, then her potential for beauty is spoiled[10].
Furthermore clothing that are now sold in society are showing that ‘Young girls are “adultified” and
adult women are “youthified”[11] as young girls have clothes such as
jeggings which show off females body image making females concerned about their
body from a young age. Furthermore due to adverts such as ‘The tip’ ‘young girls in fact compare their physical
attractiveness to models feautured in advertising’[12]
Bibliography
Work
Cited:
Newspaper and magazines and articles
Living
in a Sexualised Society
Lady Lumps and Growing Up to Want
Boobies: How the Sexualisation of Popular Culture Limits Girls’ Horizons
Applying Evolutionary Psychology in
Understanding the Representation of Women in Advertisements
Jensen.
R (1998), pg 213
Super sexualise me
article
Internet
Thompson,
D. Hyperdermic needle theory. (2011)
– http://prezi.com/7x999ogdbu68/hyperdermic-needle-theory
Work
Consulted:
Newspaper and magazines and articles
Super
sexualise me article
Pin-ups in public
spaceSexist outdoor advertising as sexual harassment
advertising and
body image article
Applying
Evolutionary Psychology in Understanding the Representation
of Women in Advertisements:
Lady Lumps and
Growing Up to Want Boobies: How the Sexualisation of Popular
Culture Limits Girls’ Horizons:
Living in a
Sexualised Society
Sexual objectification of women (2010)
Internet
Thompson,
D. Hyperdermic needle theory. (2011)
– http://prezi.com/7x999ogdbu68/hyperdermic-needle-theory
[1] http://psych.hanover.edu/research/Thesis11/papers/WalkerEffectsofSexualizationinAdvertisements.pdf-
[6] Jensen. R (1998), pg 213
[7] Thompson, D. Hyperdermic
needle theory. (2011) – http://prezi.com/7x999ogdbu68/hyperdermic-needle-theory
[11] Lady Lumps and Growing Up to Want
Boobies: How the Sexualisation of Popular Culture Limits Girls’ Horizons
