Print Ads and Women’s Psychology

According to print advertisements found in mainstream magazines like Cosmopolitan, In Style and Seventeen, to be feminine is to be a contrast between sex object and mother, adult and child, dominatrix and slave.  These advertisements serve to perpetuate stereotypes of women as sexual, submissive and as nurturers. 

In our society women are portrayed as sexual objects in all forms of media.  Mass media depict women as sexual objects whose sole function is to sexually satisfy men and whose own welfare is irrelevant as long as men are satisfied. This is especially apparent in print ads where women are found virtually nude, often selling products which can have little to do with sex.  For example, in In Style magazine I found an advertisement for Valentino[1], which I assume is a ritzy clothing maker. But instead of using a simple picture of their product, Valentino used a naked woman holding up a picture of another woman holding a purse.  The purse could just have easily been shown by itself in the advertisement.  Another example of this is a Skyy Vodka[2] advertisement where a woman can be seen lying across the laps of three men who are drinking the advertised product and looking at her body.  She is canted, postured in such a way that she appears submissive and should be uncomfortable but instead we see her smiling up at those three men, her mouth open, presumably to drink the vodka.  One example I found in Cosmo magazine was an ad for plastic surgery[3] which reads “You won’t just turn heads, you’ll break necks” and there is a picture of a woman in a bikini.  The woman in this advertisement is not just an object of sexual desire, she has surgically altered her body to be that object and is encouraging other women to do the same. 

In my opinion portraying women solely as sexual objects is wrong and perpetuates stereotypes which are untrue but at least the women above are for the most part mature adults.  One frightening trend is the use of childlike models in advertisements and/or the portrayal of adult models in childlike poses.  One such advertisement, a Nordstrom’s ad[4] which I found in In Style, shows a young model in a bikini.  She is very thin, standing up straight and facing the camera in a pose not often seen of women but she has her hand up by her mouth, lending her a playful quality.  She also has her hips thrust slightly forward, standing as a young girl might stand.  This would be an example of clowning, as the advertisement suggests that this woman is childish.  Another ad I found was a La Perla[5] advertisement.  La Perla makes bikinis and other lingerie items and so uses models who are often dressed in skimpy attire.  What I found particularly disturbing about this ad was its resemblance to child pornography.  In the ad we see a very young model reclining on a chair and dressed in a string bikini.  Her lips are pouted and her hair is short and curly.  Her appearance suggests she is young and indeed, she appears only fourteen or fifteen.  The last advertisement I found was for a Gucci Perfume[6].  In the ad there is a young, female model staring at the camera, her lips full and pouting and a look of defiance in her eyes.  Although the photographer had the good taste to shield her thin, underdeveloped body from us the image we are presented with is still a sexual one.  These sorts of advertisements may not be illegal but are they right?  I would say no. I don’t know that any studies have been done to see if there is a correlation between children being viewed as sexual objects in print media and molestation/incest in society but I would not be surprised if there was such a correlation.  Once our society begins to see children as sexual objects – like our society views women – children may very well become the targets of increased sexual assault.

Speaking on the depressing issue of sexual assault, there was another thing I noticed while pawing through a variety of women’s magazines.  I found a number of ads in which women are in situations reminiscent of rape, or at least of extreme submission.  One of these was not actually an advertisement but a title page for a Cosmo article entitled “50 Sex Tricks No Guy Can Resist.”[7]  The picture is shot from behind a man who we can only see as a shadowy figure most likely reclining in a chair.  Through his arm we can a woman in a state of undress, holding a frilly pink top to her otherwise bare chest.  This reminded me of a rape scene because of her defensive pose and the sinister quality of the man in the shadows.  The woman certainly does not appear at ease.  The other advertisement is for Moschino[8] clothing.  Here we see a woman working at the front desk in a seedy hotel.  She is all alone and looking very innocent.  We can tell by the darkness of the room that the hour is late and she is alone.  The eerie quality of this advertisement comes from the model’s eyes because the camera wants us to think she is staring into the eyes of a man.  If what we are seeing is true then the woman is in a very vulnerable position.  This advertisement reminds me of a rape scenario because the model looks so unsure of herself and judging by her skimpy attire and fragile body she is unable to defend herself against anyone who might take advantage of her.  Another advertisement I found, this one not of rape but rather portraying women as submissive is from Calvin Klein[9].  We see a model lying on a rug, her head canted, dressed only in a sheer bra and panties.  She is looking up into the camera, a truly submissive pose, and her nipples are visible through the thin fabric.  Her nails are digging into the carpet and, of course, to top it off she is very young.  This girl’s purpose is to please whoever is taking the photo of her.

The last theme I am going to discuss is women’s role as nurturer.  Now, there is nothing wrong with a woman being nurturing. In fact, I believe that motherhood is a beautiful thing and one of the coolest events I shall ever hope to experience.  But that is not the point.  The point is that it is not a woman’s role in life to be a ‘nurturer’.  A woman should not be forced into such a role solely because of how her gender is perceived in society.  Although women today are much more involved in the workforce and continue to break down gender stereotypes I found a few advertisements in Cosmo which emphasized women as nurturers.  The first of the nurturing ads I found was for a Chrysler[10] minivan.  The advertisement has two pictures of a mother and young son exploring the car together.  She has her hand on his back, supporting his efforts in discovering everything he can about the car.  Now, what is important about this ad is that the mother is the only parent present.  The father does not appear to have any role in nurturing the child.  The other ad is for maternity clothing at Target[11].  The father is suspiciously absent but what caught my attention was the woman’s smiling face.  “This is the best thing in the world” she appears to be thinking.  Hey, maybe it is but do women need to be constantly told that? Can they not make the decision to rear the children over working without the help of mainstream media?  My opinion of it is that women are too often told what to look like, how to behave and basically, who to be.  The last thing they need is the convenient stereotype of nurturer which forces them to take on responsibilities which should be shared equally between two parents. 

Looking at these print advertisements it is easy for me to see why these stereotypes continue to be accepted by our society.  When everywhere we look these images of women are visually reinforced how can we dismiss them as untrue? Are these advertisements an accurate representation of women in society?  The thing about these advertisements is that they do not accurately represent women, their bodies or goals.  The women we see in advertising today represent a small fraction of the population with their size 0 figures and facial symmetry.  And to top it off, any imperfections they do have are airbrushed right out of existence!  We very rarely see ads with women of different body types or with visible imperfections like stretch marks or acne.  According to these ads the average woman is 5’9”, thin-hipped, big-busted and drop-dead gorgeous.  She is obsessed with her body, her youth and how she can make herself look nice so as to please her man.  But at the same time she is the one looking after the children, not the man.   

What must all these conflicting images do for a woman’s psyche?  The contrasting images presented - woman as sexual object, woman as mother - leave little time for women to figure out what they want to achieve for themselves.  In fact, these images present the impossible.  The models are super-thin, even those modeling maternity clothing!  I certainly don’t think I could ever maintain the perfect body image, raise my kids and have time for anything more!  On a more somber note, it is also quite daunting to see advertisements which portray women as sexual victims.  These stereotypes are not something to just brush off; they are having an effect on women in our society.  My best guess is that seeing this kind of violent imagery keeps some women from spreading their wings, let alone reaching their full potential.   To live in a society where your worth is measured by your dress size is a scary thing when you think about it for a while.