Should we find some ads of women offensive?
In class this week we were discussing how women try so hard to be someone other than the person they really are. We see beautiful women in magazine ads that are tall & so skinny its like skin & bone. The perfect person seems to always be the person we want to be, when in reality that person does not even exist.
From when we were little we were shown the "perfect person." We all played with Barbies, and they were all blonde, tall, skinny, & all around perfect. She even had the hot boyfriend! Then as we get older, we pay more attention to shows like The Hills (one of my favorite shows) where all the people are these perfect people, who have fun lives, & live in the heart of California. I know that I try to copy outfits and hairstyles from the show. We love to be like the famous people we see on TV. We figure that if they can look good, so can we.
Getting back to the idea of offensive ads, for me, when I see these ads that are "offensive" I don't get offended. It really does not bother me, seeing skinny women & the perfect doll or stars getting photo shopped for their photo shoots. Yes, women are used a lot to look sexy & whatever, but if those ads weren't like that would you find yourself buying that product? I don't know.. maybe it's because I am pretty slender & I don't have a problem with my appearance and that's why I don't get offended. I understand why some people
would be upset though and for those people I would tell them that if they find serious offensives by
those ads they should try finding products they can support, like Dove which supports self esteem.
i agree to some extent. I can understand why some people would feel like those ads where offensive, but i can also see like how you feel that the ads were not offensive. I personally think that the ads are using sex to sell which is what most companies to to advertise because sex sells products.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you, I don't get too offended by the ads either. I'm not super slender like you but I am an athlete and I'm comfortable with myself for who I am. As long as I feel healthy why would I care how others judge me? The media isn't purposefully hurting girls with low confidence, they are simply trying to sell products.
ReplyDeleteI agree that advertising is a business and its purpose is to sell. Likewise, sociology is to understand how we are affected by society and its purpose is understanding. So what we are saying here is simply that sociology sees that we are being affected by these ads - sometimes the effects are to get us to purchase (manifest) but sometimes the effects are to decrease self esteem and increase eating disorders, unhealthy sense of self, and increased disease (latent effects). However, I would also add that sociology sees this dynamic and realizes that the ads are not just selling product they are also selling ideas - ideas like this is how you should look, this is what makes you beautiful etc...So don't see this as an attack on advertising see it more of an analysis of advertising that goes beyond studying the purchasing of goods. We don't live in a vaccuum - all of these things are connected.
ReplyDeleteP.s.
ReplyDeleteSo i guess what I am saying is not whether it bothers you or not, but whether you can see the influence that the ads have on society.?