Sexism in Advertising

Gucci ads (source: mtr, 2010)

Before I further discuss about the issue of sexism in advertising, there is a need to define 'sexism' first. 'Sexism' is a form of discrimination based on gender (Smith, 2010). Discrimination, on the other hand, refers to treating someone in a less favourable way (Alexis, 2010). Therefore, sexism means an action of treating someone in a less favourable way based on gender.

In advertising, sexism is often related to the use of female role stereotypes. As mentioned by Perera (2010), football advertisement as an example, women are often being viewed as stupid, incapable of understanding basic concepts and having no participation in the sport just because of their sex. Women are seldom being pictured in high level professional roles but often associated with supportive and subordinate roles to men (Plakoyiannaki et al, 2008).

Another article found on BeyondJane talks on how sexism is still being portrayed in the media. The article, by shhark (2010) mentioned several ads that clearly show discrimination towards women. It mentioned how some fashion designers broad casted some sexist ads that describe women as weak and fragile. An example of ads being mentioned in the article is from Gucci which portrayed an emotionless looking woman on the ground with a man walking over her. sshark (2010) reviewed it as promoting domestic violence and sexual assault against women. 

There are countless ads that shows discrimination towards women. As a viewer, wouldn't you be angry looking at all these ads? As a viewer, especially as a female viewer, I am angry looking at all those ads. Like what Perera (2010) wrote for her title of her article, it's time to kick sexism our of advertising.

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References 

Alexis, W 2010, 'What is Discrimination?', WiseGeek, viewed 11 November 2010, from <http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-discrimination.htm>

Perera, K 2010, 'Time to kick sexism our of advertising', guardian.co.uk, viewed 11 November 2010, from <http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/jun/29/kick-sexism-out-of-advertising>

Plakoyiannaki, E, Mathioudaki, K, Dimitratos, P and Zotos, Y 2008, 'Images of Women in Online Advertisements of Global Products: Does Sexism Exist?', in Journal of Business Ethics, vol.83, no.1, viewed 11 November 2010, from <http://www.springerlink.com/content/h34647512786260k/fulltext.pdf>

 Smith, S.E 2010, 'What is Sexism?', WiseGeek, viewed 11 November 2010, from <http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-sexism.htm>

Sshark 2010, 'Sexism in Advertising', BeyondJane, 28 March, viewed 11 November 2010, from <http://beyondjane.com/women/sexism-in-advertising/>