Deconstructing Sex and Gender Stereotypes in Modern Advertising

This essay critically examines the representation of sex and gender in contemporary advertising, drawing on examples from various media sources. It discusses how advertising often perpetuates gender stereotypes, portraying men as strong and powerful while objectifying women. The analysis includes examples from Maxi-milk advertisements, perfume commercials, and lipstick ads, highlighting both overt and subtle forms of sexism. The essay concludes that while advertising has made some progress in promoting gender equality, subtle biases and objectification persist, requiring continued critical evaluation. Desklib offers a range of study tools and solved assignments for students.

Running head: SEX AND GENDER
Sex and gender
Name of the student:
Name of the University:
Author note

1SEX AND GENDER
Advertisement is certainly one of the best medium that aids the brands and products to
reach to the new prospect buyers. Since the beginning of the era of the advertising plenty of
changes has taken place; however, one of thing that remained unchanged is the unrealistic
portrayal of the women and men in the advertisement. Sexism and the advertisement has long
close relation and till now it is often observed that man are being portrayed as the brave, strong
and powerful superman (Crtese 2015) whereas women are manifested as the well-shaped,
beautiful sex object. In present day manifestation of the sexism though not present in its startling
form; however it is present in subtle form till now.
Consider the add published by the Maxi-milk it can be seen that the brand is selling
energy drink that is beneficial for enhancing the body muscles and comes with high protein
without any fat. The only character that can be seen in the ad is a man who is hanging from the
edge of a mountain showcasing his muscular body. The ad clearly entails that it is targeted
towards the men because the ad provides its main focus only on the man and absence of any
female character highlights the same (Lerwill 2018). Analyzing the ad further it can be envisaged
that the only character in the ad is drinking the product and it is the presence of man as the main
character in the ad highlights the masculinity actively. The ad is clearly gender biased because it
has assumed that only men are entitled to have good physic and energy drink the promoted good
are only meant to consume by the males. It provides them strength, hardness, ability to hang
even from the edge of a mountain and on the other hand absence of the female counterpart
clearly barks out that the product is not for women. However, it may not be the case because the
saleable is not gender biased, but the ad is; the product can be consumed by both the men and
women and it makes the presence of only a single insignificant and manifest sexism in ad world
in the 21st century (Smith 2018).

2SEX AND GENDER
Moving forward, if another example from the BBC news can be chosen, then it will
highlights that the perfume world is one of the place where gender biasness is very less. Though
it was not long back, when perfume ads were flooded with the beautiful well tone ladies;
however in present day, both men and women are introduced to this type o ads (Bridges 2016).
The selected article highlights that there is one male and many female characters present
(Johnston 2018). Presence of both the men and women highlight that the target audience are both
the gender and both of them are portrayed in such a way that it can woo the customers to have it.
So, isn’t there any sexism in this ad; yes there is. The male part was wearing a suit, whereas the
female counterpart is being portrayed with a sleeveless dress that allows the spectator to explore
the beauty of the women. The ad highlights that men are good with the perfume and good dress;
however, when it comes to ladies, then explosive dress along with the saleable can be proved to
be outstanding.
Lastly from the publication of the Evening Standard, it can be seen that female are bring
portrayed as the sex toy by the men whose sole purpose is to satisfy the men.. Though the
saleable in this add is lipstick, however through portraying the little girl with a sex appeal
promotes the product to a high extent (Evening Standard 2018). Main character of this add is the
ladies, who are required to promote what the ad is meant to; however, portraying them as a sex
object was not necessary. Disparity between the men and women clothing highlights the ad
maker has diferent set of rule to promote the saleable and when it comes to promotion, then act
of sexism is the best try.
To conclude, it can be stated that rcent magazine articles or newspaper report are indulged into
the trap of sexism; however the ad has become matured that promote both the men and women
not only to ehance targeted audience, moreover to add something extra to the brand.

3SEX AND GENDER
Reference:
Bridgers, K.A., 2016. More Than Skin Deep: An Examination Of The Negative Effects of
Advertising On Women (Doctoral dissertation, The University of Mississippi).
Cortese, A.J., 2015. Provocateur: Images of women and minorities in advertising. Rowman &
Littlefield.
Evening Standard. (2018). Racist, sexist, rude, crude and dishonest: the golden age of Madison.
[online] Available at: https://www.standard.co.uk/lifestyle/london-life/racist-sexist-rude-crude-
and-dishonest-the-golden-age-of-madison-avenue-because-innocence-is-sexier-10017960.html
[Accessed 4 Apr. 2018].
Johnston, C. (2018). Are big brand perfumes losing their allure?. [online] BBC News. Available
at: http://www.bbc.com/news/business-41339121 [Accessed 4 Apr. 2018].
Lerwill, S. (2018). Maximuscle Maxi-Milk | Sean Lerwill. [online] Available at:
http://www.seanlerwill.com/maximuscle-maxi-milk/ [Accessed 4 Apr. 2018].
Smith, A., 2018. Gender in" crisis", everyday sexism and the Twittersphere. Crisis and the
Media: Narratives of crisis across cultural settings an