SEX IN ADVERTISING

      It has been said that sex sells, this is especially true when it comes to the world of advertising. Sex in advertising is mostly portrayed through gender stereotypes found in various adds and commercials. Although men and woman are both depicted sexually in advertising, woman are used more than men, when it comes to using sex as a selling point. Woman are usually depicted as submissive sex objects from adds promoting hamburgers or beer to shampoo and lingerie. Our media  effectively uses women's sexuality to fuel interest within consumers.

     However, it was not always been as blatant as it is in today's modern media circuit. In the 1950's many woman were always portrayed as the skinny white dark haired housewife. Even though the stereotypical housewife was not shown in a  sexually graphic manor, sex was still implied while depicting the housewife. She was always imaged as, submissive, helpless, or pictured as an object that could be dominated. Her sexuality was subtle but still screaming out that she could be submissive to a man and that she could be dominated. As time has progressed the woman's sexuality as been amplified, exploited, and is more widely accepted by the public. In the 1950's it never would have been acceptable for the media to show two woman wrestling in a fountain, tearing each others clothes, arguing over which beer is better. Now in modern times we find this so entertaining that commercials like these often make their way to prime time. This type of commercial is considered normal for prim time TV. Even though the actresses in the commercial are portraying the stereotypical role of the woman being shown as a sex object, many people still loved the commercial and it was popular with many audiences. It seems that society is more open to sexual freedom so much that sex is now one of the main factors used in advertising. While watching television during the most popular time slots all you can see is commercials that use sex and woman to promote their products. It is funny to me to see that woman making a sexual gesture to a hamburger would help Carl's Jr. sell hamburger and that a woman posing nude with a shoe would help sell the shoe. We all know that sex has very little to do with hamburgers or shoes but somehow the advertisers make this happen and are able to sell behind these types of campaigns. The question i ask myself is what will they come up with next? One day we will we turn on the television and see completely nude people performing sexual acts to sell us the next new energy drink. So i guess it is true that sex sells because we definitely don't mind seeing woman exploited when it comes to advertising.