Essay on Advertising and the Womens Movement - 1942 Words

Avoiding eye contact and cowering with her legs together, Aphrodite’s naked pudica pose in the Venus de Medici ironically calls attention to the areas that she is trying hide, her breast and genitals (fig. 1). The futile attempts to hide her anatomy would be insignificant if not for the pudica’s contrasting counterpart, the male contrapposto pose, shown in figure 2. The nude male stands in a confident upright posture with his head held high and penis proudly exposed. In ancient Greece a man’s penis was a symbol of his strength, intelligence and authority, whereas pudica, â€Å"pudendus,† in Latin, means female genitalia and shame. According to Etienne Walla, an expert of Law, and Elisha Renne, who has a Ph.D. in Anthropology, evidence suggests†¦show more content†¦Explained by Jeanne van Eeden, a professor in the Visual Arts Department at the University of Pretoria South Africa, advertising in capitalistic societies has a tremendous role in shapin g how people view the world they live in (Eeden 3). She goes on to say, â€Å"Advertising images†¦stem from sets of power relations and enlist cultural codes, stereotypes, myths and ideologies in their social production of meaning† (Eeden 3). In other words, modern advertising reflects cultural class systems. Therefore, the poststructural feminist argument made by art historian Eunice Lipton that women did not form their own identities because they were not allowed to participate in art history, supports the idea that reoccurring images of women like the pudica pose created strict ‘feminine’ standards based on male expectations (Lipton 10). Even though women were enjoying the same freedoms as men, by the 1970s the obsessive preoccupation with the female body that took over American media made it apparent that the impact of long-standing male dominance had already corrupted the female psyche. In order to appreciate the dramatic challenge faced by the Women’s Movement throughout the 1960s it’s important to know the extent that the flagrant and unapologetic misogynist atmosphere had on U.S. advertising. Women were still portrayed with the passive nature of the Medici Venus; however a direct gazeShow MoreRelatedIdentity : Social Identity And Self Identity Essay1640 Words   |  7 Pagesp370). Advertising plays an important role in constructing ideologies and social expectation in society, which has a large influences on what people consider as their gender identity. Ideologies exist solely because the society chooses to believe it, as it is how we make sense of the world (O’shaughnessy Stadler, 2012, p371). This essay will focus on three advertisements and discuss how advertising influences and reflects women’s gender identity from the period 1950s to 2014. Advertising and genderRead MoreWhat A Woman Is Not Born, By Simone De Beauvoir Essay1246 Words   |  5 PagesSupersexualize Me!: Advertising and the ‘Midriffs’, she discusses how advertisements are a major factor in shaping our views on what is masculine and feminine (2007, 95). In this essay, I will compare each chapters’ arguments, this includes power and femininity and who is to blame for disciplining women’s bodies to fit a narrow spectrum of femininity; and the similarities of the arguments when discussing how femininity is being shown in the size, movement and appearance of a women’s body and how theyRead MoreThe Comic Strip Above Captures The Essence Of What Judith Lorber And Patricia Yancey Martin Essay1622 Words   |  7 Pagesnorms. 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Advertisements are designed to follow the times, not led it. The main objectiveRead MoreThe Womens Liberation Movement1099 Words   |  5 Pagescentury women began to vocalize their opinions and desires for the right to vote. The Women’s Suffrage movement paved the way to the nineteenth Amendment in the United States Constitution that allowed women that right. The Women’s Suffrage movement started a movement for equal rights for women that has continued to propel equal opportunities for women throughout the country. The Women’s Liberation Movement has sparked better opportunities, demanded respect and pioneered the path for women enteringRead MoreIn Adulthood, The Sexuality Of Mature Women Is A Central1137 Words   |  5 PagesIn adulthood, the sexuality of mature women is a central focus. 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According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, feminism is defined as â€Å"the theory of the political, economic, and social equalityRead MoreGender Roles And Gender Stereotypes Essay1449 Word s   |  6 PagesProspectus: Gender roles and gender stereotypes in advertising My position: I believe advertisements that reinforce female gender roles and stereotypes are damaging to society. 2. Non-favorable Incidents: The examination of the â€Å"Victoria’s Secret† ad for a line of undergarments labeled â€Å"The Showstopper.† The headline is â€Å"Show nothing but your shape,† and the image is a thin woman with big breasts staring seductively. The image clearly sets a tone that this is what is a stand of ideal beauty. AndRead MoreAnnotated Bibliography : Womens Rights1517 Words   |  7 PagesAnnotated Bibliography: Womens Rights Loveday, Veronica. Feminism the Womens Rights Movement. Feminism the Womens Rights Movement, 8/1/2017, p. 1. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=truedb=prhAN=17989370site=ehost-live. In her report, Veronica Loveday writes about Women’s Rights Movement, during World War two, and many restrictions women faced. Women’s rights movement in the U.S. begun in the 1960s as a reaction to the decades of unfair social and civil inequitiesRead MoreCommercial Advertising : A Primary Attribute Of American Culture Essay956 Words   |  4 Pagesthis year, the United States advertising industry has spent about $200 billion on advertising, and $75 billion of that being on commercial advertising (CITATION). Advertising has always been a primary attribute of American culture, and especially the past couple years, commercial advertising has become the central strategy in the presidential race. In the 2016 presidential election, Republicans and Democrats together spent about $4.4 billion on their commercial advertising campaigns (CITATION), trying