Sexual Entertainment in Ads

Ryuji Gibo, OCU

In Japan today, there are many advertisements that feature women exposing more and more skin so as to attract more and more viewers. What the ads’ creators are trying to do is to make viewers feel as though they trying their particular products in some vicarious way. Exposing skin is not illegal. However, some of these sexualized ads have been discussed as examples of gender discrimination. There seems to be three main reasons why some people are critical of these sorts of ads.

Source: deviantart.com

Firstly, showing skin is a woman’s job, so to speak. It should really be a matter of her preference. In advertising, women are usually directed to show more of their skin as a way of persuading people to consume more of a particular product. An example of this is “Hooters” in the U.S. Even though they are selling just fast food, the Hooters women staff are made to wear sexy costumes and to talk closely to the customers in order to “hear” their orders more carefully. This sort of invasion of a customer's personal space poses the waitresses as if they are girlfriends, or intimate partners with the customers. This communication approach satisfies the customers to some degree by making them feel as though they have some power beyond their role as patrons. Hooters is not only selling food, but it is selling the image of beautiful women. This business model amounts to sexual discrimination, because it forces women to take unnatural roles as servants. They wait upon patrons but also act in ways that fulfill male fantasies.

Second of all, women’s position in some ads implies a gender hierarchy. As we have seen in the advertising industry, many ads illustrate how a gender hierarchy in society remains in place. The supportive evidence can be seen in the women’s physical position in various ads. Many ads cast women positioned below men in the images, and the women are looking up toward the men who are over them in dominant positions. These positions suggest to viewers the importance of the social hierarchy between men and women. The ads indirectly suggest that women should respect men in society. And more indirectly, the position also implies that women are in the control of men.

Finally, there is a problem in the way men treat women in ads. We can realize that men dominate women through looking at men and women’s actions in ads. Some women in ads do not look like they hold equal power, while they are merely men’s satisfying object. One of the ads we analyzed had a man wearing a nice blue suit and tie with a girl wearing bathing wear on the seashore. The guy is not supposed to be dressed like that in this situation. While the man shows his wealth and power, the woman apparently does not have money power as she lies below him. She looks more like a doll that has no emotion. The guy looks a though he can afford to play with the girl.

Thus, as we focus on the many advertisements playing around us, we may notice gender bias at work. Although these messages may be vaguely sexual, and may not have intended by their creators to taken as such, they are still upsetting to people. The images tell a story that is often not spoken, a tale of gender hierarchy that still exists in today’s society. To create a better story, we should stop casting women in these bad positions and erase the bad tradition. I think everyone would agree that our moms would be proud of us.