The Effects of Advertising on Women - Essay Example

These facts are revealed in their books; Advertising and Violence by Jean Kilbourne and Gender Advertisements by Erving Goffman. Jean explores the relationship between media images and the actual problems in the society. These problems include violence, rape and other sexual offenses, teen age pregnancy and addictions (Lind, Amy & Stephanie). She explains the role of the media as delivering the audience to the advertisers. The media and pieces of advertisements in them, gives women and girls a disadvantageous mind set and it is ok for males to treat women as portrayed in the media through the advertisement.

She establishes credibility of her argument by analyzing numerous advertisements and writing in detail about their messages and possible harm that they could cause to women and girls. She also attempts to appeal to women who are already victims of advertisement to understand their predicament and beware of further effects of the same. The writing’s main intention is to stop violence against women that is being greatly contributed by images that are displayed in the media in form of advertisements.

The literature also brings attention of the society on how women are being dehumanized and objectified by the advertisers. The images display violence against women; men are seen in adverts pulling women’s hair which is an illustration and justification of violence. One of Kilbourne’s pictures shows a lady with the word “bitch” on her, this show how the society depicts women (Lind, Amy & Stephanie 2008). Through these she is able to show that advertisements are the cause of mistreatment of women and the society allows it.

Kilbourne is also able to inform her audience that advertisements do not only devalue women but, also promotes physical abuse against them, alcohol and substance abuse. She also employs pathos for example telling us about rape and instance of suicide to show how serious the issue is and should not be taken for a ride. In the contrary Goffman looked at the underlying issues of sexism in advertisements. He attempts to show his audience that advertisements depict not only how men and women behave but how we think they behave (Goffman 200).

The images in the advertisement are then viewed as ideal and socially acceptable in the modern society. Goffman argues that carefully posed models and selected backgrounds of advertisement create concepts of Pseudo reality that is better than reality. It is not practical for men and women to act out what is displayed in commercial advertisement, but they provide social cues on how people should behave (Goffman 2000). This confirms that gender differences in role and status is not only in the advertisement world but also in real life.

Goffman considered these as innately troubling and channeled all his strength in highlighting the relationship between gender and advertising. As opposed to Jean Kilbourne he concentrated more on anatomical oriented advertisement. He looked at things such as eyes, body parts, sucking and finger biting. He does not look on other factors such as violence against women, rape, child abuse and use of abuse vocabularies on women. Goffman is particularly struck with the idea that messages in the advertisements have been assimilates in the society and there is nothing peculiar about them.

This is confirmed by his research where he