Representation of Women in Media essays

Representation of Women in Media essays Advertising is the foundation and economic livelihood of the mass media. The main purpose of the media is to deliver the public to advertisers, just as the primary purpose of television is to deliver an audience for commercials. The main purpose of advertisements is to sell products, though in many cases they are selling much more than that. Jean Kilbourne, filmmaker of Killing Us Softly emphasizes that ads sell images, values, concepts of love and sexuality and most importantly, normalcy. For women, the message that the media sends through advertisements is that the most important aspect is their appearance (Kilbourne, 2010). The representation of women in advertisements is extremely influential as mass media conveys a harmful message and image of the ideal woman. In countless ads, women are sexualized, objectified and abused. This can have an impact on the well being of many women, especially at an early age. In countless ads, women are sexualized as a means of marketing products. An example of this is when women appear half naked in ads that are irrelevant to the product that the campaign is trying to sell. In an ad for Buffalo David Bitton jeans, a woman is positioned laying on her back with her hands down her open jeans, stimulating masturbation (Tallim, 2003, p.3). This is a prime example of how many companies use sexually orientated images to advertise a product. Also, in films, television shows and popular culture, sex is increasingly pervasive and mainstream. The use of women in music videos is another illustration of females being sexualized whereby the producers focus on women dancing half naked. There was much speculation in the male rapper Cornell Nelly Haynes music video Tip drill that displayed women dancing in bikinis in a provocative manner (Dlewisterp, 2011). In one instance, the camera focuses on a womans buttocks where a male simply swipes a credit card i...