“It was impossible for me to think of a world beyond my plate. Calorie counting, running around the track in eternal circles, were how I spent my time. I was obsessed with feeling in control over something. While I was trying to gain control over my body, I was losing control of my place in the world” (Sylva). Body image has played a significant role within society throughout the ages; however, this fascination with the human body has fueled competition and comparison amongst humanity. Unfortunately, these obsessions have worsened throughout time as the advertising industry has taken advantage of these human tendencies for profit and self gain. In today’s day and age, advertising is utterly inescapable. From the super market to the highways, it seems they are everywhere in sight. Even television programs created for children feature countless advertisements that contain complex hidden messages. These messages are common within advertising. They have come to define the industry. Although there are some benefits to advertising, the sexualization and misrepresentation of women within these advertising campaigns leads to both mental and physical consequences for women that can only be solved by educating the public and organizing boycotts of companies that use this type of harmful advertising to market their products.

According to John Alan Cohen, today advertising is defined as “a paid announcement, usually targeting a specific market group, designed to influence the purchase of goods or services. The purpose of advertising is generally to inform targeted consumer groups of the availability and description of products and services, and to persuade consumers to buy them” (Cohan 323). It has secured such an influential and important role within society due to the fact that the First Amendment has come to protect the right of free speech and, in turn, advertising. Its power and importance will only continue to grow as the industry has ultimately achieved immunity from repercussions by securing government protection. Advertising campaigns face similar criticism today as they have in the past. Several concerns highlight the fact that advertising has come to define happiness by the pursuit of material objects. Instead of focusing on values that truly matter in the long run, advertisements try to convince its audience that their product is more important than those long-term beliefs. Additionally, advertising harnesses tactics that appeal to our humanity such as our search for pleasure and sex (Wilson). These obsessions have come to define us as human beings as the pursuit of lust is recorded from the very beginning of time. The advertising industry’s ability to play on these human tendencies further shows its deceptive nature and the strong influence it has on people. Finally, the advertising industry’s obligation to tell the truth often becomes a topic of dispute. There is not a clear distinction between the truth and “puffery”. Thus, companies have no guidelines or legal motivation to be straightforward to their audience. Altogether, advertising has gained immense influential power within society through its manipulative techniques that prey on the characteristics that make up our very existence as human beings.

Women have consistently been displeased with their depiction in the advertising industry. Kerin, Lundstrom, and Sciglimpaglia attribute the beginning of this discontent to when women’s roles began changing within the home. Women began searching for jobs and defying the stereotypes. Thus, when the advertising industry refused to illustrate these cultural shifts, women became upset as they were continually characterized as subordinate to men. For example, only 9% of women were portrayed in working roles, while men were portrayed in working roles 45% of the time. In 1971, a poll from the Good Housekeeping magazine reported that 40% of women found those stereotypical commercials insulting. Even though there was an outcry for a change in the depiction of women within the advertising industry, women continued to buy products that were advertised in this manner (Wilson 39). Similarly, the depiction of women as sex objects is not a new tactic. Previously, women were often used to advertise equipment within Advertising Age, using their sexual appeal in order to sell products. This issue has only escalated today as companies use women’s sexuality to gain a competitive edge in an ever evolving, sex-driven society that has come to define our culture (Kerin 40).  These advertisements feed off of women’s insecurities as well as men’s sexual drives, thus explaining their success in both the past and present. “As long as the emphasis on sexual freedom and individual attractiveness persists, the industry responses will continue to enhance this trend and capitalize on advertisements that use the sex object to capture the attention of the consuming public” (Kerin 40). In other words, until consumers take action, the advertising industry will not change.

Although there are many disadvantages associated with the advertising industry today, there are some instances when advertising campaigns have served to the public good. For example, the Pepsi Refresh Project “aimed at doing well by doing good” by “dedicating at least $20 million through the end of the year for donations to local organizations and causes proposed by the public in realms like health, arts and culture, the environment and education (Elliott). Through this strategy, the company gained public favor by donating its resources for the overall improvement of the community while donating to foundations that might not have otherwise received the funds they needed. Pepsi’s donations even encouraged other businesses such as Coca-Cola to donate to deserving foundations, showing the impact one simple change can have within the advertising industry as well as a community. Additionally, Lancome has attempted to make changes to the way it advertises its products by launching a $35 million advertisement with models that look similar to the average American instead of being heavily edited (Cohan 324). However, since these campaigns, companies have continued to use models and advertisements that serve to the detriment of women, showing that further action is needed in order to protect women’s well-being. Although some companies use advertisements for the better good of society, the majority of businesses use advertisements to sell a product at the expense of the consumer.

The sexualization of women is a relevant issue within advertising campaigns today. One recent advertisement released by Dolce and Gabbana is especially shocking. The advertisement depicts a beautiful woman in a skimpy, black jumpsuit pinned onto the ground by a muscular man kneeling over her as three other men observe the scene in the background (Cohan 326). The problem with these types of ads is that women are often dehumanized, as just pieces of their bodies are shown in order to sell a product. In the Dolce and Gabbana advertisement, the woman’s legs are in the center of the image while her head is in the very bottom corner in an attempt to sexualize the woman in order to sell clothing. The woman appears helpless as she is pinned to the ground by a muscular, shirtless man, speaking to the violent nature of this advertisement that has become typical  of the advertising industry (Cohan 328). Our sexuality defines us as human beings; however, these repeated images of violence and a lack of respect towards women in general encourages and reinforces this inhumane behavior. Advertisements are more explicit in our age today than ever previously recorded (Kilbourne). Therefore, the sexualization of women within ad campaigns is only becoming more common as companies show no signs of wanting to stop their degrading use of women’s images. 

The sexualization of women has several negative consequences on women themselves and society as a whole. It affects how others view and treat women as the sexualization of women encourages the subordination and brutalization of women (Cohan 328). Therefore, not only do women suffer emotionally from these degrading advertisements, but they also suffer physically. One woman recounts her experience with domestic violence, she says, “I told him to stop but he wouldn’t, and I pushed him away but he pushed me back and pinned me down with his body. He was very strong. He raped me” (“Anne’s Story”). When men view advertisements in which women have been sexualized, they conclude that it is acceptable to treat women in this manner. The desire to control objects fuels violence; thus, it is completely logical that men resort to violence towards women when women are shown as mere objects A study concluded that men who view these types of advertisements were more inclined to condone violence towards women  (Cohan 328). Therefore, there is a direct link between the way advertisements depict women and the way men relate to women, explaining the rise of domestic violence in recent years (“Anne’s Story”). Additionally, the sexualization of women has created several problems for the youth of America as sex education is often neglected within the United States. Therefore, children gain their knowledge through advertisements. Thus, the cycle of violence towards women is only reinforced generation after generation due to a lack of education and restrictions within the advertising industry. Catherine MacKinnon writes, “‘The more it is seen, the more it is normalized, the more women’s status and treatment comes to correspond to it, the more its harm merges into the appearance of women’s nature and becomes invisible, and the more consumers are hooked on it. If it is made public enough, the harm will not be seen . . .” (Cohan 329). 

The misrepresentation of women within the advertising industry is an issue that continues to grow. It has become commonplace for magazines and beauty advertisements to use underweight models that have been drastically edited to remove any and all flaws. According to P.C. Diedrichs and C. Lee there is a drastic difference between the way women are depicted in advertising versus those in real life. The models used within these advertisements do not represent the size of the average woman (1274). John Cohan goes into further detail, when he describes the editorial process that takes place behind advertisements. He explains that the tiniest of flaws are removed such as freckles and even pores, ultimately erasing characteristics that are common in order to achieve an unachievable image of perfection (Cohan). In order to sell products, advertisers must “package a consistent image, regardless of how unrealistic or elusive that image may be. This consistent, homogenized image in turn becomes normalized, which leads women to believe that if the majority of women in the magazines look like ‘that,’ then looking like ‘that’ must be easy and an attainable possibility” (Rosso 186). Clearly, the inaccurate portrayal of women in advertising remains a prominent issue within our society that shows no signs of change. Although there have been some companies such as Dove, who have tried to change the way advertising depicts women’s bodies, the majority of advertisements continue to rely on Photoshop and underweight models, further promoting this inaccurate depiction of women.

The inaccurate depiction of women within the advertising industry leads to several mental consequences. Women are constantly faced with perfection in every aspect of their lives. So much so, that they begin to believe that because they do not resemble the images of women in magazines and on television they, themselves, are not beautiful (Cohan 327). Advertisements play on these insecurities by illustrating that beauty and happiness are equivalents that can only be achieved with their product (Cohan 327). This fuels the infinite cycle of advertising as women attempt to attain this beauty and in turn happiness by buying the product advertised, only to be told shortly after that some other aspect of their body needs improvement. In order to sell products, advertisements use these vulnerabilities, which only worsen women’s self confidence and mental health. (Rosso 188). This obsession with body image has only worsened throughout the years. It has escalated so much that self-image has surpassed bullying as the biggest issue that poses a mental health risk for both men and women (Diedrichs 1274). This constant comparison between women in the media and the average woman can often lead to unhappiness and eating disorders, as advertisements go to any extent in order to sell products. Allie describes her experience with her eating disorder, when she writes, “I was skipping two meals a day and eating just an apple and three saltine crackers for dinner. I lost weight rapidly and caught the attention of my family doctor’ (project). These advertisements cause women to deny their natural human needs such as hunger in an attempt to gain this ultimately unachievable version of beauty. The fact that 33% of women are willing to sacrifice their lives in order to be thin shows the seriousness of these issues (Swinson). Something needs to be done to prevent this crisis from escalating further as the advertising industry shows no initiative for changing its ways.

Because advertising companies cause mental and physical consequences through their depiction of women, changes need to be enforced within the industry. However, due to the First Amendment, government censorship, although effective, would be an unrealistic solution. According to John Alan Cohan, “‘Women’s advertising, I think, can be successful by turning to more positive images that will serve to enhance, not denigrate. women’s self-esteem. Advertisers want to read the market and produce what the market will buy. Hence, they don’t have any particular stake in portraying women as things” (Cohan 329). Therefore, advertisers have no motivation to continually portray women in a negative context, meaning a change within the industry is a realistic expectation. The question then becomes how to spark this change. 

Revolt and education have proven to be successful methods to invoke a change in our nation’s history. Therefore, a consumer revolt is the most efficient way to spark a change, as it would cause companies to make changes or risk losing profit (Cohan 330). Consumers need to boycott the companies that are using these types of harmful advertisements in order to stop these issues at their source; however, in order to begin this type of boycott, Americans need to become more aware about the harmful effects of advertising in the first place. A nonprofit organization dedicated to raising awareness about the deceptive nature of advertising and identifying the harmful companies responsible would be essential to provoking change within our society. Thus, “Consumers can become more vigilant in recognizing the subtle messages presented in advertising, and teach our children to understand that advertising is not a reality” (Cohan 330). Through education and boycotts, the American people could force the advertising industry to change, as it is dependent on the consumer. 

Although there are some benefits to advertising, the sexualization and misrepresentation of women within these advertising campaigns leads to both mental and physical consequences for women. As previously illustrated throughout history, human beings have a pre-inclined natural tendency to obsess over body image. However, these issues have only worsened as advertising agencies have made it impossible to avoid comparison with other’s bodies. A change needs to be made in order to prevent future generations from experiencing the negative consequences that result from these insensitive advertisements. However, only a drastic movement supported by many could provoke this change and cause a shift in power from the big companies to the every day consumer. If we, as Americans, refuse to provoke this change, we risk losing the freedom of controlling what we see and learn everyday.
