As far back as advertisements were documented, and probably even before then, the female body has been the number one asset of the male-dominated advertising industry and the basis of the content being created from agencies. In this industry, women were once looked at as easy ways to make money and not as the dignified human beings they were and had a right to be. Not only is this objectification present in ads, but it has also now become a way of life to "jokingly" objectify women and not think about it as a negative. And why do we as a society allow this kind of sexist, inhumane behavior?
Because we are completely desensitized. We are desensitized to revealing outfits, to watching sexual situations, and to women being anything more than a body to look at. We have been exposed to this phenomenon in advertising and now film and television are also feeding into this stigma. By creating female characters that not only stand there, scantily clad as they would in billboards or print ads, they are also showing that women are inferior by writing overly sexualized scripts for them. Females are seen as the weaker, male-dependent characters in film and television, and this is just not right.
Society needs to take a stand against this kind of public behavior. One person who is doing so is Madonna Badger. Badger, a New York City advertising executive with 22 years of experience in the industry, launched a campaign seeking to change the normalized objectification of women. Utilizing a simple Google search to relate to her audience, Badger created the campaign #WomenNotObjects that exposes several advertisements over-sexualizing and demeaning towards women. Having the actresses each hold a specific advertisement and captioning the ads with phrases like, "I love sacrificing my dignity for a drink," about an alcohol ad, and, "I love sleeping with guys that don't know my name," in regards to a Post-It ad, this campaign speaks volumes to real women's emotions towards the way they are put down through ads. And to really drive the sarcasm home, a Carl's Jr. ad is featured, one of the most notoriously sexist companies in their advertising, showing a model in a tiny bikini eating a burger and the actress saying, "I'd sell my body for a burger."
As an upcoming young woman in the advertising industry, my ethics and beliefs are being challenged. Is it ethical to belittle an entire gender solely because it makes the other gender feel good about themselves or buy more of the intended objects? Is it right to humiliate a gender based on their body?
#WomenNotObjects is a campaign I would have written about in class or given a presentation on. It is important that young millennials understand the need for change and a "revamp" to the way we all view our society and specifically each other, as dignified human beings. We need to look at the fact that the female body should not be used to sell men's products to men. With the female body selling men's cologne, men's deodorant, alcohol, burgers, office supplies, cable providers, cars, designer clothing, and so much more, when are we going to understand this is wrong and humiliting?
<span id="selection-marker-1" class="redactor-selection-marker" data-verified="redactor"></span>
