Sex, Lies and Advertising

I did not like how long this essay was. It covered so much material that it was at times hard to summarize now, looking back. Many valid points were made. A lot of this I have heard before. Again, not many potential solutions were mentioned. We focus a lot of our energy on our societies problems, which keeps them going. Whether or not we are stating saying positive or negative messages surrounding the problem, our focus is still on the problem. That is where all our attention and energy is going towards. We are thinking, feeling and putting our energy out onto said problem. This only makes it bigger. Where is the focus on the solution? We always research halfway. We are culturally taught to seek out problems. Why not research fixing them?

What I found to be the most interesting part of this essay was the products that are advertised directly towards women. That technology and cars are only understood by men. This is extremely demeaning. I had never thought about it before. Advertisements encourage our gender role stereotypes and keeping our characteristics boxed in. Men are not smarter than women. They may take more of an interest in technology but that does not mean women cannot understand it. As far as cars go, when I think of all adults I know, whether they are man or woman, they all own a car. So why advertise directly towards men? Wouldn't companies want to make the most money they can? So is this advertising strategy something consciously decided or is it an actual strategy?

I think if all women magazines followed suit to what the editors of Ms. magazine did, the world of advertising could change. By not voicing our problems with how magazines are ran, we are giving away our power to those who make the most money off of women, mainly men. If most women have a problem with magazines, why do we continue to buy them? This article mainly brought up a plethora of questions for me.