Sexism in Adverts

Sexism in Adverts

            Sexism is a popular social problem in the advertisement sector. The main aim of many advertisers has been to make a positive impression using sexist adverts, but most of the cases have gone in the wrong direction. Often, adverts on several media platforms are targeted to a specific audience, a factor that creates a discriminatory kind of perception towards a certain group. For example, the use of young girls in the advertisement of toys has created a feeling of discrimination towards young boys and has caused alienation towards what toys should be used by what gender and much generally has caused gender crises. The 2017 advert by Mr. Clean on the importance of men who could sweep has not gone well with several viewers who feel that the advert has employed a wide range of sexism in passing information that could be adopted in a much better way. The portrayal of cleaning duties to belong to ladies and the fact that ladies can only pay using sex are sexist actions that should not be promoted on adverts.

Social Problem in the Advertisement

The advert by Mr. Clean has different perceptions that create sexism. First, the lady in the advert seems puzzled by the man doing a few sweeping chores. The advertiser appears to use the theme of romance to capture the attention of the viewers. The lady in the advert seems amazed by the fact that her husband can assist in doing house chores. The lady is unable to control her happiness and immediately jumps to her husband in a romantic gesture. The general idea given in the advert is that not only should women purely do house chores, but also men should not be a part of doing house chores. The commercial displays seem to portray an idea that the writers are attempting to classify roles according to gender and that the event where a man cleans the house, is a case of shattered gender roles.

The point of associating specific roles with a certain gender is hidden in the attempt by the advertisers to advice ladies to love men who can clean. The advert can be seen as a campaign to say that men should be applauded for doing house chores. The advert moves on further to a more sexist part by showing a lady jump towards the man in a manner that would suggest that sex was the ladies aim. The interpretation obtained from the part is that ladies can only pay for services well-offered using sex. The advert uses the term ‘job’ to refer to house chores, and the interpretation that can be obtained is that women are only fit to be made into housewives and that the primary duties are doing house chores.

Analysis

The issue of sexism in advertisements is growing serious day-in-day-out. With the development of the internet, sexism is hard to deal with and has won a large part of the advertisement sector (Waite & Gardner, 2017). The unfortunate bit in the sexism issue is that women have been on the receiving end of the inconsiderate behavior of advertisers. The issue of sexism particularly towards women has been in existence since the first advertisements. Sexism cannot be ignored in the analysis of social problems associated with advertisements since it creates a feeling of unfair division between genders and the choice of products to be used by each gender. Sexism displayed in advertisements always finds a way to get into other life aspects and thus the effect of sexism is felt far beyond the advertisement sector. According to Curtis, Arnaud and Waguespack, (2015), ethical standards in the advertisement sector have been set to allow sexism to prevail with the excuse that sex can be a great deal in improving sales. The definition of sexism has been forsaken with several advertisers defining sexism as a marketing strategy.

Synthesis

Sexism has been used as a tool to intimidate a particular gender in relation with the other. In most cases, sexism has been used to exert dominion of a specific gender on the other. Mr. Cleans’ advert on the importance of a cleaning man makes a man a superior being compared to a woman. The interpretation that can be directly made from the advert is that men are not obliged to help with house chores and thus should be applauded in the event they decide to help. Mr. Cleans’ advert is a case of the prevalence of sexism in the advertisement sector and how ladies have been on the supporting side of a vice that comes back to act against the ladies.

In sum, many advertisers have been trying to make positive impressions using sexist adverts, but most of the cases have gone in the wrong direction. Often, adverts on several media platforms are targeted to a specific audience, and as a result, a discriminatory kind of perception towards a particular group has been created. The 2017 advert by Mr. Clean on the importance of men who could sweep has not gone well with several viewers who feel that the advert has employed a wide range of sexism in passing information that could be passed in a much better way.

References

Curtis, T., Arnaud Ph D, A., & Waguespack, B. (2015). Case Study: Sexism in Advertising and   Airlines. Journal of Business Diversity, 15(1), 34.

Toronto, L. B. (Director). (2017). Cleaner of Your Dreams – Mr. Clean New Super Bowl   Commercial [Motion Picture]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=BRRD_-4hA_g

Waite, B., & Gardner, M. (2017). While the mass media can be great, it also does more damage    than good. The sexism in advertising, movies, television shows, music, and magazines it     is rapidly growing and this exposure to this attitude towards the sexes can hurt the   children growing up currently.