Sex Sells and So Does Sexism

     Here is an advertisement that won't really cause much of a stir with most people who view it.

     Look! There is another sexy woman used to sell a product. Does it really even matter what the product is anymore? It seems as though advertisers will use sex to get us to buy anything. Yet, this ad is sending other messages too. The man's stance is one of power and dominance over the helpless damsel. The man is fully dressed in a suit, which indicates that he is successful in business or his chosen profession. The ad for vodka eliminates any value the woman may have had. It depicts a powerful man providing alcohol for a lazy woman with nothing better to do than sit around on a nameless, sun-drenched beach. This message is harmful to those who view it. We begin to see this image as normal. Man towers over woman, because this ad and countless others like it proclaim it to be so. The public is fed and becomes used to this scenario because a "complex set of interlocking enterprises that have disproportionate" amounts of money and power display it as truth (West). Huge corporations tell the masses how to feel and how to think over time through advertisements and other media messages so subtle we cannot resist them.
     Here is an advertisement that would cause even less of a stir.

      This man is paraded around to sell a product, with his body shown as his only asset of any worth. The same rules apply in this case. This degrades the value of men. Such advertisements put this image of what it means to be a man in the minds of unsuspecting people. Suddenly, every man is expected to have sculpted abs, buff biceps, and a sultry look on his face. It is important that we talk about mass media issues that impact various groups in the world. We need to discuss the plight of women, racial minorities or anyone else done a disservice by multinational corporations who control institutions too numerous to count. Still, I fear that sometimes these conversations do more to divide us than anything else. Don't the "waters of despair and dread that now flood down the streets of black America" also lap the doorsteps of other groups (West)? We are all human beings, and while our struggles are all different in ways, we all feel the pains of life. We should stand united against the institutions that surely stand united against us. Every human being is a target of their greed and manipulation. The more we squabble about what makes us different, the more ineffective we become against their advances. 

Works Cited:

West, Cornel. Race Matters. Beacon Pr, 2001. Web.