Carrillo 1

Antonio Carrillo
Professor Ditch
English 113A 8:00 am
5 November, 2014
Progression #2
The community we are living now in the western society has changed dramatically in
very little time. It is not the same as it was 30 years ago. Many things have changed like
advertising, clothing, language, movies, etc. Just not that long ago, ads where actually showing
the product they were attempting to sell and companies would show what they were selling
and would show details about it. Now, it has changed, a lot. When the public thinks about an ad
they think they are going to see a product, but now you just see the people who are advertising
it exposing body more rather than the product. Media has changed throughout the years and
not only influenced how people see themselves, but also other people. Calvin Klein Jeans is one
of many popular clothing lines that use feminism and masculinity in their advertisements. For
example, an ad they used showed them advertising jeans, and the way they showed that was
by having 3 males and a female inside a cage. 2 males were shirtless; the other had a shirt
which was unbuttoned, and the female looks like she only was wearing a small top. Now what
does 3 males over a female inside a cage has to do with selling jeans? These are the types of
advertisements you will see today. If its with food, clothes, music, sport equipment, etc., the
presenter over does himself/her to show the point of the ad. They go and emphasize their body

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first and most, before the product they are trying to sell. TV commercials, billboard ads, and
many media related advertisements need to start to realize what they are truly showing in their
ads and think about if what they are showing can affect young minds. Although, companies
might argue that these types of advertisements can make their sales go up so they would like to
continue to show these images to the public.
These types of advertisements can tall many things from a persons choices. You can tell
if they are a person that goes with what the current style around them or if they make their
own decisions and are not followers. These decisions have been going on throughout many
years and we didnt even expect it or know it. In Losing Bodies by Susie Orbach, she said We
look at the history of the world as we understand it through the costumes, clothing, and
physical stance of its people, from the ancient Babylonian togas to the Masai warrior markings
to the Victorian crinolines. (Orbach, 247). These observations have been happening for a very
long time. They have changed very much here in the Western society though. They are not the
same visions as you would see 30 years ago. Now society looks into things more carefully like
what types of clothes, or what kind of physical stances people are doing. If they see something
different from what they are used to seeing, they automatically think wrong about that person
and start calling names or problems just because their different.
The media has influenced many of what you call, normal behavior on todays youth.
They play a huge role in what todays kids see and learn a lot from these things they see. What
the shows, movies, videos, etc., show today makes kids think differently. If their favorite show
makes a reference about another race, sex, person, they can think badly about them from that

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point on because they saw it on TV. The parent barely pays attention now a days to what kids
see or say when theyre not around and if that starts at an early age, then it can start from
there into the future and it can cause problems. Then the kids can be neglectful into hearing
something he hasnt heard since he was raised from a different perspective due to video media.
These commercials, ads, can change a lot for young girls as well. Today, you see many perfect
models for clothing line shoots and that can influence a lot in a young girls mind. If they see
that all around them, then they can think they have to be . They will want to look like models,
act like them, or maybe even think like them. Some girls can hurt themselves so they can look
like that since their natural look is different.
Advertisements can change how people see things, and those people are particularly
todays youth. If you are becoming a teenager in this world and you see many advertisements
around you that you can clearly see males dominating women, then from that they can grow up
having that idea since they saw that around them. Just like how in the Calvin Klein Jeans ad I
mentioned, if a boy is growing up and seeing around him that, that brand makes gives you
power over women like that, then he will like to own some clothes to feel like it when in reality
is just like any other piece of clothes. In Using Woman in Advertisement as a Symbol of Sex:
Cosmopolitan Magazine Example by a Journal of Yasar University they say, Advertisements
have power/ability to change the perspective of individuals about the events and options by
affecting the society and norms. Furthermore, they stir up the emotion of dissatisfaction of the
audience of the society. As you can see companies do play an important role in these
messages they use in their advertisements. They dont care what their messages send out to
the world. The only thing that concerns them is the product selling. If the product is selling very

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well, they will most likely not do anything about it unless the public protests and takes action
against them.
Womens sexual attractiveness is used more often now for many types of commercials.
You can see these in lots of fast food commercials because they want to make it look like a lot
of models eat that particular food and you should too since many of the public follows the
footsteps of celebrities to try and be like them. Many companies know the public looks up to
these models, so if they are either wearing a particular clothes, or eating a particular food, or
using a particular perfume, they are going to go out and buy it. In Who is gazing at whom? A
look at how sex is used in magazine advertisements, by Elizabeth Monk-Turner, she explains,
Moreover, the focus on female sexual attractiveness in advertisements aims to imply that
womens primary reason for being is to be admired, manipulated and used by men. She is
saying that advertisements are starting to focus on the sexual attractiveness of women in
advertisements to be admired by men. The advertisements you see today in the Western
society for clothes, food, accessories, etc., are mostly all women. These women expose their
attractiveness to get the product to sell. If its either for women or men, they both show the
same thing. For women its to get to be like the models, if it is for men then they want them to
buy it so they can try and get a lady like that.
Todays advertisements can be bad for many young boys and girls. They can influence
bad ideas into their minds just to get something to sell. It can have damage to their lives
because they can go home and do something bad just because one of their favorite actor, or
singer, etc., did it. Then they can grow up on other peoples expectations and not their own.

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Companies need to learn how to advertise without sending a message that can change our, but
most importantly, youth perspectives on situations they havent witnessed or know a little.

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Works Cited
GDEKL, smail Aysad, and brahim ELK. "Using Woman In Advertisement As A Symbol Of
Sex: Cosmopolitan Magazine Example." Journal Of Yasar University 35.9 (2014): 61296137. Academic Search Premier. Web. 5 Nov. 2014.
Monk-Turner, Elizabeth, et al. "Who Is Gazing At Whom? A Look At How Sex Is Used In
Magazine Advertisements." Journal Of Gender Studies 17.3 (2008): 201-209. Academic
Search Premier. Web. 5 Nov. 2014.
Orbach Susie. Losing Bodies Composing Gender (2014): 247. Book.