For many years, the media has been a source of highly influential and potent content in large part due to advertising, and today is no exception. While the rampant consumer culture that has developed as a result is a problem in and of itself, even more concerning is the ever-present racism, sexualization, stereotyping, and discrimination that even in 2017 can still be seen every day in countless forms with almost no searching at all. The ideas repetitively promoted in these advertisements perpetuate the rape culture, lingering racial stereotypes and many other antiquated concepts that continue to present themselves in modern society. Additionally, they play a major role in forming the opinions of viewers on these issues, especially in younger audiences, and are a cause of widespread desensitization and ignorance of these major societal problems.

There are thousands of advertisements published in recent years that have derogatory undertones or more subtle racial or sexual suggestions, but even today those that go beyond and display explicit racism or other offensive content are continually present. The Qiaobi detergent ad released in China in mid-2016 is a striking example: the depiction of an Asian woman pushing a black man into a washer, only for him to emerge “clean” and with extremely fair skin is blatant in its suggestion that white skin and light skin is the “clean ideal”, and that those with dark skin are entirely subordinate. The controversial Dove ad (shown below) released just last month is similar; although the criticized form of the ad was not how it was originally published and did not reflect the intent of the company, the image of a black woman “cleansing” herself and becoming white is extremely problematic in how it was portrayed online. Ads such as these only serve to reinforce ideas that should have been eradicated long ago, displaying a racial hierarchy that, though many around the world likely don’t see themselves as believing in, may be reflected subconsciously through the use of products that promote these ideals, as well as through ignorance of racist ideas. Skin lightening creams are still very popular in Middle Eastern countries, for example, and it isn’t often that many Americans find themselves questioning why the vast majority of protagonists in movies, actors on television, and other prominent figures in the media are white. The fact that racism so obvious can still find its way into ads that reach the public, albeit with much criticism, is proof that our country as a whole is largely desensitized to this issue by the media.

In modern music, this is just as much of a problem, if not more so; Nicki Minaj’s “Anaconda”, released in 2014, was a hit in the United States; it peaked at #2 on Billboard’s Top 100 and was even nominated for a VMA award for Best Female Video, and won the award for Best Hip Hop Video. All of these were achieved despite the fact that the entirety of the song’s lyrics, and its music video to an even higher degree, are extremely degrading to women, especially those who don’t possess the “ideal” body type as conveyed in the music. This says a lot about the culture surrounding the media in the United States: our society as a whole condones, glorifies ,and even rewards highly sexualized and objectifying portrayals of women, and millions listen to songs like “Anaconda” every day without a second thought as to the implications of the lyrics. This is, in large part, a result of the prevalence of this content in the media: this trains us from a young age to internalize the normalcy of problematic images, and to become unable to clearly acknowledge the horrific suggestions many of them convey. In Miss Representation, Jennifer Siebel Newsom discusses this in depth, particularly in regard to how the sexualization of women in the media contributes to problems among teens and young women with body image insecurity as well as eating disorders. The media in our modern world has gone so far as to become a threat to the physical and mental health of girls and many others across the nation, all because our society continues to perpetuate a culture where intensely degrading, widespread media is acceptable. This is only one issue, but it is one of many that expresses the dire need for the problem of media representation to be addressed critically, so that maybe in the future, its offensive treatment of so many groups of people will come to an end, and its powerful influence can be used in more positive ways.Even more prominent, besides those ads that convey blatant offensive ideas, may be those in which the offensive content is not so obvious that it creates mass controversy, but is present nonetheless in subtle ways. This is seen in countless ads through the portrayal of women, as well as men, as sexual objects, and the hypersexualization in the media we see every day. Jean Kilbourne’s Killing Us Softly 4 discusses this in great detail, and provides numerous examples as to how prominent sexual images in the media that promote highly sexist ideals have become. Perfume ads are a clear example of this; one, shown below, a 2014 release for Jimmy Choo Man cologne, at first notice may not even draw a second glance from the average viewer in regards to the problematic ideas it conveys, although they are quite evident if examined closely. Most apparent is the fact that the woman is only shown from the neck down; she is instantly reduced to a faceless body with no identity, valued only for her sexual image. She is dressed in a highly provocative way, and the Game of Thrones actor holds onto her almost possessively, suggesting a sexual dominance presumably given by the fragrance. These types of ads are so common that most people would not stop to think about the disturbing way they represent women, and thus, the sexualization of women in our society is seen as normal and even appropriate in many instances.

 

Works Cited

“Anaconda.” Performance by Nicki Minaj, Youtube.com, Young Money/ Cash Money Records, Inc., 19 Aug. 2014.

 

Kilbourne, Jean, director. Killing Us Softly 4. 2010.

 

Siebel Newsom, Jennifer, director. Miss Representation. Sundance Film Festival.

 

Dove Ad: https://scontent.fzty2-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/22310226_1662304177153273_4511175166792864139_n.jpg?oh=5557d1bc05504c99185d5bcc3f3494a4&oe=5AAD7342

 

Jimmy Choo Man Ad: https://i.pinimg.com/736x/30/54/96/3054968c3ea1f7502f099ab221694490–perfume-ad-perfume-fragrance.jpg

 

-Lindsey