Advertising and sexualization

Last week in Children and the Media, we had a brief discussion about sexualization of ads. Some people were commenting that ads objectify women. I certainly agree, and I'm sure that research would confirm that. Sometimes ads featuring women can go overboard to the point that you question, "what is this really advertising?" or "what was the point of that?" As consumers we are taught to pursue a specific lifestyle that is enticed through advertising. However, another part of the discussion was that men in advertising are displayed as 'cool' and not sexualized. This got me thinking about multiple things. For one, yes, they are.

Any gender can be sexualized to sell anything, in my opinion. One student in class commented that men are displayed in sexual ways in perfume ads. I sometimes read Vogue if I like whoever is on the cover, and I notice that a lot too. Perfume and cologne ads are always sexual. Anyways, I got to thinking about what if men were displayed in sexual ways to the extent that women are in OTHER ads? Would we notice or be offended? I think so. There is something more aggressive about the male sexual image for some reason. We are offended by assertive male sexuality because it comes off too strong, or too perverted. I don't think women come off that same way if they pose in a sexual manner. Do you agree or disagree? Let me know, maybe you can help me refocus my thoughts.

Anyways, I chose to insert this image just to show that men can be objectified in advertisements as well. I found this Marc Jacobs fragrance ad simply by searching Google. It shocks me, and I think that if a woman were to pose in this way, it would come across classless or tacky. So what is it that makes certain sexual poses gendered in some way? How do some poses become masculine or feminine? I think this pose becomes particularly masculine because he's posing in a "look at me" in a proud, confident, somewhat arrogant kind of a way. I think that womens 'sexual' ads aren't as STRONG or assertive but rather are kind of like innocently "oh, are you looking at me?" That's just the impression I get.