Women in Advertisements: It's Ethics and Impact on Society

Abstract

Objective: Our aim in this paper is to focus on the pathetic and ingenious ways women are used in product advertising.  If this is not objected, it may lead to further deterioration of the status of women in the society which can be the first step towards valueless and unethical society suppressing the very existence of women with proper societal status. Creating awareness and sensitizing the society on this aspect is the need of the hour. A small attempt from us in this direction.

What is its impact on our society?

It is argued that the images used in advertising could have a wrong impact and even the most subtle ones make an impact on the viewers. Further, it is said that gender relations are learned through advertisements. Amongst these, learned gender roles are those of Men and Women are portrayed in advertisements, according to the constructed definition of femininity and masculinity. To be a woman is to be feminine and to be a man is to be masculine. There is little room for variation or reversal of roles. When all this seems normal for the media, it has a very bad impact on the general women in the society.

Topics covered in this paper:

• Introduction
• Role of gender in advertising
• Creation and maintenance of gender normality
• Social pressure on men to endorse traditional masculinity and sexuality in advertising. Femininity in advertising
• Portrayal of women in advertising in gender displays in advertising
  • Family
  • Feminine touch
  • Licensed withdrawal
  • Reutilization of subordination
• The body in consumer culture
• Where to stop this unethical culture
• Our Findings- Opinions taken from the cross section of the society are enumerated below

• Conclusion

Conclusion: Women in advertisements have become a major target group to promote and feature anything on earth. The question is whether women suit this kind of promotion of any product, its only inclusion of women even without any rhyme or a reason. We can even say, they have become the victims for propagating anything in the market. We made our small attempt to interact with the people of various age groups to take their opinions. None appreciated wrong usage of women in ads. Our attempt in this paper is only to contribute to the ethical values of a man in his life. We have to make a beginning somewhere! So, Why not every time women are used as a symbol for exposing, a statutory warning or a tagline like, "Exposing is very indecent for women... Keep up your dignity” should follow.