Gender Stereotyping

Gender stereotyping still occurs in society. Although not as often, advertisers still sometimes objectify or use women as a sexual appeal. The ads I think perfectly depict this are the three ads here. American Apparel and Abercrombie & Fitch are known for their scandalous ads. The ironic part is although both are clothing stores, the models in their ads are barely wearing anything. In the American Apparel ad, the female model is laying with her legs open and next to her face are the words "now open." The combination of her pose and those words scream sexual innuendo.  The Abercrombie & Fitch ad also portrays ritualization of subordination as the woman lays on the floor and the male model is on top of her. With the phrase "young and sexy," it begs the question how does this ad sell their clothes when they are barely wearing anything? I work at the Abercrombie & Fitch in San Francisco, and our store is filled with posters like this –– men or women half naked. The other ad I chose is the Burger King ad for the "super seven incher." The combination of the name of the buger, the other phrase using the word "blow" and having a woman with her mouth wide open in front of it is another sexual innuendo. Ads like these force me to question the integrity of the companies sometimes and wonder if this level of appeal is necessary or even productive.