Women in Advertising

As many of us know, women are objectified in advertising. I don't think this is a new phenomenon or that the people in society are unaware of that fact. The truth is that it is everywhere. The difference is that now we are really starting to get a sense of what this means and how we are really portraying these women in a male dominated society. 

Be a tiger an wear stripes

In this ad we can see almost every behavior used in advertising to depict male and female. It is also quite disturbing if you really take a look at what this ad is saying. It is an advertisement for dress shirts with stripes. As the caption says to hold that tiger it is referring to the woman in the ad. However, the woman is not depicted in an animalistic state at all, aside from the fact she's in stripes and in a cage. Through the analysis presented by Sut Jhally we can see what is really going on with this woman. First of all she is in a seated position and holding her legs. From this we can see that she is not being depicted as a strong and wild tigress, but as a defenseless and vulnerable kitten. She is also looking off to the side in nowhere in particular which seems to make her look distracted and unaware instead of a wary and cunning jungle cat. Her head is also slightly canted and her torso has also been contorted somewhat which further promotes the fact that she is vulnerable and submissive. Also, I feel like the fact that she is without shoes further implies that she is weak and unprepared. 

If we take a look at the man we also see the traditional stereotypes associated with him as well. He is seated which is not typical but his legs are crossed and his back is an an extreme upright position which signifies that he is still in control of the situation. He is also looking directly back at the viewer which demonstrates a sense of wariness and knowledge. Also, his hand is gripping the top of the cage in a firm grasp to show his power over the woman whereas she is merely lightly clasping her hands around her knees. 

Even our flag is objectified

The most obvious depiction of man's domination over women is the fact that the woman is in an iron cage and the man is sitting on top of it. You couldn't get a better image for that purpose. You can also see that there is a giant padlock which is just sitting there and not really holding anything down which shows that the man himself is enough to contain this "tiger". One more thing that shows how man is valued more than the woman is the caption itself. Notice how the second word "tiger" is capitalized whereas the first is not. Many would not notice something that seems so trivial but we subconsciously put more value on a word that is capitalized than one that is not. 

Overall this ad is the epitome of objectivity of men and women in advertising. To think that all these messages are being communicated simply to get you to buy a striped dress shirt is quite astounding. As the caption below the ad states, "you'll have those kittens seeing stars - and stripes - forever" it even makes the connection that by purchasing and wearing these shirts, you will even make your country proud by being patriotic.