Many of the advertisements that we see today on television, magazines, or the internet include some type of message about gender. The advertisement that we are going to take a look at today is for flipflopshops.com, which is a sandals and shoes retail website. The ad is featuring Erica Hosseini, who is a professional surfer from Newport Beach, California. I’m a huge fan of Erica’s because I’m also from Newport, I think she is a great surfer, and she is extremely attractive.
The online advertisement for flip flops contains a few gendered roles that are interesting. Usually, when there is an advertisement featuring an attractive woman, the demographic that is being targeted would most likely be males. I would assume that this advertisement is targeting a female demographic, being that it is an online fasion website. I do not think the potential customers that would visit this website views this advertisement as an objectification of the body. Instead, I think the potential customers at this website view her as an athlete and have respect for her achievements. In this case, it is not the content of the advertisement that determines the appropriateness. This time it is the perception of the advertisements that differentiates Erica’s advertisement from the stereotypical advertisements that portrays the female body as a sexual object.
There are consequences that result from advertisements that are considered by some people to be an objectification of the body. Over time, young people will become desensitized to these types of advertisements and will eventually accept them as normal. In an article from the Huffington Post, Warren J Blumenfeld writes about gender roles in the media. He believes that the education system can teach younger people to interpret these advertisements in the correct way. “Not only must our schools help equip students with communication literacy skills, but also they must actively teach skills of media literacy to empower students in deconstructing, analyzing, and reflecting upon the media images and messages that bombard them like atmospheric microwaves on a daily basis.”(HuffingtonPost) An early understanding for young people will have an impact on the advertisements that we see in the future.
I really liked your choice of using a still image instead of a video to convey your point, as it shows how many sports oriented advertisement campaigns can be reduced to the image and objectification of the ideal female.
ReplyDeleteAt least this advertisement features her holding a surfboard, where as the advertisements I watched with Danica Patrick didn't even reference her career as an athlete, they just sexualized her to the point that it was like watching softcore porn.
Either way, I agree with the notion that educating students in media literacy from a young age will be essential to dismantle these objectifying, sexist advertisement campaigns.
-Reid Chaloupka
I definitely agree with this point you made. She is modeling in her "athletic" (because of her sport and nature of it) state. She's a surfer, it makes perfect sense. I also can agree that other woman can admire her achievements. I had not thought of things this way. - Arely
ReplyDelete