Women in the media: How did it get this bad?
We talk about the objectification and sexualization of women in the media, and we say it needs to stop. But have you taken a moment to think about how it started and why it is perpetuated.
Some articles tell you it’s because media is created by men, Others say it’s based on a decision to keep power in the hands of men, and others will say it’s because sex sells.
Sexualization of women: does sex sell?
Sex sells is the closest to the truth, but given that women spend over 85% of household budgets, you might expect more sexualization of men (which has gotten worse, too, for sure).
So what is happening?
It’s all about motivation
It’s scientific. There are two types of motivators for humans: towards and away. We go towards pleasure and away from pain. Moving away from pain or loss is a much stronger motivator than going towards pleasure, with the possible exception of the motivation for sex.
How that translates for an advertiser is this:
- Men are drawn towards power and sex.
- Women are motivated towards friendship and love, but that’s not very powerful. Let’s motivate them using the fear of losing friendship or love.
Whether or not these were intentional decisions, they are most certainly backed by science and that’s why women in the media look the way they do.
Demeaning of women: backed by science
When I say backed by science, I don’t mean that advertising agencies initiated university studies to find out what motivates people. Ain’t nobody got time for that. Advertisers and broadcasters have better methodologies.
On the internet, advertisers get instantaneous feedback on what sells. Enlarge those lips and eyes on photoshop, put the ad online, and boom — find out if it works. Just a bit more skin, just a bit less — boom, find out instantly. Woman or man? Smiling or pouting? Complaining about wrinkles or complaining about aging? Whatever you want to test, test it and get instant results.
You see, there’s no ethics here. It’s about what works.
Do you wear makeup?
No.
I have never liked makeup, so I’m lucky, Now that I’m CEO of Gangly Sister, I get to say it’s an ethical choice. Frankly, I can’t imagine taking the extra 5 minutes a day, especially now that I’m working on a bootstrapped startup. But even if I could imagine that, and even if I wanted to, at this point it is an ethical choice.
It’s not that there’s something wrong with makeup, fashion clothing, perfume, or the idea of using products that make you feel and look better. I’m all for that. What I’m not for is advertising based only on “what works” and “what sells.” Corporations, or more accurately, the people who run them, are responsible for the consequences of their actions. Selling more product is useful, but there is a fine line that you don’t want to cross as an executive or an employee.
What else don’t you do?
We are select about what we publicize regarding the media industry. We are a women in media company. For example, if a woman is cast for the lead role of Wonder Woman, we don’t think that’s news. It’s a hidden advertisement for the movie. We don’t care what woman was cast. However, if there are a lot more action movies featuring women leads, that’s news for us. We care about that.
We won’t publicize media about what a woman celeb was wearing. Recently, we saw a lot of stories about what women athletes were wearing to various ceremonies. Really? Why do buff women have to prove they’re attractive? Everyone knows healthy, buff people are attractive.
And as far as what women politicians and executives are wearing… really? We don’t care. If you made a couple of million bucks, you should be allowed the privilege of never wearing a bra (or tie) again, as far as I’m concerned. My entire goal in life is to make enough money to retire before my feet grow out of women-shoes (I wear Vibram FiveFingers, so my feet are in recovery.I can still manage flats, but it wont be long.
Just say no to no
We don’t publish not-stuff. What we mean is that we don’t perpetrate what we don’t want to see more of. That’s why the feature image here is of a woman with a monkey on her back, not of a scantily-clad woman. If we want positive images of women in the media, let’s publish those. Let’s flood the internet with what we want, not what we want to avoid.
Shameless plug: :-) In short, share Purple and Nine!!! We’ll love you for it and we’ll all be promoting positive images for girls.
