Sex Sells
Yesterday, my friend and I were strolling along Oxford Street on an oddly sunny day. There were shops at both sides of the street. Big shops. Small shops. Luxurious shops. Fashion everywhere. People left shops with thousands of bags in their hands.
My friend was amazed by watching all those showcases. Dresses, skirts, handbags, heels… You can find everything you want there. Every colour, every model. There are clothes and accessories for everyone´s pleasure. You can find every brand there. Louis Vuitton, Dolce and Gabbana, Loewe, Victoria Secret…
Actually, I understand her. She is studying fashion design. Her dream is to become a great fashion designer just like Alexander McQueen, Valentino or Balenciaga. When we went into these stores, she went totally crazy. We strolled along them for a while. She studied them but she had never watched their designs in person before. She was fascinated by those fabrics, by those soft and smooth fabrics.
Then we went to Harrods and everything was the same than in Oxford Street. I am sure you all know it. That amazing department store where luxury is everywhere. It has all the brands you can imagine…
However, I was a bit bored. I have to admit that I do not really like to go shopping. So, while she was flabbergasted looking everywhere, I started focusing thoroughly on everything around me.
I started paying attention to those mannequins. Those skinny and “perfect” mannequins. Actually, I was not surprised by those figures since they lamentably are the ones used by most of the stores nowadays. And they are all the same: a “perfect” body with thin arms, thin legs and a perfect facial expression.
I personally think that having that kind of bodies, such a thin body, is not nice. And sometimes it is not healthy either. So, those mannequins have the kind of body the young dream about today. And this can be a problem.
On the other hand, I stared at all those adverts I saw here and there for a while. Some of them looked nice. All of them had something that caught people´s attention. Different sizes, colours, shapes… That is the point of them, isn´t it?
In this way, what people basically looked at when glancing at them is how pretty is the skirt the woman wears or how sexy that man looks with that shirt…
She, just like the rest of the people, bought and bought things without really thinking. I mean, they bought without realizing that the adverts used to incite us to buy clothes or accessorizes are surprisingly sexists.
Unfortunately, most of them are sexist.
Most of the time we just do not realize because we are completely used to see that kind of adverts. But there are some other times, and this is even worst, in which we do not want to realize it. How many times have you seen an advert with a woman who appears in a “funny” position, like if she was an object or something a man can use as he wishes? I will tell you: THOUSANDS.
Thousands of times. And everywhere. I am pretty sure that you have seen this kind of adverts on TV, magazines, in the shopping centers or even at the bus stop. Yeah, they are everywhere.
I challenge you to keep your eyes on adverts from now on and focus on what I have just told you. I am completely sure that every other advert has some sexual connotation of this type. And most of the time, the woman is the one who appears as if she were an object that a man can play with.
So, I would also like to ask you for thinking twice before buying that new and fabulous dress or those perfect high heels… If I were you, I would find out what kind of adverts that brand uses to promote its products before buying them. And if they use some of these sexist ones, you definitely should not buy anything, otherwise, you would be supporting them somehow.
The thing is that this kind of adverts does not only affect clothes and accessorizes, but also cars, cleaning products… I am sure that if I ask you to imagine a TV advert for cleaning products, the first image that appears in your mind is about someone cleaning her house. And that someone is a woman. Am I wrong? I am pretty sure I am not…
And what about many of the present video clips? I think I do not need to say anything about them. You only have to carefully watch them to realize, if you have not realize yet, that most of them are also quite sexist. And the problem is that we like them and that we carry on watching them. Therefore, they continue making them.
By the way, I am not only challenging women but also you, men. I would also like you to think twice before buying that perfume which is supposed to attract women. Really? I mean, do you seriously believe that? Attract them as if they were animals? Come on!
Knock it off!
Maybe you agree with me and think that all this should be over. But actually, all this stuff is our fault. We are the guilties of this situation. This will carry on as long as we continue buying products promoted by those kind of adverts, watching those video clips and so on.
So, if you want to put an end to all this, why don´t you start doing something? After all, we are the only ones who can change this…
With thanks to Viviane Ding
