Women as Objects

Ads in the US Then and Now

I keep my opinion to myself about a lot of things but this is not one of them. Twice now in my life, I have watched the documentary MISS-REPRESENTATION.  It's my thoughts that every middle/high schooler should see this film and others like it, like Killing Them Softly. The first time I saw the film, I was fresh out of high school and wasn't a mother yet, the second was weeks ago. Each time, it had a very different effect on me. The first time being a slight boost in my self esteem. I saw the models and some of my idols underneath the makeup and Photoshop they go through before very picture or film finally. I understood at least for a short while, that the ideal I was striving for wasn't realistic. It opened my eyes to how poorly out society treats itself. Women are objectified and belittled. men are put on an inhuman pedestal built on macho standards. Putting the sexes on opposite sides of an invisible fence neither is supposed to glance over let alone cross. Making individuals that don't identify as macho male or a frightened Madonna outside society's norms. We separate ourselves and limit our connections. We make it taboo to respect a woman, calling men who do 'whipped'. And making any woman who demands respect a 'bitch' or 'butch' because according to society she wants to male if she is demanding the same respect males are given at birth.  
This past December, Adweek looked into this horrific trend. Naming the top 10 sexist ads of 2013. I was appalled. I was frightened. Knowing that ads like these show the people that women are less than human. They are just the body of their chests and reproductive organs. The ads belittle them to just being eye candy, being sexual objects. Women are made to be less than human. Making a race, gender, sexual orientation, any group less than human gives others right to treat them anyway they like. Like it or not we live in a rape culture. Where women who wear clothes, that models are displaying, on the town are begging to be taken advantage of. We live in a country where 89,000 rapes are reported annually according to statisticsbrian.com. How do we change this? How do we make this country and world safer for our children? We start with the things they see everyday. We start with the media. Making them regulate the size of models and amount of editing a photo can go through before publishing. We change our attitudes. Women make up over 51% of the population. If we speak up, we change things. Men can be feminist too. Many have already spoken out about the horrid treatment and judgement we place on women.

"Fake" Ad but powerful