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Debate:Fashion, Images of Women in
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[  ][  ][  ][  ][  ]Do popular consumerist images of women have a negative effect on women and society? |
This article is based on a Debatabase entry written by Christopher Ruane. Because this document can be modified by any registered user of this site, its contents should be cited with care.
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[ ][  ][  ][  ][  ]Argument #1 | |
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[  ][ ]YesConsumer advertising projects an unrealistic ideal of the feminine form. The vast majority of advertising used a feminine form whose key features (e.g. thinness, particular figure, unblemished complexion) do not correspond to most women’s bodies. This can create false expectations on the part of women and their partners, as well as society at large. The portrayal of women in advertising is also highly stylised and this can significantly distort its viewers’ connection between what they see in the advertisement and what women actually experience in daily life. |
[ ][ ]NoFor many female consumers, advertising is aspirational. Advertising allows a form of escapism that many women welcome and indeed pursue. As with other photographs and most artistic media, there exists an implicit understanding that what is depicted is not necessarily a mirror reflection of real life – and to many viewers this is the very attraction of the images. The models in the advertising reflect how many women want to be, which is why they are used to advertise fashion brands in the first place. Women welcome such pictures as a way of affirming their own focus on certain elements of aesthetic attractiveness. The glamour of the fashion industry in general and its advertising campaigns in particular is a welcome input to the humdrum existence led by many of the people who consume the pictures. They are grateful for the chance to engage in fantasising vicariously about a glamorous, fashionable lifestyle. |
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[ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][  ]Argument #2 | |
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[ ][ ]YesMuch advertising is filtered through a male lens and, even if notionally targeted at women, can reinforce an unbalanced, male chauvinistic view of women as sex objects. This is reflected by the fact that most advertising uses young, beautiful female models – even when it advertises something (e.g. cars) which do have a mixed consumer base. Advertising which stereotypes women through the use of unusually aesthetically beautiful women effectively upholds a male chauvinistic system that pits women against other women in a competition of sexual power. |
[ ][ ]NoIt is a false choice to argue that portraying aesthetically perfect women is an alternative to portraying women as something more than mere sexual playthings. Models’ beauty in no way undermines their intellectual capacity. The use of female models in consumer advertising actually empowers women. The high-profile models who attract media prominence represent a successful role model which many other women wish to emulate. This rewards and encourages female achievement. The fact that media and advertisers focus so much effort on portraying women in a certain light reflects the fact that women as consumers are an important socio-economic group whose interests need to be catered to. |
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[ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ]Argument #3 | |
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[ ][ ]YesAdvertising featuring women plays on female insecurities. Through the use of women in consumer advertising, advertisers clearly link identification as a successful woman with consumption. This is a particularly vicious circle for people who lack the funds to feed this consumptive habit. Through its near relentless focus on ideal type models, advertising also pressurises women into conforming to a “perfect” body. This increases the likelihood of eating disorders, as well as the pursuit of unnecessary cosmetic surgery, anti-ageing treatment etc. |
[ ][ ]NoAdvertising featuring women is an inevitable response to market demand. Much such advertising appears in media which are targeted at and purchased by women, e.g. women’s magazines. The use of female models in advertising is a natural choice in this context. There is a supply - and often a vast oversupply - of women who wish to model for such advertising. They are not forced to participate. Through their ongoing consumption of and demand for pictures of model-like women in the mainstream media, women effectively signal a tacit acceptance of such images. If enough women found it to be genuinely objectionable, advertisers would switch tack rather than alienate their target consumers. |
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[ ][ ][ ][ ][ ]Argument #4 | |
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[ ][ ]YesConsumer advertising negatively objectifies women. Much advertising involving female models is semi-pornographic. It conforms to a misogynist perception of women as commodifiable sexual objects. Most advertising also uses models with a fairly homogenous set of physical characteristics and styles them so that they are often interchangeable. This approach emphasises a view of women as essentially biddable, commodifiable objects. Some advertising even uses an almost childlike interpretation of women which plays to a mild form of paedophilia on the pretext of advertising. As well as denigrating women generally and the models involved, this represents condoning the perversions of paedophilia. |
[ ][ ]NoStandards of how women may be depicted in advertising are culturally varied, and the industry does vary the kind of images (e.g. the amount of flesh on display, the "sexiness" of the photoshoot) it uses to suit different markets, showing that it follows social norms rather than setting them. It is, however, unfair to accuse the fashion industry of homogeneity when models from ethnic minorities are often used, promoting a more diverse view of beauty. Increasingly, older models and those with more "natural" bodies (i.e. without the skinniness of traditional models) are also used. |
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