I believe this campaign to be offensive as it puts too much pressure on women.

We all know fertility isn’t forever, however life shouldn’t be a race against time. Moreover, are all women supposed to become mothers? A woman might have other priorities and considering the difficulties in imposing herself in the still patriarchal society, the age at which women have children is not even to be debated.

She represents Femininity and she is presented as a model to follow as there is the idea that all women should be “physically perfect”. Women are expected to dress in elegant clothes, use make-up and perfume in order to look good. In fact, today there is a wide range of cosmetic products for women and the behaviour to be physically beautiful is considered feminine conduct, otherwise a woman is considered “boyish”. Nowadays advertising campaigns tend to exalt the female body neglecting the intelligence of the woman. 

The slogan was brought up as a “thinspiration” motto used by the pro-anorexic community. It was deemed wrong and completely irresponsible as it promotes unhealthy weight loss. The photo was posted and reposted on numerous blogs and spread through articles, tweets and videos from other bloggers. The company responded to the flurry with a tweet on it’s twitter account. The response? “Thin just happens to be a good word to describe the shape of our product.”

I chose this ad because we live in a society that pretends women to be thin, skinny and it associates this to beauty. Even if this wasn’t intentional, people, especially women, immediately thought of the stereotype the society wants of them as soon as they saw this ad.

Eating disorders are no joke and nowadays many people suffer from them. This is often caused by the requirements a body has to have in order to be beautiful.

In the past, women were seen as weaker and with a lower status than men; this image demonstrates that this idea is still present nowadays. 

Firstly, he or she would never buy this product and secondly, he or she would feel mortified to be part of the so called inferior race, whose black skin is symbolic of evil, death, grief and mystery.

Having said that, I reckon that something is extremely wrong here.

This image shows a magazine of a supermarket which is promoting their construction tools, and the person using them is a man, every time. This fosters the idea that manual, constructive tasks are a masculine job.

In conclusion, if what is offered to us is never a woman using a drill or a hammer, we’ll preserve the conception of women as the “weak sex”, bound to the position of “angel of the home”.

This picture is just one example of the many biased images the company “Schick“ decided to use in order to promote their razors.

This advertising picture, that could have been easily replaced by a non-offensive image, indeed depicts a bearded woman and describes her as “unkissable”, ridiculing her.

On the other hand, the previous image, which is taken from Gillette’s advertising campaign, strategically portrays a stereotypical masculine man who is surrounded by his well earned trophies and perpetrates the idea that shaving is a choice and way of invigorating and taking care of a man’s body and not an indicator of attractiveness, as it is to women.

It depicts, as well, a big bias about women at work : they all are young, gorgeous and attractive, and they wear tight clothes which are not necessarily appropriate for this kind of workplace.

It represents the portrait of this generation, who does not possess enough attention to allow the constant following of the transmission, so directors put a speaker who’s able to catch the public eye.

The real problem presented here is the internalised conception that women are meant to stay in the kitchen. So it strongly concerns: Discrimination of women and social Restriction.

On one hand, it introduces the idea that women should stay in the kitchen and it perpetuates harmful stereotypes contributing to women discrimination. This narrow perspective undermines women’s aspirations and hinders progress towards gender equality.

On the other hand, it is strongly linked to social restriction, because women, despite possessing a wide range of talents and abilities like men, are not treated like them. Therefore, society imposes on them limitations and denies them the opportunity to contribute with their skills and talents in various fields. 

However, as you can all imagine, the causes of these stereotypes had already started in the past. Effectively stereotypes have perpetuated the idea of women being confined to domestic roles, particularly in the kitchen.

For instance, during the Victorian age the family was a patriarchal unit, in which the husband represented the main authority and the role of women concerned the education of children and the management of the house.

So, it’s evident that the consideration of women as creatures destined to house management it’s something that has already been present in the past and a problem still present in our society nowadays. 

The portrayal of perfect families in advertisements often reflects an idealized version of reality, omitting the diverse and complex experiences that many families actually face.

Inclusivity allows people to see their own families with all their unique dynamics and embracing this diversity not only reflects the reality of modern family life but also fosters inclusivity, ensuring that everyone can relate to and feel represented in the stories told through advertising.

Gender-based advertisements often reflect and perpetuate deep-seated stereotypes. These representations can significantly influence cultural perceptions, shaping social norms and limiting the range of interests and aspirations considered acceptable for each gender.

The evolution of gender-based advertisements should aim to represent a diverse range of interests, abilities, and roles for everyone, regardless of gender. A fair and inclusive approach in advertisements not only reflects the reality of human diversity but also contributes to promoting a more open, progressive society oriented toward equal opportunities for all.