The Role Of Hyper-Sexualization In Advertising

It truly blows my mind when anti-feminists, MRAs (Men’s Rights Activists), a large majority of the male population and generally unenlightened people claim that men and women are equally sexualized within the media, and sexualized in equally harmful ways.

Sexualization within the media isn’t the problem. Women are sexualized for lingerie ads and feminine hygiene products, and I guess these work because these ads are aiming to make women, particularly youth, feel more ‘sexy’ and ‘beautiful’. Men are sexualized for body spray/deodorant and hygiene products, these ads have the same intention as female ads - to make men feel ‘hot’ and ‘sexy’. But, this isn’t what this is about. This is about hyper-sexualization. Hyper-sexualization is sexualizing someone to the point where it’s out of context and makes no sense whatsoever. Hyper-sexualization only happens to women. Examples of hyper-sexualizations can be found in nearly any and every commercial; cars, food, sports, vacations, restaurants, shoes, clothes, gum. Nearly every ad out there - you can find an almost-naked, provocatively-posed hyper-sexualized woman. Please tell me the last time you saw an ad that put a man in this position. …show more content…
In only recent years, very few companies have turned the tables and displayed men this way. I once saw a salad dressing commercial that showed a ripped man laying in a field of grass with a small apron covering his genitals while he smiled seductively at the camera. So, yes, some companies have turned the tables, but that doesn’t equal to the amount of hyper-sexualizations women are subjected to. It just means men are getting a little taste of what women have to see on a daily basis. Almost all media is targeted for the straight male gaze, even when men and women almost equally consume the

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