May 01, 2008
"I want your bod"
On the April 22, we were talking about women in the media and how they are objectified and rendered powerless. The Axe body spray commercials are perfect examples of how women have no power of control when they are around a man wearing Axe body spray. Another ad that comes to my mind when talking about objectifying women and rendering them powerless are the ads for Bod body spray and how their motto is “Hot Fragrances for Men.” By going to http://iwantyourbod.com/bod_main.cfm?sem=google one can see the “powerless” women staring under their sunglasses at the “hot bod” of the man.
8 comments:
I feel bad for men that actually see these commercials and think girls are going to flock to them because of the body spray!! It's actually quite histerical.
Not only is this ad showing women as powerless but it is also showing unobtainable standards of what "hot" men and women should look like. It is telling men that not only must they wear the body spray to get these beautiful women but they must also have the bulging muscles. Also notice the positioning of all individuals in the ad. All the women are looking up to the man as if he is superior to them, especially because he wears bod bodyspray.
I agree with sally..i laugh every time I see these commercials...i always think to myself..who really thinks this!
These commercials really are unrealistic, but like we've discussed that's the appeal, people want to think they can reach that body, have that woman, look that good. Oh how naiive we are. The sexually suggestive nature of the add to me is inappropriate, but addmittedly is a little enticing. I think the commercial is succeeding in reaching the correct demographic (young men) by the displaying the hypermasculine body and the submissive woman. Morally repulsive or not, that's the nature of the media business, sex sells.
I personally do not see why women would flock to a man because of this body spray. Maybe some others, but Axe body spray most of the time just smells bad, maybe I just think that.
It is however disturbing that many young men will believe this type of product will get them the women that they want and then may get depressed when it just doesn't work for them. It is also degrading towards women showing them as powerless and that they must "worship" the man because of a certain body spray.
The thing is, these ads work! A lot of men see these images and think it's worth giving it a try. I agree with others though, most people probably just laugh at these ads and realize that they are portraying a stereotype for the sake of humor.
This is very interesting...and somewhat true. Men and women in the media are shown as perfect. The perfect people also only wan perfect mates therefore you must have a man or woman that looks like this or smells like this. That is what all of these ads are saying. Even thought we don't think it's going to effect us...it does. We do judge others by what they are wearing or what their body looks like.
To flip the coin so-to-speak, what about all of the commercials that show women how to get all of the hot/cute/sexy men to flock their direction... i.e. perfume, cosmetics, or even Victoria Secret (I've always found their name interesting considering they don't try to keep anything a secret!) commercials. I just roll my eyes, but I wonder if some women or young impressionable girls think that they can really get a guy because of this.
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