Sex sells and I’m sick of it

Europa

January 13, 2016 10:03 AM

There’s a group of women in skimpy dresses dancing in a club. There are men watching on with sleazy looks in their eyes, the groups merge and cheer and shout the name of the alcohol they are apparently fuelled by. Europa Taylor lays out why she is sick of seeing women used to peddle booze.

They are on our TVs, billboards, social media and magazines. Their faces and bodies are being used to push something that is literally a poison.

While it is generally believed that men drink more than women, it is women who are being used at the forefront of alcohol advertisements.

Any time I watch these women-dominated alcohol ads on television, I am both offended and amazed at what I see: women in their mid-20s praising and cheering over their drinks wearing provocative dresses with sexually explicit facial expressions and recommending whatever alcohol they are taking to the audience.

Whether they are aware of it or not, these women are being portrayed as sex objects in these ads, I feel this dehumanises their personalities, and reduces them to nothing but their physical looks.

It is commonly accepted that the general target in alcohol advertisement is men. You can see the logic when putting up an alcohol ad: as the saying goes, sex sells.

There is nothing more captivating to a man than a half naked, provocative women. Sadly, the bodies of these women are being used to sell the product, ultimately for the pleasure of the opposite gender.

I am sure I am not alone in finding these sorts of advertisements degrading and demeaning to women. What is more, there is the fear these ads are shaping the females of our present culture, as many are compelled to emulate what they view on television.

There is no denying the fact that many of the female stereotypes, including the fun and outgoing girl, flirty girl and so on, represented through alcohol ads are what girls are imitating in today’s society. They watch these advertisements and feel that they have to flirt, act sexy, or dress in a provocative way in order to attract a man's attention.

And of course, what about when the women in the ads recommend whatever alcohol they are consuming to their fellow women watching at home? Excessive alcohol is incredibly harmful. It can lead to alcohol-related diseases, increase the risk of car accidents and other traumatic injuries, hypertension, cancer, stroke, and suicide.

There is also the possibility of abusing or becoming dependent on the alcohol being suggested to them by their fellow women on television.

Certainly, we need to take a second look at this issue before it gets to an alarming point.

Producers and patrons of adverts need to be encouraged to re-examine the roles and characters they give to women in their alcohol advertisements.

21st century women are increasingly occupying leadership positions, and performing outstandingly well in their respective fields; they don’t need to be portrayed as sex objects.

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