I write regarding both the Sept. 4 and 11 issues of the Gauntlet, specifically about the "University of Whisk
ey" ad on pages 19 and 18 of those respective issues.
The link between sex and alcohol has been made in many forms of advertising and many media. However, the button in this ad puts it beyond the grey area usually occupied by sexually objectifying ads. It says, "Get me drunk and then see what happens." This suggests a dangerous message: "Women, once they're drunk, will, and should, put out. All men have to do to get some action is buy a woman a few drinks. If they're too cheap to do that, hey, just buy one and slip her some Rohypnol."
This laughs at the issue of choice. Everyone has made some dumb choices while drunk. However, this ad says that drunk women relinquish not only their ability but their right to choose, and that this should be exploited by men, who are stereotyped as potential (hetero-) sexual predators. Ads like this promote the idea that, no matter what a woman's brain is doing or mouth is saying, her body is there for the taking.
Date rape is a serious problem. Lots of research deals with images of women in advertising as it relates to women's actual self-image. Generally, it finds objectifying images of women (like this one, and other ads run in the Gauntlet) promote a lack of confidence, especially in young (high school and university age) women.
And what of guys, who are also impressionable? Do images like this lead them to feel entitled to sex with a girl whose drinks they bought? If so, no wonder there's harassment, pressure to consent to sex, and an increasing instance of date rape. Is that okay with you?
Comments
i could probaly pick out one every other week and fill the editorials columns with letters of objections.
fact is, big clubs, booze companies, retail stores,etc etc all use sex to sell product. unfortunately this often means women become objectified.
i say find a better cause. there are women and their children living in poverty and on the streets in your own city. there is a lack of affordable housing for them. there is a lack of safe places for women victims of domestic violence. i say focus your energy on something real. that will actually have a impact on the status and welfare of women today.
and true, this ad may have offended many, so do ads for cowboys and the palace etc. so i say don't frequent these establishments or companies that you feel promote the objectification of women and violence against them.
from what i can see this was just a big bandwagon for mainstream media to jump onto.
I am doing a oral presentation on the statement "Advertising wastes our time, defaces our landscape, and degrades the dignity of public institutions."
I was wondering if anyone had any comments on this issue
It would be greatly appricaited!
Thank you,
Jennifer Raymond