by Miranda Pierson

Created on: July 31, 2010

Ads that use sex to sell their products do degrade women. Whenever a product is advertised, sex is one of the most popular techniques used in order to make the product seem appealing. Whether the product be cigarettes, birth control mechanisms, or even something less controversial, the reference to sex still remains. At times, it is not a matter of whether or not sex is used in the advertisement. Instead, it is a matter of the prominence of the sexual reference. The ads with the sexual references are degrading to women because they portray women as objects of desire, rather than as individuals that are capable of making sensible decisions. However, these sexual ads can also be degrading to men. Even though using sex to sell products is done frequently, that does not make it right.

Women have worked hard to earn their rights. For years, women were viewed as people that were incapable of doing so much of what men do. Now, women have the same rights as men, however, we are still degraded in those ads with the sexual references. Some women enjoy having sex, but others do not. Nevertheless, the choice to have sex or not to have sex is a private matter that should not have subliminal reference within advertising. No woman could possibly appreciate the sexual appearance of the women within those ads. The cigarette ads are the most common example of this. They all show a woman without that much clothing on. She is smoking a cigarette, and clearly doing so to attract that type of attention. The idea of the ad is to associate pleasure with smoking. If people like to have sex, then surely they will like to smoke. To portray women like this is horrible. Women are sensible enough to know that the physical harm caused by smoking is much more real and significant than the sexual image within those ads. 

Men can be degraded by ads that use sex to sell products as well. Men are also very intelligent and understand how to make good choices. This means thinking about the actual effects of something, as opposed to concentrating on the image portrayed. The images portrayed within those ads are deceiving and degrading. They are provide the idea that people think about sex instead of the actual product being advertised. Either that or people always make their decisions based on sex. Regardless, such advertising is wrong.

There are so many different advertising techniques out there. Sex may sell, but it also degrades. Sometimes, the straight forward ads that provide concrete information about the product, without making any sexual references, are the most sensible.

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