Advertisement remains one of the most important mediums of communication in which companies, individuals, or even the government use to reach out a wide audience as they try to pass some important information about a product or an event. For companies, an advertisement is the best channel through with they can reach out to their customers and inform, remind, or persuade them to buy a given product available in the market (Jantzon and Michael 591). On the other hand, the government or individuals may use advertisement to disseminate information concerning an event such as a wedding ceremony or burial, or even the occurrence of a public holiday. However, sometimes the manner in which such information is always passed have left tongues wagging. For instance, individuals have often condemned the use of women, who are always objectified as sexual elements, as dehumanizing and a setback towards enhancing gender equality towards women in modern society. An example of such advertisement was done by the ESPN magazine when it showed the nude images of Amanda Bingson as the magazine cover image as shown in the image uploaded below.

Source: HUFFPOST

One of the issues that make the above picture appear to be objectifying sexual element is the fact that the woman is pictured while she is completely nude. Despite trying hard to prevent exposing the lady’s private parts, the magazine was criticized for posting images which seem to undermine the dignity of women. The pose of a woman in an advert and how her image is portrayed often means a lot on matters concerning the objectification of women sexuality (Palm 1092). The above picture clearly shows a woman’s full body which can explicitly result in sexualizing thoughts among the readers.

However, there are other advertisements which have maintained a high standard of ethics and morals by portraying a woman as an intelligent and hardworking person who can achieve everything when she remains committed to achieving her goals. Such adverts have been applauded for enhancing women stature by portraying positive images about them. An example of such images was that of Mitchel Obama when her picture was used as the cover image for the Ladies’ Home Journal Magazine, which is one of the popular magazines in the US. In the front cover page, Mitchel appears as a smart, beautiful, brilliant, and intelligent woman, with a pleasant smile which magnify her kindness as shown in the picture below. The fact that Mitchel image is displayed while she is wearing a lovely red dress that further enhances her beauty as a woman shows how the magazine respects the dignity of women and tends to promote their stature in a society where women are still grappling with cases of gender-based discrimination.

Source: Pinterest.

Works Cited

Friend Nina. Nude Female Athletes Preach Body Love on ESPN’s Cover. HUFFPOST. 2017. Retrieved from www.huffpost.com/entry/espn-magazine-body-issue_n_7738674. (Accessed on 9^th April 2019).

Jantzon, Rachelle, and Michael Basil. “Physical Attractiveness in Advertising: Can an Endorser Be Too Attractive? An Abstract.” Academy of Marketing Science Annual Conference. Springer, Cham, 2017. p. 591.

Mitchell Obama on cover Ladies Home Journal. Retrieved from www.pinterest.com/pin/326511041729430817/ (Accessed on 9^th April 2019).

Palm, Regina. “All American Girls: Women Pin-Up Artists of the First Half of the Twentieth Century.” The Journal of Popular Culture 51.5 (2018): 1092-1112.