SEX EVERYONE!
From watching all of these old commercials something has become really clear about the present day, teenagers have become over sexualized and objectified in the media. These discourses presented in multitude of costumes interweave to create a teenager who will objectify him or herself willingly and laugh at it. Young girls are supposed to be sexy but never sexed, experienced in bed, but a virgin. All of this is presented in the media, but more and more of our schools are returning to abstinent only sex education. "In 2007 the American Psychological Association issued a report that concluded that the rampant sexualization of girls was undermining their self esteem and jeopardizing their physical and psychological health because they were learning at ever younger ages that their value came primarily from their sexual appeal and behavior (184)." This ties into Tolman's argument that society is perpetuating the idea that woman should use the "power" of their sexualization to get what they want from people. Susan Douglas, the author of Enlightened Sexism writes, "so the media began to highlight this message: it's through sex and sexual display that women really have the power to get what they want. And because the true path to power comes from being an object of desire, girls and women should now actively choose- even celebrate and embrace- being sex objects (156)." These teenagers are told what to look like, how to be appealing to the opposite sex, even down to sex moves taught in Cosmo Magazine and Hustler, but their knowledge on safe sex practices lacks in comparison. "Boys and men who live on regular diet of all this stuff typically have more sexist attitudes and are more accepting of sexual harassment, interpersonal violence, and the myth that women invite rape (Douglas, 185)." So what do we do to combat these issues? And how do these tie into teenagers’ representations in older commercials?
These older commercials can give us an idea of the progress we have made in the last 60 years, the discourses, which have stayed consistent about teenagers, and also newer formed discourses. Through these old commercials we can clearly see the progression of sexualization to sell consumer products, the idea of the asexual female, and the ever-growing need to objectify oneself for power.
Neither the present day commercials nor the dated commercials actually represent teenagers the way they actually are, if you could even categorize them in the first place. Every individual is different and unique, no matter his or her age group. The media often shows a very skewed version of teenagers, often white and middle-class. In the older commercials female teenagers were represented often as asexual sex objects, making men all to often dumb struck puppy dogs.
In this big red commercial we see the role of the asexual helpless female again. The women are positioned on top of the men, showing the males strength. The woman camping gets scared and jumps on the man while he mockingly makes a scared impression. The couples are all kissing but it never even gets to the French kissing stage. This is what teenagers did, they kissed, they didn’t go any further, and they never explored their feelings or desires. Girls were taught never to listen to their own desires. Their desire was not important what was important was getting “your Mr. Right”. Girls were represented as a tease, someone who uses her allure to get what she wants, love. But no sex till marriage, don’t forget!
MALE GAZE
The ever-present male gaze is not a new problem seen in commercials. These jean commercials ranging from 1979- 1992 show the use of the male gaze on females as well as males, using sex appeal to sell jeans to teenagers.
Jordache Jeans 1979
Sasson Jeans 1983
Brook Shields for Calvin Klien 1980
I feel dirty…do you? Brooke Shields was just 15 when this commercial was shot.
Marky Mark and Kate Moss for Calvin Klien 1992
In this Calvin Klein commercial Marky Mark is being objectified, but plays into this discourse stating " my mother still thinks I’m a virgin," and, "I’ve had lipstick stains on my underwear a few times." These statements, which would have been seen as "slutty" if said by a female, are seen as normal, even cool, when stated by a man. Also Kate moss is featured in this commercial, but never speaks, she is there for his pleasure and the pleasure of millions of others. During the shot more time is spent on Marky Mark's face then his body, even when he's talking about the underwear directly and pointing at it.
Resources:
Enlightened Sexism by Susan Douglas
"Object Lessons: Romance, Violation, and Female Adolescent Sexual Desire" by Deborah Tolman from the Journal of Sex Education & Therapy, 2000, Vol. 25, Issue 1.
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