Sexualizing Women in Advertisements Carolina Woodruff Cosmopolitan Magazine Fall/ Winter 2012 Allure Magazine November 2012 Lucky Magazine December 2012

Thesis / Magazines Through a content analysis of the advertisements in the most recent issues of Cosmopolitan magazine, Allure magazine, and Lucky magazine, I argue that the ad’s attempt to use sex to sell products, but do so through the use of women’s insecurities and flaws while showing unrealistic ideals of women.

Demographics of Media Kits – Median age 31.3 mainly 18-34; 62.6 college edu. ; 45.3% single/ 38.1% married/ 16.6 div/sep./wid -kit/web -kit/web – Median age 41.5; women readers 87.9%; 79.4% college edu. – Age 25-44; 68% women/32%male readers; 76% college edu.

Paper Structure I. Sex Sells II. Flaws and Insecurities III. Unrealistic Idols in Media

Sex Sells Copy/text- – Sexualized language that creates a want for women to appeal to the opposite sex Visual – Men are creatures of habit, and women are taught to believe that the visual appeal is all that matters and “her” body is the whole attraction Control/Power is gained through sexual control Male readers- high percentage

Flaws and Insecurities Advertising companies – Hint towards womens flaws to make sure they notice them Text/copy – Tend to use suggestive words that make the reader want to better themselves, as if they aren’t good enough Images – Example : “plus size” model is a size 8 which is the average size woman- creates the insecurity

Unrealistic Idols in Media Trends – Eating disorders in models aren’t too frowned upon as long as public doesn’t know – Bones show in advertisements – The look of starvation – No breasts- losing the side of womens sexuality- no win situation Photoshop – Everything is photo-shopped- even the size 2 model