opposing viewpoints

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Opposing Viewpoints
An advertisement is an announcement made on any type of media promoting a product or a service. Mostly, the advertising firms target the feelings of their audiences and make them feel that they would have better lives if they purchased the product or service advertised. Advertisements are good because they help companies get customers. However, throughout history, advertisements target their audience in a discriminatory manner, almost all the time. One of the issues within advertisements is the fact that many advertisements are sexist (Rosalind 62). Sexism refers to the stereotyping based on sex, and it typically happens against females. The issue of sexism within advertisements is confusing because sexist adverts are very effective and the fact that women created many allegedly sexist advertisements.
Sexist adverts are very effective. All adverts are discriminatory in some way. For example, if a company targets the youth for a particular product, they will discriminate the older generation and the young children. The same case applies for products meant to appeal to people of different sex. A Barbie Doll advertisement, for example, will only feature girls. Such an advert is sexist because it shows that girls should carry, feed, and take care of the baby. If girls grow with such mentality, it means that they will not expect the men in their future to do those things because they feel that it is their responsibility as men take care of other things.

This is a representation of the way of life many decades ago when women would stay at home to take care of the house chores, as the men were busy in the places of formal employment, and as such, it is sexist. One may oppose this advertisement on such grounds. However, one should also think about how effective the same advert would be if it featured boys. Even without being trained, young boys will be more interested in toy cars than they would be in a Barbie Doll. If an advert features a boy carrying the doll, the company that manufactures it may lose a lot of revenue because it will not appeal to boys and it may turn off young girls. The company would lose a lot. While featuring a girl in the advert is effective, featuring a boy is disastrous for the company. The opposite is true for gaming companies. A play station advert will feature boys since the console will appeal to boys more because of their competitive nature. Therefore, sexist adverts are here to stay because they are very effective.
It is ironical that women created many of the adverts criticized for being sexist. As said above, sexism typically occurs against women. One may fail to understand why the victims of sexism are busy propagating it. The answer lies in the fact that sexism has been so ingrained in the people’s minds. The relevant authorities have a duty to ensure that sexist advertisements that live up to the traditional beliefs, which insinuate that women are weaker than men are, do not get airplay on television. People need to learn that women can do everything that men can.
As shown, sexism in advertisements is a confusing thing because lack of it may mean lack of business for some companies that deal with products that appeal more to people of a particular sex than they do others. It is also a confusing thing because the victims help in its propagation when they should be fighting it.

Works Cited
Gill, Rosalind. “Sexism reloaded, or, it’s time to get angry again!.” Feminist Media Studies 11.01 (2011): 61-71.