Monday, December 13, 2010

Jungle fever: minorities are the sex

As if under-representation wasn't a bad enough issue in advertising, minorities, especially minority women have to be the subject of oversexualization in ads.
It's not news that Latin and African American women are often objectified due to the existing stereotypes that they're fiery and love-crazed.
While the mantra "sex sells" is widely used and sworn by, the profits are being made at the stake of minority women, their image, and their reputations. The consequences of these stereotypes are coming at a hefty price, the American Bar Association's Commission on Domestic Violence put out a survey of recent statistics that has astonishing results. As they state in their website, "Overall, African Americans were victimized by intimate partners a significantly higher rates than persons of any other race between 1993 and 1998. Black females experienced intimate partner violence at a rate 35% higher than that of white females, and about 22 times the rate of women of other races. Black males experienced intimate partner violence at a rate about 62% higher than that of white males and about 22 times the rate of men of other races" and in terms of Hispanic women, "the victimization rates of Hispanic women peaked at lower levels than non-Hispanic women in every age group, but spread over a wider range of ages." 
It's clear that these women are suffering more than those of other races and to no surprise considering the images and stereotypes that are being fed to us day by day. 
This ad features an Asian woman in the stereotypically submissive way in which they're often portrayed:
The following ad features an over-sexualized Hispanic woman promoting an energy shake and reminding you to "Shake Well" with the bottle on the woman's derriere, alluring to the stereotype that Latin women have large butts and shake them a lot since they're always dancing. (Of course)
This outraging ad presumes that the only way a Latina can be "cold" is if she's a beer, perpetuating the stereotype that Hispanic women are "hot" and have bursting libidos. 
Another ad also features a Latina and liquor, this time showing the woman in a very submissive pose: 
 And yet another ad featuring a Latin woman in a suggested sexual state induced by the phallic bottle of vodka:


African American women are often portrayed as wild and animal-like. 
This ad shows the woman pinned to the wall with a stereotypically afro-centric hairstyle and wearing all leopard print: 
Other ads like this one for Diesel taunt "How to Control Wild Animals":
While yet others like this use minority women in cheap sexual situations like that of suggested lesbianism like in this ad:
And others tend to brand them, reminiscent of the times of slavery when they were treated like property:
While not a woman, this following commercial featuring a black man serves to perpetuate the stereotype that people of "exotic" backgrounds are good only for sex and the pleasure of others, presumably Caucasians. Italian Commercial

No comments:

Post a Comment