We've talked a lot about body image and sexualizing females in the media, so this video fits right in with our discussion.
Buzzfeed recently released this video showing men playing women’s roles in three popular commercials.
People have developed different opinions on the topic of gender and sexuality in advertisements. Some say both men and women should be equally sexualized in ads, while others think neither should be featured. While opinions differ, one fact remains. Women in the media are often over sexualized in advertisements and are expected to fall into a subordinate role.
The video is designed to show the other side of this concept, as well as how the media uses this in their ads. I understand the clip isn’t attempting to be serious (it’s more of a comical representation of the sexuality concept), but my own reaction surprised me. The men looked so silly to me; specifically in the last clip, the man on the beach looked so out of place. His character was used to depict the perfect, tan and muscular man on the beach, just as the real commercial uses an attractive woman. Regardless of his physique, he just looked wrong in that scene, and that bothered me.
I couldn’t help but think the males looked so out of place because I was expecting a female. I hadn’t seen the first two commercials in this video, but I believe the original ones were “better.” In every clip where the roles were reversed, I thought to myself, “that doesn’t look right” and “that’s the place for a woman.” Are these ideas ingrained in my mind? Do I automatically expect a woman in sexualized ads? Is it because I’m used to viewing women in this way? If this is the case, I can certainly see why nothing has changed in the advertising industry. If everyone keeps expecting women in these roles, that’s what advertisers will continue to feed us.