Feminism is a social and political movement concerned with the rights of females. It aims to question
ideas of gender inequality in all aspects of life and focuses on the real experiences of females rather
than the assumed ideas created by society. Feminists campaign for women’s rights and aim for
equality between the two sexes (male and female). The Oxford English dictionary (2006, p.522)
describes feminism as being “Advocacy of equality of the sexes and the establishment of the political,
social, and economic rights of the female sex; the movement associated with this.” And feminist as
“Of, relating to, or advocating the rights and equality of women.”(Oxford English dictionary 2006,
p.522) The main themes feminism is concerned with are discrimination, power struggles, inequality,
objectification, patriarchy and stereotyping.
Feminism can be applied to all areas of media and looks at the representation of females to society.
Some images are created to be viewed by females and some by males, this is especially true when
looking at advertising as certain products are designed for use by females and some males. It is
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| (Burger King 2009) |
contained within them that can cause gender inequality and therefore lead to them being of concern
from a feminist perspective. Media has a massive influence on society and the images we are presented
with in our everyday life shape our understanding of the world. Through these images and the various
other influences on our lives we learn what is good and bad, what is attractive and what is desirable.
How we should live our lives and how we should treat other people.
One such advert that is viewed as being morally wrong by feminists is this, created by an independent
adverting company for street advertising in Singapore in 2009.
This is advertisement is for the release of a new type of burger produced by the fast food chain Burger
King. The advert contains two images of the product, an image of a woman and several catch phrases.
In big letters right in the middle of the Image are the words “It’ll blow you away” (Burger King 2009).
A second tag line “It just tastes better” (Burger King 2009) is present at the top right, bottom left is
the Name of the product “BK Super seven incher” and a value meal and description of the product are
present in the bottom right.
This advert however is not as innocent as that description makes it seem. The woman is young and
beautiful. Facing the product, her bright red lipstick covered mouth is open wide. Her sultry makeup
smeared eyes contain a look of shock which almost verges on fear, definitely not the kind of look you
would give to a burger. The burger itself is phallic in shape and its name, when taken in context with
the rest of the advert, “BK super Seven incher” is clearly intended to make the viewer think of penis
size. The tag line, again when considered in context, quite clearly refers to oral sex. The whole image
is an innuendo for the act of a woman performing oral sex on a man and infers that the pleasure that the
customer would receive from this product is similar to the pleasure received from oral sex.
In order to work out who the intended audiences is for this piece we must take several of its attributes
into consideration, firstly there is the use of an image of a woman. As I said before she is young and
clearly meant to be attractive to the adverts demographic. The advertisers use of makeup, specifically
red lipstick, and her open mouthed pose are also meant to install in the viewer a feeling of desire. This
image of a woman is intended to be attractive to the viewer, she is not simply beautiful or a role model
to aspire to but a purveyor of pleasure. From these characteristics it is safe to say that this advert is
intended to attract the male gaze. Her age hair cut and makeup are not suggestive of a professional
working woman, a student then maybe, definitely not a powerful upper-class woman. There is also the
overall feel given by the design of the advert, it is not a classy advert designed to sell quality goods
but has a more rather in your face feel, it is direct, edgy and easily understood. The product itself is
widely available and cheap to purchase. From a combination of all of these factors I would say that
the intended audience are heterosexual males, in an age group who feel that they may have a chance of
sexual relations with this woman, possibly 16 to 35 and from a lower or middle class background.
This advert works through the objectification of woman. Objectification is the removal of a person’s
humanity and through it people are reduced to the level of tools. Emotions are taken away and the
person becomes a means to gain satisfaction. The image used presents to its viewers not a woman
but an object, a commodity designed completely for male gratification. We do not see her as an
autonomous being with her own wants and needs, a person who has her own life, her own hopes and
fears; she has been reduced to an appearance, a body and the actions that body can perform. It is almost
as if she is not a human at all but rather an object instrumentality designed to satisfy the males’ sexual
urges.
The objectification present in this image becomes damaging when the idea it represents, that of females
as a tool for gratification, becomes the accepted view of an individual or society. Whether used by the
advertisers simply as a joke, a marketing ploy or because, as we all know, sex sells, this objectification
is harmful to the image of the female and goes to further to encourage societies acceptance of it. Kant
(1981 p.162) writes of objectification “As soon as a person becomes an Object of appetite for another,
all motives of moral relationship cease to function, because as an Object of appetite for another a
person becomes a thing and can be treated and used as such by every one.” He is saying that once
objectification (specifically sexual objectification) is accepted, by either the objectified or objectifier,
the idea of that person, or of themselves, as a lesser being or tool for satisfaction, removes the need for
a moral (loving/caring/even) relationship and becomes the accepted form of treatment for that person
by all others. This advert goes a long way to mark women out as belonging to a second or lower class,
which can be used by the more powerful male higher class. It puts all males in charge of all females
and promotes the idea of the ownership of women as well as the use of them as sex toys.
Through images like this one this objectification becomes the objective view held by society. Meaning
that these false ideas of females as objects and the male domination of them becomes what is viewed
as fact and the actions of such a society become altered by this. Images that show the objectification of
women have lead to the idea that females are naturally submissive to their male counter parts. In our
patriarchal society, where males become the objectifiers of females, it is seen as almost a natural thing,
a phenomenon caused by the perceived actions and nature of the female sex. It is however caused by
gender inequality.
A persons sex is defined by biology, that being male or female, a persons gender however is defined
by society, the man and the woman. Gender is then a social construct, which specifies the socially
and culturally prescribed rolls impressed upon a person and dictates their actions within a society.
Gerhard Lerner (1987, p.238) says of gender that it is a "costume, a mask, a straitjacket in which men
and women dance their unequal dance." These supposed but in reality wholly unnatural roles, to which
each sex is supposed to conform, have always been present in society, though they vary from culture to
culture and through out history. Lerner argued that the subordination of females by males came before
all other discriminations and that in order to rid our world of the other forms of prejudice we must first
eradicate sexism.
This image is phallocentric we must think back to the look of shock, verging on fear that is present on
the models face. This supposed emotion is being caused by the burger, the burger, which in this image
has been used to represent the phallus. So what we have is an image of a female being dominated by a
phallus. This along side the objectification of females enforces the idea of the superiority of the male
sex.
This advert, designed purely to sell fast food is only caters for the male gaze it not only demeans and
objectifies females but also out right depicts the domination of females by males. The female voice
has been silenced not only is the model about to be gagged by a burger, this advert is not designed to
be attractive to or even acceptable to the female gaze, the advertisers have dismissed the companies
female customers completely. The presence of the issues raised in the advert not only encourages
the acceptance of such things but should also alert us to the fact of their presence within our society.
The advertisers use of such techniques to sell a product proves that this type of image works for
some members of their demographic. Advertising is designed purely to be attractive in order to sell
and therefore this image must be accepted as attractive to work. The acceptance of inequality and
objectification must first be present in society before it can be used as a marketing tool to sell a
product.
Soanes, C. Stevenson, A. (2006) Oxford English Dictionary. 11th edn. Oxford: Oxford University
Press.
Soanes, C. Stevenson, A. (2006) Oxford English Dictionary. 11th edn. Oxford: Oxford University
Press.
Burger King (2009) Bk Super Seven incher [advert] Available at: http://www.kerrydean.com/pictures/
burger-king-bk-super-seven-incher-advertisement-picture.jpg (accessed 04/05/2013)
Burger King (2009) Bk Super Seven incher [advert] Available at: http://www.kerrydean.com/pictures/
burger-king-bk-super-seven-incher-advertisement-picture.jpg (accessed 04/05/2013)
Burger King (2009) Bk Super Seven incher [advert] Available at: http://www.kerrydean.com/pictures/
burger-king-bk-super-seven-incher-advertisement-picture.jpg (accessed 04/05/2013)
Kant,I. (1981) Lectures on ethics Hackett Publishing Company, Incorporated
Lerner,G. (1987) The creation of Patriarchy Oxford: Oxford university press.
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