Final Project Proposal

           For my final project I will create what I’m calling “A Parody of Advertisements.” Through an extensive slideshow, which will be shared on either different social media platforms (Facebook, YouTube) or a website—it has yet to be decided, I will be taking different advertisements that encourage gender roles, and re-stage them with models of the opposite genders then the original. Through the ridiculousness of these parodies, I’m hoping to open viewer’s eyes to the ridiculousness of gender roles in advertisements.

            The advertisement world markets off of gender roles, and society accepts the fact because we don’t know any different. This is the way it’s always been. Since the beginning of advertisement time, women have been portrayed as the passive server in advertisements, while men as the strong, active leader. Unfortunately, advertisement has a bigger influence on society then we may be aware of or are willing to accept. These gender roles are constantly being forced upon women and it needs to stop. We need to recognize that this mistreatment in ads then influences women's mistreatment in life. Women deserve better. And if women are not being portrayed as passive and serving, they’re being over-sexualized.

            Women’s portrayal in advertisements is very ridiculous and demeaning. But, society is often blind to this.  I will take ads from popular brands (both past and present) that fall victim of portraying women in demeaning gender roles.  I will also take ads that fall victim to portraying men in strong and encouraging gender roles. I will then switch the models. I want to show how natural it is for women to take men places in advertisements, because they too are strong and independent creatures. And how unnatural it is for men to take women places in advertisement, because the gender roles put upon women are cruel, unrealistic and unfair. I'm hoping this project will open up some people's eyes, and encourage change in women's portrayal in advertisement and media.

This Tom Ford ad over sexualizes women, and is a contender for an ad I may re-stage.

Here are some resources I have found so far:

• How Media Sexism Demeans Women And Fuels Abuse By Men Like Weinstein 
• Modern Ads Continue to Sexualize and Objectify Women
• Women: Representation In Advertising 
• Susan Bordo, "Hunger as an Ideology"
• Maggie Wykes/Barrie Gunter, "Conclusion" from The Media and Body Image