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Sexist Ads: Through the Ages

Oh, the glories of being a woman. Cooking. Cleaning. Waiting for your man. And when you find the time, working on that curvaceous figure that everyone craves. Or was it slim figure? We just can’t keep up. Actually, thinking about it, are we smart enough to drive nowadays? What’s the 411 with that?

It seems the idea of what it is to ‘be feminine’ has changed drastically over years. We need to ‘man up’ and ‘stop being so fickle’. And if the adverts of yesteryear are anything to go by, they weren’t opposed to men abusing their wives if they bought the wrong coffee either… But have things really changed? Join us as we compare and contrast the old and new of seriously demeaning, objectifying and sexist ads.

Your body isn’t good enough.
In the 1920’s we were ‘too skinny’…

1920

…Vs. us all being ‘too fat’ in 2015

2015

The 1970’s gave us cars
… that were FINALLY simple enough for a woman to drive. Phew.

1970s

Hey, men! Want to get laid? Buy a car and she’s yours

BMW-2008

Us women and our little lady brains, what are we like eh?

1950's

At least we knew where we belonged back then!

1950's

Under a mans foot, of course!

this-is-a-modern-ad-for-valentino-at-least-the-woman-as-rug-image-was-a-joke

1951-show-her-its-a-mans-world

Or in an abusive relationship?

898f92b1ebdcaa89a84cb6bf16a4eb38

898f92b1ebdcaa89a84cb6bf16a4eb38

But at least our husbands could pre-empt our cleaning desires back in the ‘good old days’

1950s

Oh wait…

today-home-appliances-are-still-the-key-her-heart

The 1950’s showed us coffee-induced domestic violence…

1952

…And Ford India has kept it alive and well

2013

From the 70’s when ‘innocence is sexier than you think.’

1974

This recent ad from Tom Ford. Just. Plain. Weird.

thylane

Apparently masculinity is saving a woman from a gorilla in a river. With your top off.

1950

…Tell that to Brad.

1999

But we’ve consistently understood who our best friend is, right girls?

2007

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For the record, we absolutely detest all of the sexist ads shown on this page. What do they teach us a society? They condition us to see women as objects. As slaves. As submissive. Wake up call: WE’RE NOT. We are equals, believe it or not.

Post tags:
Comments
  • Some of these are astounding! And not in a good way!

    June 30, 2015
    • Yup!

      June 30, 2015
    • Marlene Margolis

      Some? All of them are simply disgusting.

      July 2, 2015
      • We agree – they are a disgusting representation of how *some* people in society view women.

        July 2, 2015
        • Marlene Margolis

          Unfortunately, “some” seem to be too many.

          August 1, 2015
  • Rebecca Condron

    The sad thing is, we SHOULD be equal. We deserve to be equal. But are we? Not to society. Not where it matters. We ARE objects, we ARE expected to be submissive. It would be lovely to say that we’re equal, but when it comes down to it, that’s the dream and hopefully the future… but not the reality.

    July 5, 2015
  • Connugy

    The beach body ready one was proven not to be sexist, because of teh contect of the advert and its audience. Yet the charge was “body shaming”. Again, it wasn’t. The woman in the advert isn’t unhealthily skinny and doesn’t have an unrealistic figure.

    The crux of the matter was that it’s – quite clearly – aimed at a certain part of the population (gym wankers)…..oh and they did one with a guy’s body. Nobody noticed tat though and it’s missing here – mainly because it’s patently not sexist.

    That said, if you buy those* products, for the aims it promotes, you deserve to have your intellect go unchallenged.

    But hey, at least we’re not all scrambling to see “OK, I’m sure this opresses me in SOME way…” eh?

    *thumbs up*

    July 6, 2015
    • Connugy

      context*

      July 6, 2015
  • April 21, 2016
  • Muad Dib

    Equal? lol. “Equality” is a pipe dream, you ain’t equal, you’re vagina-sporting, XX chromosome humans. That puts you on a certain page, doesn’t make you “inferior”, just different.
    But men, you aren’t, and as men have advantages, so do you. You should embrace your female condition and stop being cretinoid “modern feminists”.

    June 21, 2016
  • TK

    Why would you put “too fat” in quotes? The ad in question says nothing about “too fat.”

    August 15, 2016
  • November 21, 2016

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