Capitalism In Modern Advertising

Capitalism has managed, using modern advertising and marketing tactics, to maintain a strict hold on sexuality and gender in order to facilitate the exchanging of commodities; though social progress has allowed for the inclusion of more diversified gender and sexuality spectrums into the mainstream, these spectrums are still defined by Capitalist enterprise, and our social, sexual and gender based ideologies are given definition by the advertising Capitalism uses to provide commodities with use-value. By examining several forms of modern advertising across various mediums such as television and print media, it can be better understood how Capitalism not only manages to encode gender conformity into our society despite social progress, but also …show more content…
Holtzclaw was found guilty, but only because over a dozen women came together in a unified fashion and had the resources to convince media outlets and a jury that their voices were valid. Time and time again, whether it be a specific case like that of Kamilah Brock (who was placed on an involuntary 8 day hold in a Psych ward because police refused to believe that she, a woman of color, owned a luxury automobile) or the constant barrage of movements like #meninism or #notallmen, backlash against social progress is being made through numerous media campaigns. The real issue, however, is that these campaigns represent a minute fraction of the major, underlying issues influencing the perpetuation of sexism. The largest issue is that, at the foundation of every aspect of the feminist and anti-feminist movements, is an economic motive engineered by Capitalist design. In the cases mentioned above, it was largely due to sensationalism (which generates tremendous revenue) that any action was actually taken. Typically, however, the media contributes to the silencing of women rather than …show more content…
The media still frequently demonizes women, and the startlingly high numbers of rapes and assaults that go unreported is indicative of the lack of trust women (rightfully) have in the media. This lack of trust is founded, in many ways, by the patriarchy and restrictive gender molds implemented and protected by Capitalism. If you examine practically any element of our social system, it can be seen as a support of inhibitory Capitalism. The selling of bras, for example, is inextricably intertwined with forced female conformity. When traditional strategies for the selling of bras were criticized, marketers redesigned them for plus-sized women, women of color and the comfort/appeal of women in general. Yes, this was demonstrative of social progression regarding the perceptions of women and their bodies, but the reality remained the same: profiteers benefited from the use-value designated to bras. Through expanding their demographic, the business industry maintained a hold over gender conformity and the economization of the female body. In the past, when women went against the wearing of bras or makeup, they were called out, criticized and made an example of; trying to escape the normalcies dictated by economy inevitably