Gen 002 P2 PT

“Reflection about Gender Role Stereotypes, Sexual Objectification,
and Perception of Beauty”

By Angel Grace D. Galamay of C2-1BSN-22
Advertisements can be seen wherever we go or we look at. This may be in the form of digital
media or in the paper-based form such as the flyers, billboards, and magazines. It is literally
everywhere, and seeing it becomes a normal thing for us or is already part of our lives. It may
have a good effect in our lives, but it also has a bad effect. As through the years, it misled or
changed our perceptions into certain things in the community and even with ourselves too.
With the use of media, especially the digital or social media, it makes it easier to reach the mass
of people for the advertisements about different things or convey hidden meaning through it.
Also, as it is used to dictate how one should act in the society he/she belongs to, the expectations
towards the person, and how he/she was perceived, help stereotypes towards the gender roles
widely spread and be still embedded to the mind of most of the people.
Gender role stereotypes are those things that are already perceived to a person based on his/her
gender, and what he/she should only practice or do, as what the society dictated or considered
“normal.” The common gender role stereotypes for men that can be seen in advertisements or
media are financial providers of their family, protector, and are doing the labor work. While for
women, they are responsible for household chores, caring for their husband and child/children,
and dependent on their husband.
These stereotypes are still common until now, even though a lot of people are advocating about
removing them. It was already implanted into the perception of most of the people, and so it was
still here upto this day. But in my opinion, it should be stopped and we should not practice
having stereotypes, as it affects the individual’s identity, action, self-esteem, and in expressing
himself/herself.
We should understand that all individuals are unique and free. They should not be told what to do
with their lives, and expectations should not be made, as every individual is different from one
another. Being free can make us explore who we are and help in our development as a person, in
which gender role stereotypes are restraining us from becoming who we wanted to be or how we
wanted to be viewed by society.
Besides the gender role stereotypes, there is also sexual objectification that can be seen in
numerous advertisements and are continuously used by different brands of liquors and lingeries.
The sexual objectification is “singling out, magnifying of, and/or dismemberment the
individual”, and using the person as an object which is usually based on the “gender role.”
In this, both women and men are objectified, but what is commonly seen in advertisements are
women. Whenever we look at magazines, there's a magnified picture of a woman's chest and/or
lower part of her body. And as a man, there's a magnified picture of their chest and toned
abdomen. This illustrates the sexual objectification in advertisements, as their bodies are being
used to attract the opposite sex and to sell the products.
And, I noticed that as I became more exposed with this and being able to understand the concept
behind those advertisements, objectifying men and women, I realize that it is not something good
and it is clearly for the profit of the business only, as it was done or put like that to gain attention
from the people without even looking if it’s still right to made it like that. It was like a normal
thing for the endorser and production of advertisements for different things, especially the
liquors and lingeries. As we can see that if it’s a liquor, a woman with a nice body wearing a
bikini is the endorser or their body itself becomes one with the product they are endorsing. In this
way, they can attract male customers to buy their products.
As the advertisements depict images of how the man or woman are viewed, it contributes and
connected with the gender role stereotypes in society. Through it, the stereotypes are
continuously seen and identified as something “normal”, which affects our views about it. It adds
up to why we still have gender role stereotypes, as it was consistently put and portrayed in these
advertisements.
Sexual objectification is not something that we should still practice in this kind of society we
have. Almost everything in our surroundings has changed, and so are views about it that should
also be changed. We are already in a modern society, in which women are not dependent only
with their man and can already stand up on their own. Both men and women’s bodies should not
be used as an object for the advertisements of products.
Media doesn’t only affect the stereotypes and sexual objectification, but the perceptions of
beauty too. It is so powerful that it can easily affect our views in almost everything we see and
do. It can even affect our self-esteem, as we are trying to compare ourselves with the “standard”
of beauty that we see online or in different media platforms.
The beauty according to the media, is having flawless skin and a thin body, which is something
impossible to achieve, especially the flawless skin as there’s no such thing as perfect skin. This
ideal beauty then affects our viewpoint about the different kinds of beauty, it is generalizing the
beauty of every individual.
Everyone has a different beauty, but because of the “standards '' set by society and shown in the
media, people tend to adhere to these and try to change themselves. Before, they love who they
are and how they look, but since the ideal beauty was presented in the public, they want to be
like that to fit in society. Some undergo treatments and some undergo surgery to achieve these
standards.
In addition, these standards can be observed and promoted in some beauty pageants. There are
times that there’s an objectification of women and men in some contest, as their physical
appearance is usually what the judges are evaluating at. By that, some contestants are changing
or enhancing their beauty, and setting aside their natural beauty to be suited and win titles in the
pageant.
But there’s also some beauty pageants that empower the beauty of everyone, and accept the
uniqueness of each of the candidates. This is usually in the Miss Universe, as the standards are
not set to their skin color and the country they are from. With this, it can empower individuals
and help them embrace who they are.
In conclusion, the media and advertisements affect and contribute the gender role stereotypes,
sexual objectification, and the perception of beauty. These are something that needs to be
changed and should not be practiced anymore in modern society.

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“Reflection about Gender Role Stereotypes, Sexual Objectification,

and Perception of Beauty”

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