ages of women are idealized on one hand and contemptuous of both the ideal and the real woman on the other. That is, to the degree an advertisement associates ideal beauty or behavior or both with what is being advertised, the image of women is idealized, with a view toward suggesting that the prospective customer associate himself or herself with the desirable ideal by buying the product. The implication is that use of the product will facilitate this association. However, to the degree an advertisement presents an image of women that sends a message of disempowerment or humiliation, then selling a product based on that message becomes a means of sanctioning social oppression. Thus it becomes clear that analysis of women's images in the mass media must grasp with a complex core of issues.
Idealized images on one hand and images of socially sanctioned exploitation on the other are the prevalent stereotypes of women that have been observed in television commercials and print ads. What is crucial to recognize is that there is a history of social sanction for images of both idealization and exploitation and, further, that the images of social sanction in the media in turn legitimate continued real world oppression. Leigh, Rethans, and Whitney (1987) characterize the dilemma of advertisers faced with the changes in women's roles in society. Responding to criticism from those who see problems with an underrepresentation of working women, an aggressive representation of women as sex objects or fools, and the presentation of idealized having-it-all superwoman, advertisers have begun to confront the issues associated with just how to portray women while simultaneously selling their products.
Stereotyping of women in television and print ads has historically been accomplished through the portrayal of women as sex objects, as mentally deficient, in terms of physical attractiveness, and in other ways. But as Ford, LaTour, and Lunds...