This visual stimulation provided by the female body is then exploited by advertisers in order to sell products. Print advertising in the 1990s reveals the continuing containment, sexualization and objectification of the female body. The three selected advertisements show the female form being offered to the reader purely as spectacle, an object of sight and a visual commodity to be consumed. We have become so accustomed to this type of representation in the media, particularly advertising that it has almost become 'naturalized' and 'normalized'. The objectification of women's sexuality has been economically profitable to advertisers nevertheless, its major purpose is to uphold the most fundamental division in society - that based on sex.
Sexuality is often exaggerated and sexual symbolism exploited.
Women become the imagined 'fetishes' of men - passive, narcissistic and exhibitionist, inviting 'male voyeurism'. Historical ways of seeing - spectatorship. Since the 1970s, a significant body of work has reviewed women's representation in society. Art history highlights visual constructions of women that predate the mass media, including advertising. In all three selected advertisements, the reader is restricted to viewing the female body from the male point of view.