Das Sexism

So I was researching Volkswagen ads for the second part of our media project and I stumbled across these pictures. Both are apparently from an advertisement on a bathroom mirror. The ads are both for Volkswagen, same car, same price, everything. Above is the ad in the mens room: "if you look like a million bucks in this mirror, imagine what you'd look like in one of these." Below is the ad in the womens room: "even if you're having a bad hair day, you can still look like a million bucks."

It's kinda subtle but this is a perfect example of sexism in media. Both ads are trying get across that buying this Volkswagen will make you look cooler. But for men, its only to add to how great they look. For women, it's to compensate for their apparent insecurity.

This ad is based on the age old stereotype that men are powerful, confident and need a car that makes that more evident and women have such a low self image that they need a car to make them feel better. What makes this ad sexist is that there didn't need to be a different message. They could have kept the womens message the same as the mens and still get across the same idea. But Volkswagen instead made a very conscious decision to prey on the insecurity of women.

The fact that you can't even go into the bathroom without being confronted by the media creeps me out so much. Literally nowhere is safe. Especially messages like these aren't even advertisements but a constant reminder of the media's goal to make women feel a constant sense of anxiety and insecurity. Now looking in a mirror is another opportunity for the media to send this message.