By, Paige D.
This Spring Break was my first time traveling to the south. I have practically been everywhere in the United States, except for the south. I’d like to say I was not avoiding it, but I think deep down I was. In reality, as many rumors and stereotypes you hear about the south, you never want to believe they are true. I thought if I avoided the area I could live in blissful la la land, away from all the public bigotry I hear about online. Yet, while traveling on my road trip from Tennessee to Alabama I felt like I was genuinely in the The Imposters movie. Yes, I saw the expected billboards for abortion, and honestly, fewer political ads than I expected. To my surprise, the most prominent theme I saw was underlying misogyny. To the blind eye, many billboards would look like simple ads in support or distaste for a certain product, action, or person. Yet, as an individual who is currently in the Gender in Media Studies class, I noticed many ads using male approval and influence to express a woman’s need or attitude towards something.
I am genuinely disappointed in myself for not pulling over the car to take a picture of the specific billboard that inspired me in this blog post, so I decided to make a makeshift representation of it. Below is a recreation of a huge billboard I saw on the roads of Alabama last month…
While this billboard may not be to a T of what I saw, it is extremely similar. It contained two grown men (implied to be dads) large, center, and in the foreground of the sign. Small and barely noticeable behind them were two ladies (implied to be daughters). At the top were big letters reading “Dads Approve,” followed by smaller lettering advertising some sort of ladies’ product or service.
Although the ad was for a woman targeted product, men were still mainly utilized in it. The idea that a woman would need a man’s approval or desire in order to deem a product a good purchase or a needed item/service is mind boggling. Why is it so common we see men and their desires put onto women’s needs and advertisements? Small things like this go unnoticed, yet embed this idea of needing the man stamp of approval into women’s minds. Misogyny is not something that one is born with, it is something absorbed, something taught.
This billboard brought me back to the days of asking my mom if I could go somewhere or do something and always getting the response of, “ask your father.” My mom is the most understanding, accepting, independent, and non-misogynistic person I have ever met. Yet, she did grow up around the embedded need to get approval from a man on decisions. Whether it be her dad or her husband, she second guesses herself. She does not notice this. She justifies this as being a sign of respect between partners and needing to keep each other in the loop, yet my dad rarely said, “ask your mom.” He did not need to. He was not taught to.
This billboard is not the only one that gives across this internalized idea of misogyny. The symbolic interactionism between society and advertisements has forever been an issue. Symbolic interactionism is the idea that interactions and communication teaches us who we are, as well as our underlying expected role/behaviors based on societal privileges. The billboard discussed, as well as the following advertisement, both subtly imply what a woman’s values in life should be: submissive and appreciative of men.
This photo is an image of a billboard found in North Carolina in 2017. Only 5 years ago. Not the early 2000s, not the 90s. 2017. I feel I do not need to over explain the reason this billboard got backlash from the public. Not only publicly supporting the idea that a woman needs a man to provide for them, but using this idea as marketing for financial gain was shamed.
Media and advertising from companies using misogynistic ideas shapes the way people view each other over time. Whether it be as blatant as the second advertisement, or as subtle as the first, the message that a woman needs a man’s helping hand to make day-to-day decisions is apparent. Sexism is not always taught by what is said, but what is implied. As we grow up and view the world around us, these images and messages subconsciously are built into us. Overtime, the sexism that is both said directly and implied indirectly becomes normalized, and creates an overall societal standard for each gender.
Now that we are living in much more of a progressive time, people are beginning to fight these concepts and normalities. Yet, it is hard to get over these notions when they are still being used for financial gain. Unfortunately, until companies and humanity begin to value respect over money, these tactics will continue to plague our youth’s growing minds. Despite the sad reality of this, there is a part everyone can play to combat this. If you see a billboard or advertisement like this, report it! Enough reports on social media or bad press on advertisements will do the opposite of what the source is trying to achieve, and may result in the removal of their misogynistic content. Educate yourself and the ones around you! If you happen to see a piece of media that sparks your intrigue or leaves you guessing on the meaning, research it. Understanding why something or a certain message is not okay and/or degrading to a specific audience (whether that be women, LGBTQ, a certain race, a disability, etc.) will make you less susceptible to normalizing poor expression onto others. This will also allow you to tell and inform the people around you to do the same.