The income-driven world of advertisement has been, over the years, crafted into a distinct science whereby companies have incorporated everything from psychology to manipulative techniques into their advertising campaigns; all in efforts to get their products sold. These companies use various images and objects in their ads, specifically altered to target certain consumer groups. Some common images which come to mind are celebrities, models, babies, and animals; useful objects which get products sold when exploited properly. Unfortunately, the female body is one device often misused by companies wishing to glorify their product. This often results in many detrimental effects, not only in reference to the women who

In being such a predominant entity in our lives, advertising also contributes to the stereotypes and biases which plague our society. For example, a study of racial bias in advertising in 1953 found that only .06% of magazine ads contained African-Americans, and 95.3% of those were portrayed as unskilled laborers; the rest were athletes and entertainers ("Women in Ads"). Another recent 10-year study of magazine fashion ads showed an increasing amount of female body exposure and of women shown in "low-status" positions (i.e. subservient to men) ("Women in Ads"). Market researchers also found that magazine ads reflected four stereotypes: "A woman's place in the home"; "Women don't make important decisions or do important things"; "Women are dependent on men and need their protection"; "Men regard Women primarily as sex objects--they are not interested in women as people." ("Women in Ads"). Clearly, the ads put out by companies are a defining factor in the way we view ourselves and others. At a rate of six billion magazine ads, 12 billion newspaper display ads, and 330 million TV ads seen each year in the United States, it is safe to say that these ads sell not only products, but attitues as well. Some recent studies showed that "children raised without television were found to have fewer gender-typed perceptions." Gender assumptions increased when television was introduced ("Imagetalk"). Another study presents a more disturbing conclusion which was that "men shown ads in which women were sex objects" (which is the case in almost every advertisement) "became more accepting of rape myths, aggressive sexual attitudes, gender stereotypes and, in some cases, violence towards women". Significantly, the latter two have been linked in a number of studies ("Imagetalk").

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