The Effect of Advertisements on Women in Society

Size 0, long, straight blonde hair, Caucasian, and blue eyes is the look among females seen in Abercrombie and Fitch advertisements. The ads are black and white photos, with a close-up or full length body shot. Not only is the thin, blonde-hair, blue-eyes, look predominant in advertising, the image is seen among woman in society. Women attempt to re-create this "look" at home. "The average woman sees 400 to 600 advertisements per day" (Body Image & Advertising). These advertisements influence women because they try to look like the women they see in advertisements. In the 1980s, Calvin Klein advertisements appealed to younger women. Today, the clothing manufacturer, Abercrombie and Fitch, is deciding how young women should look and dress. Women in society face negative outcomes when they fall prey to advertisers' influences.

"One study of a sample of Stanford graduates and undergraduates found that sixty-eight percent of students felt worse about their own appearances after reading women's magazines" (Crafting a Perfect Body). In an issue of "Allure" magazine, there were 30 ads and 28 of them were thin Caucasian woman who have light colored hair and blue/green eyes. Even African American women in the media achieve the image that Caucasian woman have. They dye their hair to lighten it, straighten it, and wear light colored contacts. Although African American woman create a "Caucasian look," their appearance in advertisements is rare.

Media has a monkey-see monkey- do effect. Women see the way other females appear in the media and they try to recreate their look. Actresses and models are getting thinner. "Advertising rules the marketplace and in advertising thin is 'in.' Twenty years ago, the average model weighed 8 per cent less than the average woman, but today's models weigh 23 per cent less" (Beauty and Body Image in the Media). Abercrombie models are all very thin and their clothing sizes run very small. If a customer does not fit into their clothing, it could lead to self-esteem issues.

Woman in society often feel bad about their body image if they do not have the same figure as a model. They want to have a slender body because of what they see in advertisements. "Over three-quarters of the covers of women's magazines include at least one message about how to change a woman's bodily appearance-by diet, exercise or cosmetic surgery" (Beauty and Body Image in the Media). In a 1992 study of female students at Stanford University, 70% of women reported feeling worse about themselves and their bodies after looking at magazines. 54% of women belong to a gym to achieve an ideal body and some women take on unhealthy habits and develop eating disorders (Industry Statistics).

There has been a rise of anorexia in women in each decade since 1930. The increase in eating disorders through the years has coincided with a decrease in women's ideal body weight as portrayed in the media (Wiseman, Gray, Mosimann, & Ahrens, 1992). In 1992, over five million people in the suffered from eating disorders, such as anorexia, bulimia and binge eating (The National Center for Health Statistics). Today, 10 million females are fighting a life and death battle with an eating disorder such as anorexia or bulimia (Statistics: Eating Disorders) "The internalization of the media's thin ideal produces heightened body dissatisfaction which leads to the engagement in disordered eating behavior" (Statistics: Eating Disorders).

"I became anorexic and lost 35 pounds in two months because I quit eating," said a friend of mine. Laura Miller stopped because she wanted to look like the models she saw in magazines. "I just convinced myself that food was disgusting. The thought or smell of it made me sick," she said. She came to the realization that her weight was not healthy when she blacked out at work. She was then sent to the hospital. "I knew I couldn't continue to keep starving myself because I became so weak and I could barely stand without passing out". Laura knew what she was doing was unhealthy, but she kept starving herself for what she thought was an ideal body. Even after seeing what Laura went through, a friend of hers became anorexic. "She worked at Abercrombie and shortly quit because her managers wouldn't allow her to work up front because of her weight," said Laura. Women do not only pay attention to the models' figures, they try to emulate their overall appearance as well.

Women are willing to spend a lot of money to achieve the Abercrombie & Fitch look. At Abercrombie, a short-sleeve cotton polo shirt costs $39.50 and a pair of worn-out jeans cost in excess of $178. That one outfit costs $217.50 (not including tax). Employees must wear Abercrombie clothes while working and they only get a thirty percent discount. "In order to work in the front of Abercrombie and Fitch and at the registers you have to have the look of the models in their advertisements," said Alexa Weisel.

Women are always comparing themselves to what they see in advertisements. Abercrombie and Fitch's advertisements consist of skinny, blonde hair and white females. African American woman are not seen in Abercrombie and Fitch advertisements and neither are Asians and Latinos. When looking at an Abercrombie and Fitch catalogue, one is likely to see a half-nude, Caucasian female with long blonde hair. "You don't see any African-Americans, Asian-Americans, and that's the image that they're portraying and that they're looking for," said Jennifer Lu, former salesperson of Abercrombie and Fitch.

A customer entering an Abercrombie and Fitch store is usually welcomed by a thin, blonde, Caucasian female wearing a jean mini skirt and flip-flops, no matter the weather . The manager selects two "greeters" for each season. They are usually a size 0 (maybe 2) and always attractive. The greeters that have the Abercrombie and Fitch look, receive a free outfit and are paid 75 cents more an hour. "The greeters and the people that worked in the in-season clothing, most of them, if not all of them, were white," says Anthony Ocampo, a Stanford University student. In fact, the rest of the employees working at the store are (or were) also white. "A corporate official had pointed to an Abercrombie poster and told our management at our store, 'You need to have more staff that looks like this.' And it was a white Caucasian male on that poster, said Lu.

Abercrombie and Fitch executives continued to demand white employees until November 16th 2004 when the U.S. District Court ordered settlement to a class action discrimination suit initiated by African Americans, Asian Americans, and Latino women applicants and employees

Although, Abercrombie has to have minorities working in their stores and appearing in the advertisements, the majority of people working for Abercrombie and Fitch are white. "The people that worked in the stock room…were mostly Asian-American, Filipino, Mexican, Latino," says Ocampo. Alexa Weisel, a current employee of Abercrombie said, "Minorities aren't allowed to work on the floor, they are allowed only in the back room." Abercrombie and Fitch's customers look like the models in their advertisements. The employees of the store are only allowed to wear Abercrombie and Fitch clothing which encourages their customers to dress like them. The customers all look like the people seen in Abercrombie and Fitch advertisements and the catalogue. The people who shop there feel as if they too need to look the same as the models in the advertisements.

Advertisements influence their customers. Women spend a lot of money and time on their image because of what they see in advertisements. When females don't look like the models and actresses they see, they feel imperfect. Abercrombie and Fitch employees and customers compare themselves to what they see in their ads to keep up with the Abercrombie image. Women feel what they see in the media as a mirror image of what they should look like.