The issue of sexuality in advertising has been raised in the last ten years (Brooke, 2010; Bradley, 2007; Phillips, 2005; Kent, 2005 & Levy, 2005), hence the concept of raunch culture raises the question of whether women are being empowered or victimised. This essay will discuss whether raunch culture represents a wave of new feminism, focusing on whether women’s sexuality is being celebrated in a healthy and empowering manner or preyed upon by marketing’s misogynistic and exploitating image of the good life laid out in various media forms, from billboards to sex videos to television advertisements and movies. It will also identify the role and responsibilities of marketers in relation to the stakeholders involved. Subsequently, followed …show more content…

With these images, Gould (1994, 76) claims that sexuality in advertising are said to be male-oriented ‘either are put for men to look at or for women to “look at being looked at” to see how they would or should desire to appear to men.’ In looking at the negative consequences of using sexuality in advertising, these images have demeaning representations of women and deliver the wrong messages to the consumers. For instance, Lynx’s ‘Spray more, get more’ deodorant advertisement depicts many sexy women chasing after this man after he had the deodorant on. It may be a successful advertisement to attract attention and create an entertainment value. However, according to the Gruen session (2010), Jane Caro interpreted it as featuring the women as “airheads”. Women were being attracted to the guy because of how he smells and not his intelligence. Subsequently, raising questions of why women must be represented as out-of-control sex maniacs who attack any man who has sprayed himself with Lynx (Reist, 2010). In addition, Kent (2005) states that sexualised looking were now permitted, as women were no longer victims of the male gaze. In McNair’s research (2002), television expanded the range of images of women to a mass audience through programs including Sex in the City and Bad Girls. Since Kent suggests that media forms of sexualization is commercial and states that sex sells, the proliferation of