Advertising, Sex and Shifting Cultural Attitudes Assignment

Advertising, Sex and Shifting Cultural Attitudes - Assignment Example The long time ago, the society demanded of us to repress our instincts even though this often resulted in psychic dissatisfaction. Over the last few decades, advertising and particularly using sex appeal has led to a massive shift in this attitude. Today, passions are advocated for to be freely indulged. Individuals have been led to believe that they are entitled to seek romantic and sexual zeal. As a result, social ills such as divorce, unfaithfulness in marriages and polygamy are now considered legitimate solutions. In fact, the sexual sell in advertising effectively trashes sex, which should be respected as a human activity meant for reproduction rather than just a mere recreational exercise. The other concern that sex appeal advertising has bred over the years is that of people as objects. Additionally, recent advertising’s perspective of sex is nothing but pornographic which reduces sexuality to a stupid joke. This is in itself a direct insult to any cultural values that uphold human dignity. Even more worrying is the fact that people have come to accept these demeaning images to the point of actualizing them. Besides, human beings being prone to accepting trends even when some are wrong have been trapped by this shift in cultural attitudes towards sex and romance. Some advertising images portray the woman consumer of a particular product as a superwoman. These images present a woman capable of performing all sorts of activities at home and at work assisted by the product being advertised. This effectively renders the people around such as the husband, friends, and children as just passive spectators. In connection to romance, this product gives the woman self-esteem and independence that no man can afford to offer.