Infantilization of women in advertising - Essay Example

Infantilization of Women in Advertising Infantilization is portrayal of women as childish in looks or behaviors. This is achieved through use of childish attires, conduct, as well as postures. Infantilization of women is a common phenomenon in advertisements where femininity is equated to aspects such as vulnerability, submission, childhood, and uncertainty. This affects how people perceive women as well as how women perceive themselves. Additionally, infantilization affects impression on children due to their adultification (Carlson 1-2; Emily Web).

Infantilization is not a new concept but has been in existence for quite a long time. Many advertisers edit or sexualize bodies of younger girls and use them for advertisements. An example of female infantilization is the assumptions that beauty entails getting younger. Most advertisements make this assumption when they use exaggerated pictures of young girls when advertising beauty products. They thus use images of young girls or those of women but with childish behaviors (Wade Web). The women are postured in childish ways with empty stares, hands in mouth, or adopting seductive postures.

Additionally, the skin texture is exaggerated. The postures make women appear submissive and not in control of their lives. The advertisements appear to be creating children out of women. This is contrary to the upright way men are postured demonstrating adulthood and being in control (Carlson 2-4). The erroneous infantilization defines women as weak and unintelligent. This is a block to celebration of femininity. Instead of encouraging girls to grow into strong women, advertisement in magazines and other media inspire girls to develop into women with childishness.

Some advertisements appear to be inspiring women to act like children to be considered feminine and sexy. The antifeminist image below from maxim is an example of such appeals. The image shows how to cure a feminist, which is by changing her into an actual girl. The image patronizes women with strong personality and favors girlish or girls with babyish outfit and looks as in the picture (Sharp Web; Emily Web). (Emily Web). Infantilization averts the process of aging in females. Features such as grey hairs and weaker bodies are disregarded.

This is altering the way people view the age. Aging is now viewed as a weakness that should be avoided at all costs. This is an obstacle to celebration of life as all stages (Carlson 3-7). Infantile advertisements are commonly in portrayed by women with babish possesions such as candy and toys. Additionally, the women adopt submissive positions such as crawling, bending or hinding. The infantilization can also inlve women wearing excessive makeup to appear younger. Such advertisements are objectionable of women (Carlson 5-6).

(Sharp Web). The above is a common set of appearances used in female cover magazines. The stares are blank and immature. The propensity to infantilize adult women has resulted in adultification of young girls like in the image below. This results in chauvinism against women and exploitation of young girls. The image below is an example of adultification of children (Sharp Web). (Wade Web). Works Cited Carlson, Catherine . "Desensitization of Infantilization." UW-L Journal of Undergraduate Research XIII (2010): 1-23.

Wade, Lisa. Adultification and Sexualization of Girls in French Vogue. 8 Jan 2011. hesocietypages.org/socimages/2011/01/08/adultification-and-sexualization-of-girls-in-french-vogue/. 15 Oct 2012. Emily. Media’s Infantilization of Female Sexuality. 26 March 2012. http://sacomssmediawatch.com/2012/03/26/medias-infantilization-of-female-sexuality/. 15 Oct 2012. Sharp, Gwen. Infantilizing Women Sexualizing Girlishness. 15 May 2008. http://thesocietypages.org/socimages/2008/05/15/covergirl-lipstick-ad-infantilizes-women-but-also-sexualizes-them/.

15 Oct 2008.