Body image and appearance messages

I came across a series of advertisements that challenge the messages fed to us through mainstream marketting, messages which include;
Women's perceived roles in relationships
Body image and appearance expectations
Status

Below is an example of one of advert and a series of questions are asked which probe the messages built into them.

This site (About Face) http://www.about-face.org/goo/newten/6/index.shtml has 9 ads with corresponding questions and I think this could act as an excellent activity for groups and assist in raising questions relating to the marketting / consumerism machine and how people (particularly women) are used to sell product. Take a look......


Questions to consider:
Where is the boy's head placed?
What is covering up the girl's breasts?
How old does she look?
Is this advertisement appropriate for teenagers?
What do you think of the sexy way she is shown?

What We Think:
This advertisement tells us that a girl needs nothing but accessories and boys (after all, she literally has nothing else on). Advertisers use women's sexuality to grab the attention of consumers to stimulate desire, hoping that desire will be transferred to their product. When women's bodies are used to sell products, they become commodities themselves, presented as awards for consumption. And while we're on the topic of consumption, this picture is sexually explicit. This advertisement was shown in the popular Teen Vogue magazine. How does this affect teenagers' perception of what sexy is?

The Facts:
"[The U.S. has] the highest rate of teen pregnancy in the developed world. Generally, teenagers are hypersexualized in our culture today." – Jean Kilbourne, from her video Killing Us Softly 3