The document discusses how advertising often portrays men and women in stereotypical ways. It analyzes how ads when we are children show boys playing with stereotypically masculine toys and girls with feminine toys, promoting the idea that boys should be rational and aggressive while girls should be emotional and maternal. As adults, ads continue this by showing men as successful and virile while women are often sexualized. The document argues this commodifies and objectifies women. It discusses how the Guerrilla Girls fight against discrimination and inequality in art. In conclusion, the author says they will fight for children's right to play with any toys and against advertising that conditions and imposes beauty standards on people.

1. DOES ADVERTISING
TREAT MEN LIKE THEY
WERE MONKEYS AND
WOMAN LIKE THEY
WERE STUFF?

2. BEFORE THAT, I WOULD LIKE TO
THANK YOU ALL
FOR BEING HERE

3. “ “While the journalism informs,
advertising motivates.
This is a saying by the advertising guru, Edson Athayde,
meaning that advertising could do two different things:
• Be the change, it wants to see in the world;
• Reinforce stereotypes.

4. So, let‟s analyse, in a brief way, what
advertising tell us when we are children,
and because of that too innocent to argue
against, and what advertising tell us when
we are grown-up.
Let‟s get
started!

5. In our first years, ads show boys playing with toy cars or toy
guns and girls playing with dolls, dresses or beauty cosmetics.
In my opinion, this can be interpreted this way:
• Boys should be rational and aggressive human beings;
• While girls should be emotional and maternal.

6. “Mom, what if I don’t want to be like that?”

7. “Mom, what if I don’t want to be like that?”
Then, they will
be called
tomboy or
sissy.
We all know
how children
can be mean.
But are we
aware of how
mean can
advertising be?

8. When we are all grown-up, advertising continues to bother us,
saying:
• Men should be successful and virile human beings;
• While women should be hot.

9. Perhaps you would end up
having this kind of thought:
“If we want men to buy
more beer, we should
associate beer to virility,
and, in order of that, put
lots of sexy women in our
ads. Maybe it works!”
IMAGINE BEING THE „ADVERTISING MACHINE‟ DURING ONE
REGULAR DAY...

10. So, let‟s go treat men like
monkeys. They will appreciate
that!
Why shouldn‟t
they?

11. In the ads above, women are commoditised, which
means: treated like stuff, while men are treated like
those fellows over here:

13. This is tricky, but we can say that are two kinds of woman in
advertising:
• The woman-motive, like in the beer case we have just seen;
• The woman as a consumer, that feels empathy with the
actress in the ad, her role model.
By purchasing
the product,
men feel they
are closest of hot
celebrities, which
they always
wanted to meet.
By purchasing
the product,
women feel
they get closer
to perfection.
FIRST CASE: SECOND CASE:

14. But what is
perfection either
way? And what
does advertising
know about it?

15. In human terms, I believe this ad communicates three things:
• Her perfect boobs;
• A sense of her
sexual availability,
perhaps;
• And that she is
been seeing naked,
but not recognized
by what she really is.

16. So, women discrimination is a long story and has a
long tradition in advertising: we can see it below:

17. Even when advertisers did not use directly a woman body,
they claim one that exists in the society imagenery:
• The premise of the ad is:
“This beer is as much authentic
as a virgin, because the non-
virgins are not authentic, of
course.”

18. Even when advertisers did not use directly a woman body,
they claim one that exists in the society imagenery:
• The premise of the ad is:
“This beer is as much authentic
as a virgin, because the non-
virgins are not authentic, of
course.”
What a silly
thought!

19. I believe we face a
symbolic violence, which
eliminates, in a symbolic
way, the woman herself
from society.
And because of this, and
some other reasons,
women are seen as
passive, submissive, and
weak.

20. WHICH COULD
NOT BE FURTHER
FROM THE
TRUTH!
I believe we face a
symbolic violence, which
eliminates, in a symbolic
way, the woman herself
from society.
And because of this, and
some other reasons,
women are seen as
passive, submissive, and
weak.

21. So now I would like to address your attention to this ladies,
known as guerrilla girls.
“Guerrilla Girls are an anonymous group of female artists
and feminists, devoted to fighting sexism and racism within
the art world internationally. The group formed in New York
City, in 1985, with the mission of bringing gender and racial
inequality within the fine arts to light. Members are known for
the gorilla masks they wear in public appearances to remain
anonymous.”

22. Guerrilla girls with Yoko Ono.

23. Guerrilla Girls‟ slogan: “Fighting Discrimination with
Facts, Humor and Fake Fur”.
As artists, they design a lot of posters, like this one:
Make us think…

24. Guerrilla girls in action:

26. Guerrilla Girls satirical movie poster:

27. So I decided to be a „guerrilla girl‟ at my own terms:
I will fight by the little boys who wish to play with dolls and the
little girls who wish to play with car toys. I will fight for the right
children have of not being conditioning to social roles. I will
fight for a more clean and human advertising. I will fight for the
right of refusing the beauty and behavioural pattern
advertising imposes to us. I will fight for the right men have of
not being treated like monkeys and woman have of not being
treated like stuff.
OUR SOCIETY, IN MY OPINION, SHOULD NOT SUPPORT
A CONDITIONING ADVERTISING LIKE THIS ONE.

28. AND THAT IS IT.
THANK YOU
FOR READING!

29. PORTUGUESE REFERENCES
Balonas, s. (2006) A publicidade a favor das causas sociais. Tese de mestrado em
ciências da comunicação. Braga: Universidade do Minho. 36-49
Mota-Ribeiro, s. (2002).”Corpos Eróticos: imagens da mulher na publicidade da imprensa
feminina portuguesa” in cadernos de noroeste. Vol.17. Separata da revista. Braga: 145-
164
Singer, Peter (1995) Ética Prática. Cambridge University Press (segunda edição): 39-47
Lima, Juliana (2008) “A imagem do feminino na publicidade contemporânea: estudos de
caso”. Bacharelato em comunicação social – publicidade e propaganda. Fortaleza: 1-
53
Carapinha Veríssimo, j. (2005) As representações do corpo na publicidade. Tese de
doutoramento em Comunicação Social. Lisboa: Escola Superior de Comunicação Social:
1701-1721
Outros documentos:
Jornal Oficial da União Europeia de Setembro de 2008 (pág 43-46)
Código Deontológico da Publicidade