Sexy vs Silly: A Marketing Ploy

While talking about gender in class, I ran across a buzz feed post that talked about the difference in marketing between male and female underwear. I won't recreate their work on here but I will elaborate on it because I did find it extremely interesting and relevant.

Victoria's Secret, a company that is near and dear to so many women, (I can't tell you the last time I purchased my unmentionables anywhere else) is a lingere company that markets its self as being sexy and chic. They also have a line targeted at a younger market, Pink, that focuses on being flirty and fun. Every December you can spend an hour hating your self and planning your next diet watching the Victoria Secret Angels prance down the cat walk in this seasons bejeweled negligees.  You can see countless commercials, even during the Superbowl, advertising these bras and underwear to not only the women who wear them but the men who want their women to.

On the other hand when you look at the marketing for mens underwear with the popular mens brand Fruit of the Loom, you see these 4 characters with no more skin showing than their faces. In the commercials they sing songs and do goofy things while talking about the comfort of their product.

Like every other thing centered around gender in this country, these advertisements are obviously not only saying something, but confirming it. It's not that there aren't brands that sexualize men in their skivvies or that offer comfort to women it's just that these brands don't receive as much airtime. But once again women are portrayed as stick thin, beautiful and exotic sexual objects, a them that is all too common.