Nuva Ring Ad

As I perused last week’s issue of People magazine for an ad to analyze, I came across this ad for Nuva Ring, a contraceptive. It was a two-page ad for a product specifically designed for women’s use only. On the first page, women are used to represent the pills in a birth control pack. They are shown as women lounging by a pool, but their set up is reminiscent of birth control, with days of the week written on their swimsuits. You then see the “missing day” of the pill pack on the second page, clearly enjoying herself without a “TH” on her stomach.

Since this ad comes from People magazine it is clearly targeted at women. In the ad the woman using this product is happy and can relax in the sun. She can read magazines, which also display ads targeting women, and lie in fantasyland. She doesn’t have to worry about taking a pill everyday, and she doesn’t have to worry about becoming pregnant. The ad is clearly implying that freedom/independence is gained by using this product. You can freely flaunt your body while the viewer voyeuristically watches you from above.

This ad is telling me that I, as a woman, should want to emulate the woman pictured. She is, after all, white and has a “perfect” body, and she only wants to read fashion magazines and eat fruit. There are women of color in this ad, but you have to look closely to see them because they are still part of the pill pack and therefore are not yet free. This ad also implies that women are not capable of remembering to take a pill everyday, apparently it is much too taxing. So the makers of Nuva Ring have made it easy for us. Now something has to be remembered only once a month.

The makers of this advertisement also are assuming the target audience are women in heterosexual relationships. There is no thought given to women who may take the pill for other medical reasons than avoiding pregnancy. The woman pictured in the ad is conforming to the widespread white heterosexual standards of beauty, with her body displayed for all to see. If I use this product, I too can be objectified and “happy.” The picture is shot from above, and it clearly is utilizing the “male gaze” that we have been discussing in class. The contented woman is baring her body, and in a submissive pose. She also has almost no fat on her body, and she has long flowing hair that she touches suggestively. She is welcoming a man to come and make it worth her money to buy this product. This really shows how deeply the male gaze in ingrained into our perceptions of beauty, when it is used on a product for women that is advertised to women.

Sexual freedom is something feminists have worked for, but an ad with a woman objectifying herself while promising no potential consequences (i.e. no potential pregnancy) is not a step in the right direction.