Favela 1

Marissa Favela
Professor Ditch
English 113A
8 December 2015
Shape-Ups Create Sexual Barrier
Sketchers Shape-Ups advertisements display how western society has shaped the way
women think their bodies are supposed to look and mens interpretation of how womens bodies
are supposed to look. Gender roles have played a huge part in todays world and shows how
society judges people by the way they look. The media has been known to accept those who have
great features, such as: an attractive body, flowy hair, and nice skin. Those who have these traits
are more likely to become a model, actress, or actor. The face of Sketchers Shape-Ups
advertisements, Kim Kardashian has been a role model to many women who will do nearly
anything to be like her. The superstar is known for having a body that women desire to have.
This advertisement is trying to influence women to buy these Shape-Ups, manipulating their
minds into thinking that if they wear these shoes they could eventually have a body like Kim
Kardashian. The Kardashians body fits the stereotype of having a body that can be used in
magazines and on television. Men and women today share about the same rights but the women
have been known to society as selling products while selling their bodies on television. Many
people buy these products expecting to see results but buying a pair of shoes will not change the
way you look. Sketchers advertisements go against body positivity and they dont promote
equality in gender roles. This advertisement is not promoting equality in both gender roles
because Kim was showing a lot of skin and her trainer only had his shirt off. Also, body

Favela 2

positivity is supposed to help someone feel good about themselves, rather than feeling ashamed
by the way they look.
Sketchers Shape-Ups have been advertised to the world that the shoe is unique and has
been designed to help buyers lose weight by simply wearing the shoe. Various women see
Kardashian advertising these shoes and it helps prompt more women to buy them. Women appeal
to the idea of having a celebritys product line or wearing the same shoes as a celebrity. These
shoes are made to fit the style that not only young women will enjoy but also adults as well.
Since this shoe has been made, there have been a lot of different styles created to fit all different
types of women. The sketchers president states the value proposition is that Shape-ups help you
burn more calories and exercise your muscles. In society today it is very popular trend for
people to be healthy by exercising and eating organic foods. The shoe has a slight heel to it and
thats what helps people lose weight. Not only do these shoes help women lose weight, but the
shoes also give them confidence about themselves and how their body can look after wearing
these shoes for a period of time.
Social media and gender roles impact the way women think their bodies should look, this
creates a gender performance. Both men and women have a preference on how they think
womens bodies are supposed to look. Women who advertise products are expected to be skinny,
have long hair, have curves and wear a lot of makeup to persuade the buyer into buying the
product. In the world today, women who have these perfect bodies are most likely to get a
modeling job than those who are overweight. A woman who is overweight is not looked at in a
manner where they could have the opportunity to model. Those who are overweight also lose
their confidence in themselves because they know they wont be given the opportunity to model
or advertise for companies because they dont have the ideal body. The advertisements stereotype

Favela 3

and use these types of women so they can increase their sales. As for Shape-Ups, they used Kim
Kardashian to promote their product. The Kardashian is a very high paid celebrity, and has her
own family television show that gains a lot of audience. The Kardashian is a role model to many
people around the world and people will buy the product that she wears. This advertisement is
promoting how ones body is supposed to look, creating a gender performance to the women
who see these advertisements. The commercial shows Kim Kardashian wearing hardly any
clothing as well as having her make up done and her hair down as if she was modeling instead of
advertising how the shoe is supposed to work. This is creating a false advertisement. As Hubbard
states We have seen that womens biology has been described by physicians and scientist who,
for historical reasons, have been mostly economically privileged, university-educated men with
strong personal and political interests in describing women in ways that make it appear natural
for us to fulfill roles that are important for their well-being, personally and as a group.
In todays society media, sexy commercials play a huge role in products promotional
business and sales. The sexy commercials continue to draw men to remember or want to watch
the commercial, even if the product is targeting women. These producers sexualize their
commercials to gain audience. It draws the mens attention on the womans body because a man
would much rather watch a commercial with women with a perfect body wearing little clothing
rather than watching an overweight woman with a lot of clothing on. As for the women watching
this ad, it could determine whether Shape-Ups will gain more sales by promoting with popular
celebrities rather than using a model that is not well known through media. It creates this interest
in the product that this product has the possibility to make me look like Kim Kardashian with no
effort besides wearing the shoes.

Favela 4

When Kim is with her handsome trainer they act in a sexual manner with each other, but
its not really advertising its product. If you were to watch this commercial you would think this
is a sexual ad advertising a trainer who is helping Kim Kardashian workout, rather than the
visual text advertising the Shape-Ups. Young men who see this commercial think that all women
are supposed to look like models and as for young women; they look at this as if its okay to
advertise their bodies to sell products. This advertisement is getting a well-known television star
to promote their product and hope to gain consumers.
In gender roles, women are expected to play a feminine role and men are known to play a
masculine role, and if they dont society will judge them. Being feminine means that you wear
dresses, skirts, as well as playing girl sports or playing with dolls. Men are known to be
masculine, meaning that they are supposed to act tough and powerful. Lorber states, Men
dominate the positions of authority and leadership in government, the military, and the law;
cultural productions, religions, and sports reflect mens interest. In this commercial it starts off
by the trainer dominating Kim and telling her what exercises she can do to lose weight, but then
switching roles to Kim throwing him off of her showing she needs no man to train her.
Kardashians trainer is a muscular, well groomed, handsome man who looked at Kim
Kardashian in a sexual manner. The trainer is on top of Kardashian as he helps her up with their
bodies touching one another, and as they both get up the trainer is grabbing her waist as they are
both dripping sweat. For young kids watching this, its promoting how women can be looked at
in a sexual way as if its normal to our society. Whether its a magazine or an advertisement,
todays society has changed the expectations of a womens body. Kim Kardashian promotes good
body image. According to Arrindell, Women are reported to be more sensitive to visual nonverbal cues, and exhibit superior skills in body language reading, but this ability is heavily

Favela 5

modulated by emotional content of actions. While some women are empowered by the
sexualization of women in media, many are discouraged by the impossible standards the media
promotes.
Advertisements like the Shape up commercial is what is causing women to become more
insecure with themselves while also trying to achieve the impossible perfect look. This causes
a negative effect on women and doesnt promote body positive. Women begin to believe that
because they are not the ideal body type like Kim Kardashian, that they are undesirable. This
brings womens confidence down. Women then begin to look negatively upon themselves,
become more introverted, and insecure about who they are and how they look. William A.
Arrindell states that Gender roles stress as they pointed out, refers to stress resulting from ones
perceived failure to meet the demands of ones adhered gender role. This stress will result in
certain cases to women resulting loss of sleep, depression, or possibly eating disorders putting
their own health at risk to achieve an ideal body goals.
This sketchers advertisement goes against equality in societal gender roles and does not
reflect body positivity among women. It makes society believe that it is okay to sexualize women
and teaching women exploiting their bodies for attention or money is okay. Also, these sketchers
used a Hollywood star to promote their product, but these shoes dont promote that you can get
the same body as Kim because the sketchers do not tell the consumers that Kim didnt get a big
butt from wearing these shoes. But for Kim, she is known to have a big butt and of course girls
wish they could have the same butt as her. Women will result into putting their own health at risk
and increasing their stress causing them mental and emotional damage. The expectation of body
image this commercial demonstrates to women is unideal and it isnt as effortless as the
commercials want to make it appear. What women dont take into consideration is that these

Favela 6

women are not mothers of 3 that have a low income. The womens in the ads are privileged
models or celebrities that have personal trainers and dieticians that assist them. The average
woman doesnt have to be a size 2 to be beautiful or desired. Society has manipulated people into
thinking that sexualizing women and putting them into a gender performance, creating an
unethical and unjust way of thinking.

Work Cited
Hubbard, Ruth. Rethinking Womens Biology: The Social Construction of Gender. Groner,
Rachel, and John F. OHara Composing Gender: A Bedford Spotlight Reader. Boston/St.
Martins, 2014. Pg. 46. Print.
Arrindell, William A. Cross-Cultural Validity of the Masculine and Feminine Gender Role
Stress Scales. Journal of Personality Assessment. 84.3(2005):271-278. Web. June. 2005.

Favela 7

Lorber, Judith. Night to His Day: The Social Construction of Gender. Groner, Rachel, and
John F. OHara Composing Gender: A Bedford Spotlight Reader. Boston: Bedford/St.
Martins, 2014. Pg. 30. Print.
http://money.cnn.com/2013/07/16/news/companies/skechers-shape-ups/