Commercial advertising has a significant hold on society as a whole, as well as on the individual. According to Princess Hijab in Aburawa’s “Veiled Threat”, advertising is not only influential, but has progressed to be “visual terrorism”. There is a strong connection between advertising, the objectification of women, and the desire that women have to be “normal”. Advertising has an especially strong grip over the way women view themselves and those around them. Advertisers present women in a very stereotypical way. To be considered beautiful or sexy you must be extremely thin with flawless skin and perfect hair. Women’s bodies are the focal point of most advertisements and they are always flawless. When viewing these women’s bodies you cannot see their expression, understand their emotions, or hear their opinions. Nothing matter besides how well their bodies can sell a product. In short, they are being objectified. They are no longer people, but objects that others can criticize or compliment without giving thought to the fact that they are discussing an actual human being that has insecurities, fears, and dreams just like themselves.

Since women are taught that these models are the most beautiful women to ever exist, and in fact, you cannot be beautiful unless you look exactly like them, there is a desire that is created within women everywhere to change themselves until they are the mirror image of the women in the advertisements they are subjected to everyday. However this goal is unattainable because just as Kilbourne says, “failure is inevitable because success is based on absolute flawlessness”. Women desire to be “normal”, like the models they see on television, billboards, and magazines. However, many women know that what they consider “normal” is not actually reality. Supermodel Cindy Crawford said “I wish looked like Cindy Crawford”. This goes to show that even these models admit that the way that they are presented is not true to life. Nathan points out in her book “My Freshman Year: What a Professor Learned by Becoming a Student” that what society perceives as a norm is often very misconstrued from reality. Women need to come to the realization that the way that advertisers portray beauty in their commercials and advertisements is not reality, and that beauty runs deeper than the pictures of women’s bodies that are so carelessly displayed.