The Manipulative Reality Behind the Beauty and Advertising Industry ft. Martha Laham
Martha Laham is a professor of business, marketing, and advertising at Diablo Valley College and the author of Made Up, a book that exposes the manipulative reality behind the beauty and advertising industry and its harmful effects on women and society today. We asked Martha to tell us more about why she wrote Made Up, and what we can do in response to her important findings. Here’s what Martha shared:
What inspired you to dive headfirst into researching the Beauty and Advertising Industry and its "manipulation" tactics?
It all started when I was an undergraduate student during the early 1970s. I had cultivated an interest in feminist literature, and was particularly moved—and inspired—by the works of trailblazing feminist authors and writers like Betty Friedan, who wrote The Feminine Mystique, Germaine Greer, author of The Female Eunuch, and Gloria Steinem, cofounder and cofounding editor of Ms. magazine. These feminist voices challenged scripted roles that women had inhabited largely because of prevailing cultural norms and female biology.
Some years later, I left the advertising and promotion industry to enter the education field. There, I became fascinated with—and dedicated to—exploring female role portrayals in advertising. This book represents the culmination of a three-decades-long examination of gender representation in advertising, with a focus on beauty advertising.
What surprised you most about your findings?
Learning that the U.S. lags far behind many other countries when it comes to regulating beauty product safety and taking on sexism and gender stereotyping in beauty advertising.
For those who are not aware, can you explain just how the Industry is "objectifying" women, especially sexually, by means of advertising?
Hypersexualization and objectification of young women in beauty ads and other messaging are pervasive despite feminist pushback. Research has found a dramatic increase in the volume of images in magazines that portrayed young women in “highly sexual ways.” One study found that women were used to hawk products most often “when pitching sex,” and that an overwhelming majority of beauty ads displayed female models. Also, women are often depicted as disconnected body parts in makeup ads and not as a whole being.
What is the main takeaway you hope your readers will have after reading Made Up: How the Beauty Industry Manipulates Consumers, Preys on Women's Insecurities, and Promotes Unattainable Beauty Standards.
The beauty industry is long overdue for a makeover as it applies to strengthening cosmetic product regulations and upholding truth-in-advertising standards for beauty products.
When women come together, we know incredible things can happen. How do you think women can come together to "fight" the manipulation within the Beauty Industry?
Get informed. Join the conversation. Tell your personal stories on Tell Me I’m Beautiful platform and social media sites/platforms. Become a body positive influencer or activist. Call out beauty brands that promote destructive and impossible beauty ideals.
As I remark in the conclusion of Made Up, “For real change to occur and real measures to be taken, it is up to each one of us to reject those beauty brands that use advertising that devalues who we are, as we are, to sell us useless or potentially harmful products while at the same time promoting homogenized, contrived, or unhealthy beauty standards. Beauty brands should celebrate our individuality, embrace the beauty in diversity, and speak to us honestly and authentically. Because we are worth it.”
Purchase Martha’s book, Made Up here.