Sexism in advertising is expressed when certain abilities to men or women are denied. This denial justifies sexual inequality. Sexual inequality can be also seen as gender inequality. Gender is continuously created and recreated by all the social actions we perform daily, and it informs our perceptions of social reality at a deep and often unconscious level. It is this circular process which maintains gender as a social institution. Gender inequality is the imbalance between men and women in terms of wealth, income, and status. Gender inequality is socially created and maintained by social factors. Gender inequalities take shape in social institutions such as the workplace, in family lifestyle, and educational systems.
Gender inequality appears in one specific history channel advertisement. The ad emphasizes that winning is everything, according to men. The ad features Mark Spitz, a man who won seven gold medals in 1972. In the ad, there is a picture of Mark Spitz in a bathing suit. The top part of Mark's body is shown and the seven gold medals hang around his neck. Mark is smiling and flexing to show his physique. In the ad's caption, it says "It's one way to sell a lot of posters of yourself in a bathing suit."" It seems the ad suggest Mark won those medals to gain higher market value. The ad is offensive to men because the ad emphasizes that winning will make someone more famous and valuable'. Mark Spitz's accomplishments would air as a special television presentation. Also, more posters will be sold of Mark Spitz in a bathing suit with his seven gold medals around his neck. Winning seven gold medals is a great accomplishment, but it also expresses that winning is everything for Mark Spitz. The ad suggests that Mark's greed made him more popular and more valuable. Without a doubt Mark Spitz is profiting from his success. This ad assumes that winning is everything for men; that victory will make you more famous and more profitable.