The men's gallery - Outdoor advertising and public space: Gender, fear, and feminism

Abstract

Outdoor advertising presents a unique case in that, unlike advertising in other media, an individual's capacity to avoid exposure is inhibited. Unlike the "private" world of magazine and television advertising, outdoor advertising is displayed throughout public space, thus making regulation of the medium a pertinent public policy concern. The inescapable nature of outdoor advertising, compounded with the increasingly sexualised display of women within, demands that an active public policy response occurs. This paper draws from the disciplines of criminology, architecture, and feminist geography to argue that the continued sexualised portrayal of women in outdoor advertising works to illustrate and contribute to the social inclusion of men and the social exclusion of women in public space. I argue that these portrayals fuel women's perceptions of fear and offence, and force them to limit their movements. I further suggest that such portrayals function to amplify masculine "control" of city spaces and reinforce women's exclusion.