Women favored by TV ads as sex objects

Among 931 surveyed advertisements involving gender issues, 88 percent used women to promote produce as sex objects, according to a report released by China's Women Reporter Association Sunday. The report reviewed 4,935 advertisements in China's ten TV channels, including the national China Central Television No. 1 channel, Beijing Television No. 1 channel and Shanghai News Entertainment Channel, and picked out 931 gender issues. "Women seemed to be particularly favored by ads," said the report, adding that 70.5 percent of the ads had women as the main characters. "Most women are revealed through close-up scenes, highlighting their body features, and many women are described as houseworkers," the report said. "Generally speaking, most ads have gender discrimination problems, though there are also some featuring gender equality," it said. The association also ranked China's top ten sex discriminating ads and ten gender awareness ads for 2005, in line with rules including whether females also have independent social strength, whether they misinform children about sex, and whether women have well-rounded characters instead of being fragile and demanding of care.