Sexy and They Know It

I randomly stumbled upon this image on google and felt it embodied the idea of sexed bodies, in a rather humorous way. The men are dressed and positioned around the car in a way we would normally see women posed. Women who pose like this would most likely be considered "sexy". However, when the men are put in the same poses, the image become completely ridiculous; the opposite of sexy, to say the least. Merely changing the gender of the subjects has such a profound effect on how we view the photo. Why is it that the bodies of women are so often used as sex symbols to help sell a car, such as this? Most likely, a company using an ad similar to this photo would be aiming to capture the attention of men, not women. In contrast, if a company were trying to appeal to women, they probably wouldn't be flaunting the bodies of men in this way. The fact of the matter is, the bodies of women are used to sell merchandise to both sexes, whereas the bodies of men are rarely used to appeal to a consumer's need to buy. This trend in advertising seems almost offensive to me, as women become perfect examples of sexed bodies.