Gender is not natural to humans. It is important to know the difference between gender and sex. Sex is biological while gender is a social position and is used to make sense of traits. Gender is also cultural. Gender is a social construction (Conley, Chapter 8). This means gender is a way for society to keep order. It is part of socialization. Found in You May Ask Yourself, Conley mentions this point along with the point of gender roles, which are sets of behavioral norms assumed to accompany one’s status as a male or female.
In Codes of Gender by Sut Jhally, it is made clear that there is only one way to be feminine and one way to be masculine according to advertisements. The video even states that it is “impossible to proceed to further interaction if you cannot categorize as male or female”. In ads, clear distinctions are made to emphasis the differences between males and females, which in turn downplays any similarities. Masculinity is defined through the opposite of what femininity is defined as. For example, if femininity is defined as weak and vulnerable, then masculinity would be defined as strong and powerful. Goffman’s book Gender Advertisements helps to explain what advertisements tell us about ourselves. Goffman also argues that there is nothing natural about gender. Goffman brings up this idea of gender display, which is the process whereby we perform the roles expected of us by social convention. Goffman says that advertising is “commercial realism”, which means that advertising is trying to present the world in ways that could be real. There are plenty of examples of ways femininity and masculinity are shown in advertisements (see chart on next blog post). Advertisements do not seem peculiar until the code is broken. When gender roles are switched, we notice how strange an ad may be.
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Throughout the Codes of Gender video, there are distinctions made between how a males and females are portrayed in advertisements.
The document above is a guide to help us understand the ways that gender is portrayed in advertisements. Now that we know what ways femininity and masculinity can be portrayed, we will analyze some modern ads to see just how peculiar an ad may actually be. We will see the "strange in the familiar". Analysis of ad:
In the Macy’s advertisement from November 2013, we can see that both the woman and the man are showing codes of gender. The woman has the “feminine touch” with her hands. She is simply resting her hands on the man’s shoulder. The woman is shown in a canting posture. Although she is not lying down, she is still in a defenseless sitting with her legs up posture. This pose still is not one that shows the woman to be grounded. Rather, she is off balanced and vulnerable. The woman is staring off (not focused on her surroundings) and is over engaged because she is not simply smiling, she is instead laughing. This advertisement also shows “infantilization” because the woman is not standing next to the man instead she is hiding behind him. The man is portrayed almost completely opposite of the woman, which is what is to be expected according to Codes of Gender. The man is gripping the ribbon in his hand, which is showing the first sign of control. He is in a position where he remains ready to respond (not vulnerable or defenseless). The man’s gaze is directed outward instead of staring off like the woman. The man’s emotion remains in his control. Again, this advertisement definitely shows the codes of gender as we presented above. Analysis of ad:
This is a Kohl’s ad that was first used to introduce Jennifer Lopez’ clothing line into the store in 2011. In both pictures of Jennifer Lopez, there are codes of gender being followed as described in the Codes of Gender video. The first picture has an obvious canting posture. Jennifer Lopez is in a body twisted pose, which leaves her in an off centered position, and she has her head canted (twisted and angled). The second picture has another canting posture. In this picture, she has her legs crossed leaving her in a defenseless, not ready to respond position. Her head remains angled and tilted even in the second picture. Her hands in the second picture show the “feminine touch”. She is using them to caress her body showing it to be delicate. The touching of her neck shows vulnerability in that the neck is the most vulnerable part of the body. By Jennifer Lopez sitting in the second picture, it only continues to emphasis the idea that she is not ready to respond as a male would be. Although this Kohl’s ad does a better job of not portraying all the codes of gender, they still have used the more common code of the canting posture. The Gucci ad (2013) presented exemplifies the gender roles our society creates.
The man in this ad expresses strength, power, and control over the woman. This is shown through the “spanking” motion of his hand. He also expresses control through his upright sitting position. This defers from the woman because she is in a face down, lying down, and legs crossed position, she is also in the lap of the man. The woman releases control over her environment by allowing her hands to rest underneath her head, causing them to be away from use. The woman in this ad poses in a way where she presents herself to be defenseless against the power of the man, in no way does she show resistance to his control. She portrays herself in a sexually available position that also amplifies her powerless representation. The Gucci ad illustrates the dominance of men and the subordinate role women play to men. In this Diesel ad (2010), the picture is clearly presented by the words “Sex Sells* *Unfortunately we sell jeans”.
While the Diesel ad clearly epitomizes the use of sex in this advertisement through its slogan, it is also represented through the models. Similar to other ads, the male model shows a position of control through the positioning of his hands. His hands grip the sides of the female demonstrating his power over her body. The woman demonstrates a position that is submissive against the power of the man. She also shows no signs of resist. Her arms and hands hold on to the shoulders of the man, this gives the impression that she is reliant on the man for support. The woman is very obviously exposed, showing vulnerability. Besides her body position, is her facial expression, which is overly engaged, also exemplifying no control. The man differs from the woman in her facial expression, instead of being overly engaged, he shows little emotion. The little emotion expressed by the male communicates that he is more guarded, and thus in more control. The Diesel ad does not show any major contrast to other ads. It maintains the typical gender roles that are usually revealed through sexual roles. This PETA ad was released in 2010. It’s true that all animals have the same parts, but there are some animals that taste better than other animals, which is why the men that this PETA ad is so blatantly aimed at, choose to eat red meat, like the little cow with the heart inside of it in the upper left corner of the ad. I don’t think that this ad will turn many people into vegetarians as it will wind up in some hormonal teenage boy’s bed next to Victoria’s Secret catalogue. I agree that all animals have the same parts, but you don’t see over-sexualized cows and chickens with perfectly waxed legs wearing bikinis, either.
This continues to sexualize women, and it also shows that sex sells. In addition, this ad dissects her body, focusing more on her body than anything else. The awkward pose resembles a sort of canting posture with the bent knees and the twisted body, and the fact that she is sitting on what looks like a bed makes her look vulnerable and submissive. This Valentine’s ad from Natan Jewelry implies that if you give a woman an engagement ring, getting in her pants will only get that much easier. The idea that women can be bought is a recurring theme in today’s society, and this ad furthers that idea. Companies creating and using these sexist advertisements need to realize that women (and men) are not things that can be bought and sold like the jewelry or other advertised products.
In this advertisement, the woman in the first photo has sort of a canting posture with her legs crossed, while in the second photo, her legs are spread, which leaves her emotionally and physically vulnerable and submissive to the man. The man in this advertisement is in control, seeing as the woman's reaction depends on whether he gives her the ring. As previously mentioned, advertisements do not seem peculiar until the code is broken. When gender roles are switched, we notice how strange an ad may be. Through our reactions to the following ads, we can see the effect of gender roles in advertisements when the idea of gender is made visible through breaking the codes. Gender is a social construction. Advertisements are used to portray "commercial realism". Advertising allows for only one way to be feminine and only one way to be masculine. When these codes of gender are broken, gender is made visible. When this happens, we are able to see the "normal" codes as being strange. In advertising when codes are broken, we may laugh a little because of how ridiculous it looks to us, but in real life when these codes broken, it may result in a more serious consequence (as seen in the Codes of Gender video). With all that we know about gender in advertising now, we will be able to analyze the hidden messages advertisements are portraying with any ad we may encounter. Sources:
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