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Gender, Race, And Class

Decent Essays

In the All-New Volvo XC90 commercial the first words to appear on the screen is “What is Luxury?” In this commercial it appears that luxury can only be afforded by primarily white, rich males. The media in the United States has made a lot of progress towards showing gender and racial equality on TV but America still has a long way to go. As of 2015 white men still have a patriarchal ranking in media compared to women and minorities. This essay will be discussing how intersectionality, such as gender, race, and class, play a key part in gender roles in TV media today. Luxury is the main focus in Volvo Cars US’ commercial for their new Volvo XC90; but what does luxury mean? According to Merriam Webster Online, the definition of luxury is something that is expensive and not necessary (“Luxury”). But according to the All-New Volvo XC90 commercial, luxury signifies simplicity, a sanctuary, confidence, and safety. First of all this commercial is showing that all of those things are expensive and they are not a necessity to live. Anyone can gain a sanctuary and confidence for free. Those things do not come from buying something expensive, they come from how an individual feels about oneself. In the commercial it shows a white man driving and navigating the touch screen GPS system while a white woman sits in the passenger seat and smiles at the man. The video goes on to show the interior and exterior of the car itself. Towards the end, the car is shown driving through a fancy,

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