Gender Seperation

How many times have you dropped those swimming classes? When was last time you put off in getting that enrollment for the gym? “Unlimited” ads campaign by Nike, appeals to its audience by showing people who even having certain difficulties, go after what they want and push their limits as much as they can, which is not a little. The ads feature a grown Sister competing in a triathlon, a transgender who runs with the National men’s team and a climber with no extremities. Nike didn’t choose these actors for its ads by accident, they are source of inspiration for all those athletes that always put the best of themselves in whichever the activity that passionate them is. People who would be the main target for this campaign.

Since the emergence of advertising in American culture one thing that has remained constant is the visible truth that men and women are portrayed differently. In consideration to the evolution of man kind gender roles have evolved immensely throughout time, although advertisements have not kept up with this process of evolution. Companies to this day use their tactics and skills to reach out to specific genders such as pretty fonts with a stylish message, while advertisements towards men portray the character as strong and intimidating. The typical viewer can easily spot the difference in the portrayal of genders. Men are portrayed this way because the viewers look up to these characters, they want to be

Women athletes are often exploited by marketers and advertisers who want to increase their revenues and bottom line sales. Advertisers focus more on the women’s “skin” and sex appeal rather than women’s athletes, leaving the impression that woman are not as talented in the sports as male athletes (Roenigk 1). Many spectators and advertisers do not take female professional sports seriously and think that female athletes play more for fun. Therefore, female athletes do not receive as much attention for their talent. Advertisers exploit women athletes by focusing on their looks and appearances. Advertisers focus on the female athlete’s sex appeal rather than talent (Julius 2). Those who are more talented can be drafted to play professionally where they receive a salary. However, marketers still focus more on male sports. Therefore, increased revenue continues as spectators buy tickets to watch professional male athletes. The female athletes continue to generate revenues from sex appeal and looks over talent. This professional salary in no way compares to the pay received by professional male athletes.

As seen with the Nike “equality campaign” commercial, Nike is calling for those who buy their products to almost break through the current social boundaries and to move “past these lines.” The quote of moving “past these lines” aids in furthering the post-Fordist concept of uniqueness as it almost encourages one to think outside the box and to be different by going against societal limitations and norms while in hopes of striving for equality; it gives a sense of inspiration to those who witness the commercial. Nike is commanding for not only their consumer base, but all those who view this ad to be active in fighting for equality for all races and other minority groups. Nike believes this idea starts with “you,” and not by those who are atop the social hierarchy like those in governmental positions; taking a bottom to top approach. This idea exemplified by Nike gives the consumer a stronger feeling of empowerment within the world in which they live. The idea of individual self-control and power is further highlighted through the quote by the narrator, Michael B. Jordan, who states “here you’re defined by your actions.” In this instance, each individual in society is considered for being responsible for change. Nike’s willingness of taking into account the various people who make up society is shown

Women in professional sports fits into the Sex and Power: Global Gender Inequality class because many female athletes have experienced the inequalities in a professional sports setting. Female athletes are being put down by gender inequalities, causing less females participating in athletic programs. Women athletes are being paid less than their male counterparts. Along with being paid less, female and males are receiving unequal benefits in the form of scholarship, media coverage, transportation, and stadium conditions. The professional sport’s world is filled with the obsession of body image and sexuality. Through this obsession, female athletes have been abused from the people they trust the most. There is an increasing inequality in women’s professional sports in the form of pay, sexuality, and abuse.

The Nike commercial, “Nike Short A Guy”, was about a young man that was needed in many different aspects in sports, whether it was from amatuer leagues or professional sports competition. The commercial’s purpose was first to make the audience and consumers buy Nike equipment; but it also to showed the depth of Nike, and the many different sports in which they have Nike gear for. Ethos was used throughout this commercial in order to persuade the audience to purchase Nike. The intended audience here was sports players; but more specifically children that play sports.

What is it that drives commercials towards their target audience? Commercials can be aimed toward certain age, race, along with certain gender groups. Pop culture has influenced minority groups and shed light on women 's rights or so it may seem. Lisa Shaffer a fellow student feels otherwise and believes that Pop culture has only defended traditional values and does little to challenge those who already have power . Commercials bring in gender norms and in Steve Craig’s article, “Men’s Men and Women’s Women” he speaks on four particular TV ads directed towards male and female audiences. Interestingly enough these tv ads deliver a false image of the opposite sex to the audience catering to their preferences. It is the image of what the audience wants to see that appeals to them. This is all in an attempt to sell products and take advantage of our desires and anxieties. Craig shows how commercials bring gender norms that produce the stigmas of a man’s man and a woman’s woman, which makes it apparent that he would agree with Shaffer because it promotes an old way of thinking.

Nike may be typically known for focusing a lot of gear solely on athletes; yet, it is not just for them. Nike’s objective

From a young age, children are conditioned to always think about what they want to be when they grow up. Many of them dream to be a ballerina, firefighter, or an astronaut. With age comes maturity, and those aspirations pass, but simultaneously new, more realistic ones arise. To reach these new goals, these children work toward their dream through dedication, which can be seen in the studying or training they do. In today’s society females have more opportunity to do what they dream. There are young women who are assiduously working to get a college degree and a steady job. Then, there are also women who are training to become a professional athlete, with the aspiration of becoming a member of the United States Women’s National Soccer Team (USWNT). In today’s society, women can pursue their goals, however, if compared to men’s sports, there can be differences seen that keep women from reaching full potential, equality, and their dreams.

As explained in Judith Lorber’s excerpt from “‘Night To His Day’: The Social Construction of Gender”, gender is a socially constructed concept that everyone unconsciously adheres to (Lorber). As a socially constructed concept, representations of gender roles can reinforce or challenge the stereotypical images. In Killing Us Softly 4, Jean Kilbourne analyzed the advertisement industry’s representation of women and argued that the media plays a huge role in shaping gender formations (Kilbourne). Although objectification of women is still a prevalent issue, Kilbourne acknowledged that there are efforts nowadays that challenges the unrealistic representations of women and femininity (Kilbourne). Inspired partly by Killing Us Softly 4, the project is my way to reflect on how the Disney movies I had watched as I grow up represented gender.

In the Journal “Sport and Society: Annual Review of Sociology” written by Robert E. Washington and David Karen they talk about gender and sports in one section of their Journal. In this section the author addresses masculinity in sports and the attempts of Title IX to try and make sports equal in the sense that if women make up 40% of the athlete population they should receive 40% of the resources. However, this is not the case “The most recent data (Suggs 2000) reveal that in 1998–1999 women made up 42% of Division I athletes, received 42% of scholarship monies, 31% of recruiting budgets, 34% of coaching-salary budgets, and 33% of total operating expenses. According to Andrew Zimbalist (2000:B9), women “still play in inferior facilities, stay in lower-caliber hotels on the road, eat in cheaper restaurants, benefit from smaller promotional budgets, and have fewer assistant coaches.” (Washington and Karen, 2001) This long quote showcases that although women are starting to get what they deserve when it comes to a the percentage of Athletics that they comprise it is still not up to par. Although it is not technically salary, the gap in scholarship money and money spent of faculty for female athletes showcases how money it’s sports always goes to the male athletes no matter at what level. In a more recent example that further pushes the points that were made in Washington and Karen’s journal would be the U.S. Women’s Soccer team compared to the U.S. Men’s Soccer team. Both

Steve Craig, in his article Men’s Men and Women’s Women especially define how different sexes in advertisement can influence a particular audience towards a product; one stereotypical method he describes is “Men’s Women” (Craig).One such ad using sex appeal, and a basic structure of “Men’s Women” to bring in customer was made by BMW in 2008 to sell their used cars. BMW, which is a world-renowned company known for its performance heavy automobiles, targets a male audience by comparing a gorgeous woman to their cars.This ad by BMW, who no doubt make amazing cars, degrade women through its message, and it enforces Steve Craig’s “Men’s women” tactic, but this ad also goes a step further and displays the ever-present patriarchy in advertisement overtly.

More than 30 years later developments are continuing to be made. Women have begun to dominate many different sports including aerobic exercises, kickboxing, iceskating, swimming, and volleyball. This gains have not only been seen at the recreational level, but also at the high school, collegiate level and even Olympic level. This rise has created great interest in female sports and has increased popularity. Sports like women’s tennis and basketball have been driving forces of the success, thanks to athletes like Venus and Serena Williams and the UCONN and University of Tennessee woman’s basketball programs (Woods, 228-229). With all that being said, “there's been real growth in the number of women who participate in sports, receive scholarships, and benefit from increased budgets. There are more opportunities to compete at elite levels through competitions like the Olympics, World Championships and professional leagues. Even more importantly, we know that playing sports makes women healthier. They're less likely to smoke, drink, use drugs and experience unwanted pregnancies. Studies also link sports participation to reduced incidences of breast cancer and osteoporosis later in life. These health benefits for women and society alone should be reason to keep Title IX strong.” Not only do the benefits of sport give women and equal right to participate, but they

The sports world has been a new area where women are recognized. In previous times women’s sports were almost non-existent. In schools many girl teams did not receive adequate funds for uniforms and equipment. Boys sports were much more popular, such as football or basketball. If a girl wanted to play a guy sport she would be labeled as a

One major thing that’s breaking up the gender roles is the fact that women are now getting higher degrees in college and getting better paying jobs while there are some stay at home dads. Another that’s breaking up the gender roles is the new acceptance of transgender people and more transgender people coming out due to a safer environment. As a transgender male (aka Transboy) it’s hard to be able to know whether it’s safe to tell anybody our true identity. Even though it’s safer and more accepted nowadays, you still don’t know if your family and friends are going to accept you or not. So far only my family and some of my friends know but I’m lucky and they accept me for who I am. I fully believe that it’s possible for Esperanza to be transgender.