Men on Display

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

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.

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.

The use of sexualization also reinforces a pattern of gender roles that are currently circulating throughout advertisements. More often than not, women who are used as ploys in ads are seen doing household chores like vacuuming, changing the toilet paper, or making coffee. Females are rarely ever seen in a work place, and definitely not in a powerful position. In fact, the directors of most of these ads place women below or behind the man to show who has the power in actuality. Women are seen as skinny, fragile, and immobile in high heels, while men are strong and powerful. By setting up such a strong binary between the two different groups, it is obvious that the majority of the American society will not be able to fit into these roles, and it leaves a sense of rejection for the average person. This rejection, accepted by the viewers, manifests

Advertisers understand the art in how to deliver a message in a specific mood or tone in there commercial. They know how to get current emotions out of and expertly exploit them to sell products and services. To some men like they are always trying to find their own true meaning of how to be a man. Whether it’s the job you have, the image you set, how big and strong you are or the women you have around you, challenging a mans or anybody’s point of view of looking at things are some of the most useful for advertisers to exploit, in a recent TECATE ad, different shot of men were being shown doing all this so-called manly stuff showing how they look, what job they had, how famous they were, having intense

In Craig's article, the author explores how advertising views men and women as separate consumer markets and appeals to both of them at separate times. Gender roles are heavily influential when creating commericials for each respective market. Craig details this through an analysis of beer ads

Advertising has been engrained in our lives since birth. It is something that is everywhere, whether be on a wall, on TV, or on a billboard on a busy highway. You might not think you are aware of its effects, but it triggers something subconsciously. Advertisement has been sexualized in a way that appeals and affects people in an unconscious level, it may also influence one’s view of gender roles. In the film Killing US Softly, Jean Kilbourne discusses how advertising has changed the way not only women, but also how man view themselves. A woman must look beautiful, be sexy and thin, while a man must be attractive, muscular and powerful to achieve the “perfect look” and in doing so, both gain acceptance.

In conclusion, advertisers have cashed in on female sexuality, the appeal of youth and the objectification of women to sell us products. Is it wrong for advertisers to do this? The decision comes down to the consumer. If a person believes an ad is objectifying women or the beauty myth, the consumer can always choose a different product to

The ideas that define masculine qualities have been the fuel for a lot of debate and controversy. Masculine stereotypes are either reinforced or discouraged in advertising. Although a lot of formal interpretations of female stereotypes in advertising have been made there were little formal responses to the male body in advertising until Susan Bordo published her book, The Male Body: A New Look at Men in Public and Private. In the chapter “Beauty (Re)Discovers the Male Body” Bordo examines the state of men in advertising. The typical image of a hyper-masculine straight man is dangerously present in most advertising directed towards males. In this chapter, Bordo states, “Men, according to Berger’s formula, must never be seen as though they are asking this question, and may display their beauty only if it is an unavoidable side effect of other ‘business”(155). Believes such as these have caused many issues for men the and they way they see themselves. In advertising, the negative influence of gender roles and hypermasculinity should be adjusted with gender-inclusive points of view that encourage free expression.

Everyday we expose ourselves to thousands of advertisements in a wide variety of environments where ever we go; yet, we fail to realize the influence of the implications being sold to us on these advertisements, particularly about women. Advertisements don’t just sell products; they sell this notion that women are less of humans and more of objects, particularly in the sexual sense. It is important to understand that the advertising worlds’ constant sexual objectification of women has led to a change in sexual pathology in our society, by creating a culture that strives to be the unobtainable image of beauty we see on the cover of magazines. Even more specifically it is important to study the multiple influences that advertisements have

Men and women bring different perspectives to advertisements. Yet it is up to the audience to develop its meaning. In a commercial about fast food, colognes, shower gel, and beer, women are portrayed as looking “sexy” with not much clothes on and caressing the object. There is always a commercial about milkshakes, waffles, and cereal, where the mom gives the food to her child to consume. The consumption of the food brings positive benefits to a child such as, starting the day right or intelligence. Why it cannot be the father giving the child his breakfast? This is because the mother is always portrayed as a caregiver and cooker. When there is a commercial about cable, phone service, or snacks, it is always seen how the men are sitting down watching a sport on T.V while a woman is taking the food to the men. This demonstrates how women are used for service, according to society. Additionally, in the commercial “I'm Good” produced by the soda brand Pepsi, demonstrates a number of occurrences men accidently injure another man (their friend). The injured man always responded with the phrase “I’m good.” The men who were injured, got injured from painful dangerous events. The commercial states “first diet cola for men”. Basically, it is establishing the point that the commercial’s intention is to target only men. Moreover, the commercial demonstrates the normalize ideas of masculinity. The men that got

The existence of a predominantly male society and the continuous perpetuation of patriarchy heavily affected the way woman are represented. Women may have been experiencing many privileges nowadays than women in the previous century could not, but there are stereotypes and imposed gender roles that linger, especially in the field of advertising. One of the common types of advertisements that are dominant today are the ones that depict women as a sexualized object to get the attention of the male audience. In the research conducted by Parul Nagi, it is shown that advertisements use women “to draw attention of prospective buyers” (85), and these buyers are mostly, if not all, men. This advertising strategy places the man in the position of the gazer, and the woman as the gazed (Mulvey 837). Advertisements depicting sexualized women rely on human pleasure appealing to the sense of sight. Thus, they tend to become pornographic, wherein “it dehumanizes and objectifies people” (Kilbourne 488), diminishing their worth to that of an object to be owned only for visual and/or sexual pleasure and easily disposed of.

Advertisements are the tremendous source of gender stereotyping. This is because they are adapted to either the masculine or feminine target. Women are more regularly displayed in ads because they are seen as a credible way for making everyday spending. Men commonly advertise cars, cigarettes, business commodities or investments, whereas women are shown rather in the publications with beautifiers and household

The mainstream media constructs and normalizes traditional codes of gender inequality through the sexualization of women’s bodies. In an effort to sell products, advertisements reproduce dominant discourses of women’s appearances and gender inequality by displaying naked women and clothed men. This is showcased within the ad I have chosen for analysis within this paper.

The designation of a person’s gender seems to belong to society. Society has the ability to classify men and women as masculine or feminine as they “interact with others and media in their society” (Wood 20). It is not surprising then that society would want to portray its opinions of gender through media. This is done through the art of advertising. Advertising uses the internet, magazines, newspapers, music, and any other mediums that could possibly be utilized to transmit the ideas and sales pitches to its desired demographic. Such ideas are typically not offensive and are meant to strike a humorous tone with audiences. On the other hand these ideas can at times distort masculinity and femininity causing outrage in people. This paper will discuss portrayals and their influences on gender in advertising that are the sexual objectification of women, hyper masculinity of men, women’s dependence on men, men as aggressors, and lastly women’s incompetence and men’s authority.