Power, gender and advertising
Power, gender and advertisingPOWER, GENDER, AND ADVERTISING.
When society thinks of a male figure, they right away portray images such as guns, sports, and muscles.
Most men (especially young men) identify with commercial advertisements. For example, the Gillette Company shows an commercial where a good looking man, with big muscles, half naked, and surrounded by three pretty women is shaving with the "ultimate razor", indicating that if men shave with this razor, they will be surrounded by beautiful women.
Manhood has been shaped by stereotypical representation in advertisement, thus creating the system of preponderant influence, authority, and dominance.
Historically, use of gender in advertising "has stressed difference, implicate, and even the natural dissimilarity of males and females" (Katz, pg.461).
The influence of advertising has a strong impact on men. A recent study done by Kolbe, Richard H., and Darrel Meuhling revealed that boys tend to be rigid in their rejections of any play initiatives demonstrated by female model. Moreover, it was also found that there is an element of social risk involved for both boys and girls, who wish to adopt opposite-gender behavior, specially as they grow older and allegiance to their own gender becomes socially more important.
For example, video game advertising starts influencing young boys with bloody and violent games like "Duke Nukem: Zero hour". This game shows a strong men dressed like a cowboy with a gun on each hand saying: "I'm the good and the bad. You just the ugly", inducing boys to "play his game" and demonstrate that they can be better than "Duke."
In the same advertisement, it is shown how Duke is blowing out the brains of a man, "burn'em, blast'em, or blow'em away -Duke's packing serious heat! Guns, girls, a fistful of attitude. His motto is clear.
Masculinity is also sometimes related with alcoholism. Beer commercial shows how a group of young men is having a good time while drinking beer. Then in reality, young men have to get drunk to have a good time without measuring the consequences (not shown on the advertisement).
Society is dealing with a lot of problems, and one of the most important is violence. This influence is an important signifier of virility and power and hence an important part of the masculinity.
Moreover, authority plays an important role in masculinity. Advertisements like the Saab commercial described by Jackson Katz (pg.465) targeting an upscale, educated market, bills itself as the most intelligent car ever built." The muscle car with special conscience -which signals to wealthy men driving a Saab they can appropriate the working class- tough guy image associate with the concept of a muscle car.
Commercials often show when a family goes to a restaurant, the father is the one that places the order, and the one that pays the bill. In reality, man is the one that makes the final decision, the head of the house. The one that protects and support the family.
In financial advertisements, the business world is governed by male power, CEOs managers, stockbrokers, etc., forcing society to accept that men can do a better job than women can.
Male authority is currently magnifying the "patriarchal gender scheme" by diminishing the women role in society.
In addition, society has a strong dominance by males.
The "patriarchal gender scheme" reserves highly valued attributes for males and actively supports the high evaluation of any characteristics which might inadvertently become associated with maleness (Devor, pg.425)
Domestic violence is a good example of dominance.
Women who are victims of this horrible act, are influenced by society, letting them thing that their husbands own them and they can do whatever they want.
Advertising is doing too little to terminate violence, instead they are promoting more violence and enhancing the position of secure dominance as a masculine.
To summarize, the images described in Jackson Katz's essay are reflecting that advertising is constructing a wrong, sexiest, and violent society.
On the other hand, it seems that "gender roles are the result of systematic power imbalances based on gender discrimination" (Devor, pg.429).
Society should focus on the construction of gender and not to misuse the images of men and women.
Also, advertisers should stop using violent or "macho" images, instead they should clear the representation given to the influence, authority, and dominance of the patriarchal scheme.
Advertisers, again, should promote how society as a whole can do to change this whole idea of "Social Hegemony."