Advertisements: Introduction

   We are bombarded with advertisements on a daily basis. Whether we are watching television, reading a magazine, or are simply driving down the street, we regularly see advertisements. Yes, at the face of things it seems as though corporations are simply trying to market their products, however, the messages seen in advertisements have far greater meanings than simple marketing. In order to find these meanings we need to look beyond the surface, and deconstruct what is constructed. In other words, we need to look for the strange in the familiar. Over the course of this blog, we will look into a few of the various phenomenon including gender stereotypes, and hegemonic masculinity. These events are expressed beneath the marketing in advertisements. It is important to note that advertisements are not simply expressions about products, they are expressions about society and the culture it exemplifies.

Gender Stereotypes in Advertisements

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Women are often sexualized in advertising. 

   Although we might not inherently see it, advertising promotes the concept of gender stereotyping. Women are sexualized in advertising to such a degree that is is almost ordinary. Not only are women seen as sex objects, but they are also perceived as weak, dependent, and inferior. Over 4000 examples of this concept can be seen in pictures here.
   Below is an advertisement for Sky Vodka. At a quick glance, we might assume that the brand is simply trying to illustrate how refreshing their vodka is by placing their advertisement in a beach scene. However, upon further inspection, we see a different story. Notice how the girl in the advertisement is laying down with her eyes closed, legs straight, and her feet slightly distorted. This body language shown is promoting an image of weakness. This image is enhanced especially as there is a man (in a suit) who towers over the woman. This highlights the dominant/submissive roles of men and women respectively. Another feature of this advertisement that illustrates the dominant/submissive relationship is the hands of both the man and the woman. If you look closely, the hands of the man are grasped incredibly tightly on the objects that he is holding. This illustrates the "firm" control that men have on their surroundings: thus showing the power men have. The man's hands are in direct contrast to the woman's hands. The woman's hands are shown as very limp. They are limp to the point where it appears that the woman is barely gripping the object she is holding. This demonstrates the lack of control that women have on their environment; including men. It is important to note that the breasts of the woman are the main focus of the advertisement. This is showing that the main focus on woman is their sexual "assets".  In his satire of American culture (Body Ritual Among the Nacirema), Horace Miner draws upon the idea of the high value our culture places on sexual "assets" such as breasts. "General dissatisfaction with breast shape is symbolized in the fact that the ideal form is virtually outside the range of human variation. A few women afflicted with almost inhuman hypermammary development are so idolized that they make a handsome living by simply going from village to village and permitting the natives to stare at them for a fee." (Miner, 84).

Although gender stereotypes in advertising is not a new phenomenon, it has changed slightly in recent decades. In the 1960's, advertising was more direct in terms of gender stereotypes. Women were objectified as their main job was to cook, clean, and maintain the home. Picture (2) explicitly represents the notion that women are weak. The advertisers wanted to emphasize that the new bottle cap is so easy to open that even a women could do it. Picture (1) emphasizes the idea that women are in charge of homemaking duties by showing that "power" in women is directly related to the power of cleaning. In her 1997 article How History and Sociology Can Help Today's Families, Stephanie Coontz shows the impact of the idea of girls being the homemaker. "Up through the 1960's an adolescent girl typically had more responsibilities at home, from washing dishes to taking care of siblings, than she does today. While such tasks may have prepared girls for adult roles as wives and mothers, they also held girls back from further education or preparation for future work outside the home." (Coontz, 10). In today's society, women have a much stronger presence outside the home. This trend is reflected in modern advertising by making the gender stereotypes far more indirect (as seen above).

More insight into gender stereotypes can be seen in "The Codes of Gender". 

Available here.    

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To this day, certain advertisements portray women as homemakers.

Works Cited:

1) Coontz, Stephanie. "2: How History And Sociology Can Help Today's Families." The Practical Skeptic: Core Concepts in Sociology. By Lisa J. McIntyre. Boston: McGraw-Hill Higher Education, 2006. 14 15. Print.

2) Miner, Horace. "9: Body Ritual Among The Nacirema." The Practical Skeptic: Core Concepts in Sociology. By Lisa J. McIntyre. Boston: McGraw-Hill Higher Education, 2006. 83-84. Print.

Hegemonic Masculinity in Advertising

Women are not alone in falling victim to gender stereotypes in advertising. Men are also stereotyped in advertisements, but in a slightly different way. In advertising, men are seen as strong, confident, and dominant. Advertising has created a specific definition for masculinity. Ideally, when we think of masculinity, we think of a demographic of a heterosexual white, employed and of good complexion, ideal weight, and tall in stature. This idea of hegemonic masculinity is seen illustrated in Beth A. Quinn's interviews in her article The Power and Meaning of "Girl Watching". "When asked what being a man entailed, many of the men and women I interviewed triangulated towards notions of strength (if not in muscle, then in character and job performance), dominance, and a marked sexuality, overflowing and uncontrollable to some degree and natural to the male "species"". (Quinn, 111). This idea of hegemonic masculinity can be seen in advertisement (1) below. This advertisement for Dolce & Gabbana highlights a group of white men, wearing suits. The suits indicate a level of professionalism as well as affluence. All of the men in the advertisement are looking straight ahead, and all of their hands look very tense. This shows the power the men have on their surroundings. It is also important to note that all of the men have a slender physique.

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This uniform image of masculinity creates a problem for large numbers of men in society. Many men do not fit the definition of masculinity that is promoted by advertising and other media. Men of different demographics or backgrounds are burdened with feeling emasculated. Stephanie Coontz does a great job of defining the situation in her article How History and Sociology Can Help Today's Families. "Male pain is the other side of male power. Not all men, contrary to the rhetoric of masculinity, can be at the top of the pyramid. The contrast between rhetoric and reality is very painful for men whose race, class, health, or even height does not allow them to wield power, exercise authority, or just cut a figure imposing enough to qualify as a "real man."" (Coontz, 15). The gender stereotypes in advertising, negatively effect men and women by promoting false, sometimes unachievable, attributes to what fabricates gender.

This is another example of hegemonic masculinity. 

More information on hegemonic masculinity: 

1. http://ro.uow.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1149&context=artspapers

2. Specifically related to sports: http://epe.sagepub.com/content/19/3/360.full.pdf+html


Works Cited:
1) Coontz, Stephanie. "2: How History And Sociology Can Help Today's Families." The Practical Skeptic: Core Concepts in Sociology. By Lisa J. McIntyre. Boston: McGraw-Hill Higher Education, 2006. 14-15. Print.
2) Quinn, Beth A. "12: The Power and Meaning of "Girl Watching"" The Practical Skeptic: Core Concepts in Sociology. By Lisa J. McIntyre. Boston: McGraw-Hill Higher Education, 2006. N. pag. Print.

Cutulre Jamming

Culture Jamming is defined as "the act of turning meda against themselves" (Conley 105). 

Today's media artists are promoting more than simply a product, they're promoting a culture and a standard of life. This provides for cultures jammers true aim: to question the culture being advertised by highlighting the hidden and necessary details omitted in the original advertising campaigns. The classic example of culture jamming is with tobacco products, specifically Joe Camel (the mascot of Camel cigarettes). 
 
This advertisement is promoting a cigarette, yes, but it is more importantly promoting an ideal style where cigarettes are a necessity to be 'cool' or 'smooth'. The sunglasses, the smirk, the blazer, and the overall confidence and attitude of the camel present a vibe of being socially accepted. That combined with the large bold letters of "SMOOTH" promote the idea that smoking cigarettes is culturally encouraged. However, these media artists are leaving out some details. 

In this great example of culture jamming, the artist has contradicted the idea of smoking as being culturally encouraged by implying that smoking actually leads to death. The idealized camel is now shown with an x-ray for a body (showing the idea that cigarettes lead to medical issues), and the contrasting bold yellow letters show that the previously advertised 'smooth' and ideal way to live will actually lead to death. The original ad omitted the major health risks associated with this 'cool' lifestyle necessity, so this picture shows that the targeted culture in the previous ad is actually far from the culture we should be wanting to establish. 

In a way, culture jamming, when viewed from a sociological standpoint, does a great job of employing the sociological imagination. According to C. Wright Mills in The Promise, "individuals... often become falsely conscious of their social positions," (Mills, 3) and in order to see these social positions, we have to use the sociological imagination. In other words, we need to use this to see 'the strange in the familiar.' The original Camel ad presents a desired culture where cigarettes contribute to the norm. Through Joe's demeanor, it promotes an idea of familiarity similar to: "if you want to be liked and culturally accepted, smoke cigarettes." The culture jammers then take the presented norm and twist the message so that viewers can see the strange (the x-ray and the eye-opening message) in the familiar (the suave Camel with the cigarette). The edited art displays key details that the original work failed to show, and highlights these falsely conscious norms via the sociological imagination. 

Some culture jammers create their own work without spoofing a specific previously publicized advertisement. Continuing with the example of tobacco use, www.thetruth.com creates their own examples of culture jamming based on the generic culture that tobacco products promote. 



Interesting links and videos relevent to culture jamming:

 http://www.nytimes.com/1990/12/23/arts/the-merry-pranksters-and-the-art-of-the-hoax.html?src=pm  
http://markdery.com/?page_id=154 

Works Cited:

1) Conley, Dalton. "3: Culture and Media." You May Ask Yourself: An Introduction to Thinking like a Sociologist. New York: W.W. Norton &, 2011. 104-05. Print.
2) Mills, C. Wright. "1: The Promise." The Practical Skeptic: Core Concepts in Sociology. By Lisa J. McIntyre. Boston: McGraw-Hill Higher Education, 2006. 3-4. Print.

Advertisements: To Sum It Up

As shown in the previous entries, advertisements do far more than promote an item, they promote an ideal culture. Those who create advertisements play a dominant role in dictating the way we live as a society. Through various tactics, like stereotyping, hegemony, and culture jamming, advertisers can implement ideas of what is perceived as 'normal.' Through ads employing gender stereotyping, women are portrayed to be submissive, weak, and sexy. Ads with hegemonic masculinity implant the idea of men being dominant, tough, and confident. By making these traits seem normal, advertisers are manipulating our culture so that people act certain ways in order to avoid being abnormal. It is our job to use the sociological imagination to find 'the strange in familiar' so we don't fall into this trap of what is or is not ideal. Culture jammers take the implied meaning of ads and turn them around so the underlying message is exposed, which helps us to see the "strange." Women don't HAVE to be weak and sexy and men don't HAVE to be tough and dominant, even though advertisements make it seem to be a necessity. Behind the item on display, advertisements are promoting a culture, and it is up to the society to decide whether or not to buy into it.