Essay Just A little Gay

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

Advertising has come a long way in terms of advancement with the enlightenment of the new technological age we live in now. In James Twitchell’s essay “What We Are to Advertisers,” the author explains that mass production means mass marketing, and mass marketing means the creation of mass stereotypes. Generally, the use of stereotypical profiling in our society not only exists in regards to race, social class, personality type, and gender but also holds a special meaning in advertising circles as well. To advertisers, stereotyping has become an effective means to pitch their products according to the personality profiles they have concocted for us and are most times eerily accurate. For instance, according to advertisers, the daytime

What is it that drives commercials towards their target audience? Commercials can be for a certain age, race, and sometimes even a certain gender. Pop culture has influenced the minority groups and shed light to women 's rights or so it was thought. 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 a particular gender. What is interesting is it shows a false image of the opposite sex to the audience being portrayed toward their preferences. It is the image the audience wants to see that appeals to them. This is all in an attempt to sell their products and take advantage of our desires and anxieties. Craig shows commercials brings gender norms that produce the ideas of what a man’s man and a woman’s woman which is why he would agree with Shaffer because it promotes an old way of thinking.

Contemporary visual media contributes to the social construction of gender in that the way that men and women are portrayed in advertising is vastly different.

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.

In the vast majority of advertisements, beer is positioned as an alcoholic beverage for men, and more specifically, heterosexual men. Oftentimes, beer commercials seem as though they are selling “testosterone juice.” The commercials look like a hop-fueled fraternity parties replete with sexually objectified women. Pitchmen include the “most interesting man in the world,” male sports celebrities and every day “bros.” The most gender-balanced beer commercials are parties on beaches where women are guests, but not portrayed as the primary consumers of beer. Recently, Amy Schumer, alongside Seth Rogen, broke the glass ceiling by serving as the spokesperson for Bud Light Beer. But what about other marginalized groups? Earlier this year, Heineken released a commercial for Heineken Light featuring openly gay actor Neal Patrick Harris. Heineken Light’s “Neil Patrick Harris & the Grill Master” both reflects and resists hegemonic norms of sexuality through the juxtaposition of the two actors’ characterizations. Neil Patrick Harris represents homosexual men in a way that does not reflect or reinforce gay stereotypes. His sexuality is not made obvious through his behavior, as his lines are served in a deadpan manner. Instead, his gayness is revealed through the sexual innuendo in his dialogue. On the other hand, the “grill master” is the picture of heterosexual masculinity, both in his grilling and his subtle fear of homosexuality. Overall, the commercial is representative of the divide

"'We’re all in on the gender-reversal joke,’ explains Lisa Wade, associate professor of sociology at Occidental College” (para 4). Ms. Wade’s observation on current advertising ploys is more than accurate. We are all aware that these ads exist, yet we continue to fall for the “hot guy” trick, and buy a product, whether we need it or not.

She realizes this by analyzing Chevrolet’s Facebook page, for example. She recognizes that because the company decided to use interracial couples in their advertising, purchase consideration and the perception of the company itself has escalated with the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community. This then leads into her realization of the “overriding takeaway” from such campaigns. It’s not about why these brands are worth investing money; it’s about the companies being diverse and accepting. This analysis concludes her article by emotionally capturing her readers. Television has an extraordinary amount of power and because these ads caused such a stir, Zmuda used that to appeal to the emotion of readers who either relate to the issues discussed or feel for those who

Take a look around and think about how far our society has really come along. Yes, we finally have a woman running for president, an African-American president, same-sex marriage laws, feminism and minority movements, but we still don’t have thing like equal-pay, or proper representation. Similarly to how a magician manipulates his/her audience’s perspectives by directing their attention to a particular part of the stage to see “where the magic happens” while the actual “action” happens elsewhere; Lisa Shaffer argues that pop culture has put on a performance of progression yet works behind the scenes to reinforce traditional social values. In the articles “Men’s Men and Women’s Women” and “Dove’s ‘Real Beauty’ Backlash,” the authors agree with Lisa Shaffer’s idea of the media’s regressive intentions, and support their claim by providing analysis of varies commercials that underline traditional social values.

“Sex sells” is probably one of the most used catch phrases that every generation understands starting in their adolescents. With the right to freedom of information and availability of the internet access, there cannot be limits set on adolescent’s exposure to such media marketing. This becomes a challenge as every generation seems to be getting more active and savvy in their use of technology, earlier and earlier. However, the phenomenon of barely clothed men is new even to the younger generations today as it corresponded with the recent normalization of gay culture in the mass media as suggested by Parasecoli. Further, the author confirms that “the enthrallment with the body image, previously imposed mostly on women, is now becoming a common feature in identification processes” (p. 284). Seeing a man in an overtly sexual ad, even when the product that is being sold is unrelated to sex, has become a common

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

Televisions and movies through their visual effects help define ‘a real man’. During advertisements, there are some particular aspects of man that are portrayed. A man who fails to have certain forms of male features may not be shown on TV or may not be considered for a film (Cohen & Hall, 2009). Moreover, the marketing companies have started to objectifying men in the same manner women have been objectified. The fitness of a

In the marketer’s eyes, in order to attract people’s attention on what they want is to first segregate the commercial in to which type of person the product is going to be sold to, then break it down in an obvious way – showing major differences in the general public’s interests, sorting ‘the consumer’ down to a more focused group of people; as if one were looking past a continuous stream of red squares, then notice’s a blue square, he or she will notice the blue square standing out from the red squares; the blue square being the advertisement that fits to that person’s personality. For example if there was a commercial for a truck produced by a typical American organization, the advertisement shows masculinity and manliness in extensive ways, with mud, heavy weights, and other things. With a Victoria’s Secret advertisement, the milieu is very sensual and scandalous, showing light colors such as pink or white, all while having a soft, fluffy tone to it. There is no escape in gender roles and profiling when it comes to marketing; people who want to sell their product will use the most effective means necessary, no matter if it is morally sound or not . If companies were to have general broadened commercials, then summarize a product and ends up not narrowing down to specific consumer needs, then in most cases it would not interest the customer and could quite possibly render the purpose utterly useless.

The roles of males and females in society have significantly changed, as opposed to the predominant roles in our history. In the modern culture of today, women have begun to break out of the mold that which society has placed her in. This much can’t be said when it comes to modern gender representation in mass media advertising. It can be safe to state that woman are seen as sexual, fragile, exotic—whereas men are portrayed as tough, in control, and aggressive. This trend can be one seen as an inhibitor to the advancement of our culture, because especially for women, it is hard to pull away from the stereotypes that are continuously represented. As examples of the given trend, the following

Marilyn Monroe, Marlboro Man, Hugh Heffner, Pamela Anderson, and The Rock are all examples of the society of idols whom the American public has looked up to in various media forms. In today’s society there are many gender and social stereotypes that remain a prevalent part of the advertising tactics of the media. In the particular ad that I have chosen are examples of gender stereotypes that I would like to analyze and discuss using Douglas Kellner’s article “Advertising Images”. Kellner states that the tobacco industry in both the past and present use subliminal messages with the intention of portraying lifestyles and choices to the American public. Cigarette ads in particular, Kellner argues, “contribute to identity formation in