As we have
learned, media plays a prominent role in our society. Media in many ways is a reflection of our
community. One of the main ways media
tries to influence the masses are through the use of advertising. Many ads are formed around gender scripts and
stereotypes. In a previous post, I
analyzed the different ways cleaning supplies are marketed towards men and women. Women are pictured cleaning, doing housework,
usually with kids around. Typical women’s
work. On the other hand, the “going into
battle” approach is a masculine way to sell products to men. Masculine verbs, such as destroy and kill,
are used to describe the cleaning products.
This style of selling aims at attempting to make cleaning a manlier task
rather than women’s work.
This gender
segregated approach to advertising is evident as we analyze more and more
commercials. For example, car commercials
are presented differently depending on the audience. With
female viewers, the car is described with words such as flexible or sleek in
the commercials. However, with male
audiences, the car is described as tough or powerful. Flexible and sleek are generally labeled as
more feminine qualities; tough and powerful refer to masculine traits. Other advertisements, such as for beer and
food commercials, use the same gender segregated approach. This approach to selling products has been
quite successful.
I agree with everything you have said, all of the commercials are always directed toward a certain gender, race, or class. Commercials directed towards men always use words like tough, or strong in order to emphasize the masculinity the product gives to men. Of course men aren't going to buy the cars from the commercials that are directed towards women using words like safe and smooth. Guys want to see a car that has speed, sometimes luxury matter, and sporty. Men want to feel masculine by the products they are buying. Whenever we see a man driving a van, they are seen as driving a mom car. Many people look down upon them and find that unusual due to how the media tells us to act and what is okay and what is not okay in today's society. The odd thing about how commercials grab each gender's attention is that something directed towards men can either grab women and men's attention whereas a commercial headed towards women will mainly get attention only from women. Women like the idea of being strong but men hate the idea of being considered feminine. Today's society still follows the traditional gender roles of the women doing the domestic work and the man doing work outside of the home which is shown throughout commercials and other things throughout the media.
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