In the world there are around 7 billion people. Each one of these people has characteristics of who they are that are unique to them. In turn, the way we see our peers, and people we interact and communicate with is unique to us. Every moment, each person on earth performs an identity. In Human Communication in Society by Jess K. Alberts, Thomas K. Nakayama and Judith N Martin (2016), identity is defined as “…individual and social categories a person identifies with, as well as the categories that others identify with that person.” (p. 47) During an average day we preform many identities at once. Without these identities, 7 billion people would be carbon copies of each other. Communication with others and identity are symbiotic. As humans we derive meaning for the world around us through “…social or symbolic, interaction.” (Alberts, Nakayama, Martin, 2016, p. 50) In the modern age we live, some of our most prevalent forms of communication, are through media. Media will always shape our identities, as we are constantly surrounded by it. …show more content…
And based on the Axe company’s $6 billion plus in sales in 2015, their marketing plan is working. Despite many females calling the company’s ads sexist, and certain commercials going so far as to be banned from television, men still buy the products. According to Craig L. Engstrom (2012), he believes that men preform their masculinity. By researching college aged males he found, “male residents overwhelmingly display more sexual and aggressive posters.” (p. 406) Posters, and other forms of media are a reflection of what men believe their identity is. The men Engstrom studied and the men that the commercial appeals to are in the same age group, therefore sharing some of the same identities. Engstrom explains that our modern society has a limited understanding of masculinity, and stresses how dangerous this is. (Engstrom, 2012, p.
Common sense seems to dictate that commercials just advertise products. But in reality, advertising is a multi-headed beast that targets specific genders, races, ages, etc. In “Men’s Men & Women’s Women”, author Steve Craig focuses on one head of the beast: gender. Craig suggests that, “Advertisers . . . portray different images to men and women in order to exploit the different deep seated motivations and anxieties connected to gender identity.” In other words, advertisers manipulate consumers’ fantasies to sell their product. In this essay, I will be analyzing four different commercials that focuses on appealing to specific genders.
To signify masculinity, this Chevrolet advertisement portrays many hegemonic male ideologies, such as the ability to be attractive to women, love of the outdoors and extreme sports, and confidence. The advertisement compares these ideologies to an average, shy guy, who through using a Chevrolet truck can obtain all of these hegemonic male ideologies. The advertisement utilizes the “Lynx Effect”(Feasey,2009) and sought after hegemonic male ideologies, to suggest that men strive to increase their masculinity through consuming products that reflect male hegemonic ideologies.
Although the concept of identity is recurrent in our daily lives, it has interpreted in various ways.
Identity is very important in a person’s life. It can induce pride or shame, provide a community or provide a way to distinguish one’s self from others. But, where does this identity come from? It is easy to assume we are who we are because of who raised us, but this is not the entire case. Andrew Solomon, author of “Far from the Tree” introduced two different forms of identity, vertical and horizontal. He defines vertical identity as the attributes acquired and shared by the people we are raised by and horizontal identity as the attributes different from those who raised us, but are shared and acquired through a peer community. These two types of identities generally do not intersect and, depending on the circumstance, one can greatly impact
Technology has changed the way the world generally communicates negatively by not allowing true interaction with each other, technology is changing the way we used to read physical books by preventing them to make the brain work better, and people can easily get their hands on technology and use it to do wrong towards others.
People have been aware of creating their identities for a few decades. However, it is easy to create an identity. What is hard is creating that identity as independent from society and discovering your own identity. Society has been such an enormous impact on people’s lives. Everyone became identical to each other by copying attitudues from their surrondings. These attitudues have been shaped by mostly discourses. Discourses are actually stereotypes based on morality and religion. Everyone is aware of these discourses because of society and mass media. Obviously, society is the one who created all these discourses and it continues spreading them but mass media has been a crucial transmitter these discourses to audiences. According to Foucault,
The Paco Rabanne Invictus fragrance for men advert, published in 2013, seems to portray how a modern male should appear: strong, muscular, and heavily tattooed while women are perceived as relationship-oriented, and eye-candies: a lightweight drapery hides their private parts whilst revealing their forms. Thus, it reinforces gender stereotypes. As Buying Into Sexy points out sex sells, and people tend to be heavily exposed to adds as well as “music videos that feature plenty of sexual innuendo”. That is why humongous corporations “(create) a certain environment of images that we grow up in and that we become used to (in order to) shape what we know and what we understand about the world”, states Justin Lewis in Mickey Mouse Monopoly. So, how is the ideology of masculinity represented throughout this ad? The warrior-esque man is physically desirable, and irresistible to women. Even though the audiences are aware of the existed hyperbole, they might focus on the experienced feelings of smelling good.
Multiple identities have been increased by the creation of cyberspace communications according to "Cyberspace and Identity" by Sherry Turkle. Turkle uses four main points to establish this argument. Her first point is that online identity is a textual construction. Secondly she states that online identity is a consequence-free moratorium. Turkle's third point is online identity expands real identity. Finally, her last point states that online identity illustrates a cultural concept of multiplicity. I disagree with many aspects of her argument and I have found flaws in her argument. Technology is an area that does not stand still and consequently outpaced Turkle's argument.
Before the internet, our characteristics such as style, identity, and values were primarily exposed by our materialistic properties which psychologists define as the extended self. But people’s inferences to the idea of online self vs. offline self insisted a translation to these signals into a personality profile. In today’s generation, many of our dear possessions have been demolished. Psychologist Russell W belk suggest that: “until we choose to call them forth, our information, communications, photos, videos, music, and more are now largely invisible and immaterial.” Yet in terms of psychology there is no difference between the meaning of our “online selves” and “offline selves. They both assist us in expressing important parts of our identity to others and provide the key elements of our online reputation. Numerous scientific research has emphasized the mobility of our analogue selves to the online world. The consistent themes to these studies is, even though the internet may have possibly created an escape from everyday life, it is in some ways impersonating
As Singh points out, “The facility of modern technology to amalgamate the colossal variety of elements from different times and places has led to the involute cultural identities...New media is engulfing the culture at a very fast rate. It has left human relationships behind. Media today has taken the role of parents, relations, and friends.”(Singh 87-88). This supersession of relationships can cause a myriad of quandaries when withal developing one’s identity, and cause one to lose the “self” among the identity portrayed in convivial media. The result in a cultural shift of what one’s “identity” means, constructing, as Gilpin suggests, not only the identity of individuals but the identity of cultural groups such as public relations
...clude the sense of human identity. People who express several aspects of self cannot develop the “aesthetic self,” as they have no experience in sharing the real feelings to others. People who express several aspects of self cannot develop the “aesthetic self,” as they have no experience in sharing the real feelings to others. Turkle’s analysis of the computer as a reminiscent object and the human relationship with the object helps us to understand online identity. Undoubtedly, technology has changed the way of leaning and thinking that helps to find the identity of individuals. As we are highly depend on technology and computer in recent times, the dependency and relationship with computer and technology are the potential to severely influence our formation of identity. As Erik Erikson and Turkle rightly said, internet has provide a safe place to find our identity.
...s sexual content and strong appeal to young men seeking attention from attractive women. Axe represents itself as a magical aphrodisiac, but what it is really selling is confidence. These ads are displayed in sports and teen magazines that males would read. Body sprays and deodorants are being aimed at teenage boys to maintain hygiene to promote cleanliness, confidence and a better image. The Axe ad tells teenage boys that using the products will make them irresistible to the opposite sex. The ad is clearly an exaggeration that would never happen in the real world. It is a false fallacy unrealistic through the use of sex and humor to feel the “Axe Effect”. The ads could be less sexual appealing if the ads didn’t advocate the women wanting sex and having an ordinary guy putting deodorant on, going out on a date or after playing sports to hang out with their friends.
To begin with, we technically are not born with identity; it is a socially constructed attribute. Identity is a transient thing, which changes over time as we grow and mature. The self-concept, which is our own personal understanding of who we are, combines with self awareness to cultivate a cognitive representation of the self, called identity (Aronson, Wilson, & Akert, 2010, p.118). In other words, who we are is controlled by internal and external factors that combine to make us who we become. Bring new media outlets into the equation, such as the internet, and media is now regarded as an "extension of everyday life and a tool of cultural change" (Singh, 2010). Thus, identity formation, as a social concept, is being transformed in new and even more global ways.
It is often suggested that media has possibly had extreme effects on the social development of a young person. However, understanding how media outlets affect the identity of teens takes understanding what "identity" involves. Typically, who we are is measured by external and internal factors that combine to make us who we become. Add in new media outlets, such as the internet, social networking and media is now considered an “extension of everyday life and a tool of cultural change” (Singh, 2010). Therefore, identity formation, as a social concept, is constantly changing in new and even more global ways. Identity, again, is social concept. After we interact with any sort of media, regardless of what we do, we tend to find that validation from others. In real-life, we only have to deal with a handful of disagreeable people. Online, that number swells exponentially. Simply, it 's a distinct presentation by which we tend to continuously exchange
Identity is defined as the mixture of conception as well as the expression of a person. It entails the affiliations with other people or groups. It is the specific characteristic that is associated with a particular individual. This character is mostly generated from how one is brought up and the environment surrounding an individual’s upbringing process. The identity is closely related to reputation as well as self image. However, most people have a challenge in proving their identity. This raises the question of how to prove one’s identity in the society. This paper will focus on the question and make an argument of how to prove identity.