Masculinity In Advertising

Topic: Representations of Masculinity in Advertisements A way of doing gender

Intro:

Masculine images typically convey power, strength, , athleticism, and competitiveness whereas feminine images show beauty, submissiveness, nurturance, and cooperation. Such themes appear repeatedly in popular culture (including advertisements) and are often accepted by those who see them as natural aspects of the human condition. The subject of this essay is the representation of gender in advertising. The focus will be on the story that advertising tells about masculinity and femininity and how it models and idealizes certain roles and behaviors while ignoring others. These particular ads are intended to draw attention to the range of ideas in contemporary advertising. The representations of gender in these

In Judith Lorber and Patricia Yancey Martin’s chapter “The Socially Constructed Body” they state, “The equation of big size, strong muscles, and “true masculinity” is a pervasive theme in U.S. culture. They go on to show how in our society we are bias to men being tall and put together.

According to Bordo , to present the man in the action of exhibiting himself as a physical object would feminize him. If the body must be presented, as in the case of a man in his underwear, additional visual elements must be present to preserve his masculinity. I will be using this to further explain my arguments of how Axe commercials homogenizes the stereotypical characteristics of what a man should be or should be able to do. Critically, ads influence how we think about masculinity and femininity, what is sexy, and what will be seen as attractive by desired others. Standard advertising poses generally signal men’s dominance over submissive women, be it through physical, financial, or psychological