Mid Term Project. The World Media Creates: Are You Apart of It?

Part I:

http://www.kissmestace.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/03/dng-rauncy-ad.jpg

Despite my previous knowledge of this image, I believe it deserves recognition as a true and tangible reality of how gender and power are interpreted and accepted in society. This ad sparked major controversy when released in Europe, and was pulled before released in the U.S. It suggested a form of not taking action when sexual assault was taking place. The background of men, built, toned, and white, the accepted norm for an appealing males in the general fashion world, observing a woman that has a “blank stare” in her eyes, as a man, with no shirt, wearing sunglasses, holds her down by her wrists. The intersection of gender and power come into play by having the men, strong, standing, all above, staring at the weak woman, who has no intent in her eyes at all. A “gendered” female is seen as frail, thin, expressionless, weak, and feeble in the world of fashion, and “gendered” men have the obvious power and control by being seen as physically strong- which can therefore be translated as mentally strong. Therefore, if one lives in the world of fashion, believes in the world of fashion, that is what is accepted and “fed” into- a male as the powerful one of the two sexes, female gender as weak and an object. Violence also plays an obvious role in this demonstration and intersection of gender and power.



http://quelquesfilles.files.wordpress.com/2008/11/calvin_klein_ad.jpg

This next Calvin Kline ad was released in the mid-90’s, and even though this is another ad focusing on what is trendy in pop-culture, this particular fashion ad speaks to so much of what America sees as appealing, or rather what media wants to be globally is appealing. What does this ad say about what is masculine? What is feminine? How does it strip the idea of what is powerful- what makes a man masculine, a woman feminine, and visa versa? The stance of the woman is suggestive of that of a man using a urinal, but the fact that it is a woman suggests that she is as “powerful” as a man. Therefore, in actuality, the power is still given to that of a man, and therefore choosing the reality of the media, the gender of male still has more power over that of the female gender.


http://blog.lib.umn.edu/raim0007/gwss1001/untitled.bmp

The particular ad for alcohol is one that speaks to more of the cultural norm for an acceptably attractive and feminine female. To the left is a picture of a “dopy” eyed girl, with the color in a faded black and white- suggesting a negative connotation, and to the right, the older version of the same girl, now in a much more colorful picture, and the girl is much more developed, appealing to a male audience. The “catch-phrase” that this ad uses is the most powerful and degrading to woman: “the longer you wait…the better it gets”. What is the target-market of this ad? It can be interpreted that a male audience would be the target market in that the woman is being used to demonstrate the saying “the longer you wait…the better it gets”, suggesting that the gender of male has the power, because the ad is through men’s eyes, and it is also portraying woman that do not expose their body to the public, woman that are not blonde, are not “better” woman, so therefore men have the power and control again over this image that the media preaches to the public.

http://contexts.org/socimages/files/2008/06/shredded-wheat1.jpg

This last ad for cereal can be seen as something of not too much complexity, yet it supports greatly the idea of how much power the gender of male still has in the media- and how gender represents power in the media. The woman, laying in a “seductive” pose in the kitchen, wearing red, yet has a man’s button down shirt over her outfit. In the background, the man is in the corner, looking concerned, with only wearing an undershirt and jeans, therefore suggesting that the woman is now wearing his shirt. The question as well, emphasis the idea of how this woman is exerting power by being that “hungry woman”. But is this really giving a sense of power to the gender of female- or “stripping” that man of his masculinity and in a sense giving it to the woman, and therefore re-iterating that in the media culture masculinity equals power, in and out of the kitchen. The woman’s suggestive pose on the countertop also conveys her as having the power, even though the man is standing in the corner, she is still physically higher then him. Yet, by her wearing a man’s shirt and being a “hungry woman” make the gendered female more powerful?


Part II:

Through exploring these media sources, particularly ads that are displayed through the accessible magazine and billboard, cultural norms in the everyday American society, it can be seen that if one ultimately chooses to accept the world that the media presents one with, then that world is a world of defined gender, which is used as a tool to convey power in the current culture. Historically, woman have struggled to become “equal” with men, different ethnicities and cultures have struggled to become “equal” with the average white man, yet these ads show that not too much has changed to what is appealing to the general audience, and what gender has the power. Yet ironically, it is the people that give the media power by feeding into such an influential source, and by giving the media power, we as a people of society give the media power to support the power that is masculinity, the weak that is feminine, with little cultural diversity and acceptance.