Gender, identity and advertising: blog task

 Gender, identity and advertising: blog tasks

1) What examples does Gauntlett provide of the "decline of tradition"?

The traditional view of a woman as a housewife or low-status worker has been kick-boxed out of the picture by the feisty, successful 'girl power' icons. Meanwhile the masculine ideals of absolute toughness, stubborn self-reliance and emotional silence have been shaken by a new emphasis on men's emotions, need for advice, and the problems of masculinity.

2) How does Gauntlett suggest the media influences the way we construct our own identities?

in late modern societies everyone wants to 'live their own life', but this is, at the same time, 'an experimental life'. Since the social world is no longer confident in its traditions, every approach to life, whether seemingly radical or conventional, is somewhat risky and needs to be worked upon - nurtured, considered and maintained, or amended. Because 'inherited recipes for living and role stereotypes fail to function'. we have to make our own new patterns of being, and - although this is not one of Beck's emphases - it seems clear that the media plays an important role here.

3) What does Gauntlett suggest regarding generational differences? Is it a good thing that the media seems to promote modern liberal values?

people born in the first half of the twentieth century are less tolerant of homosexuality, and less sympathetic to unmarried couples living together, than their younger counterparts, older people are also unlikely to be consumers of magazines like Cosmopolitan, More or FHM, and are not a key audience for today's pop music sensations. conservative attitudes, rather than literally 'dying out' with the older generations, tend to develop throughout the population as we get older. The mass media has become more liberal, and considerably more challenging to traditional standards, since then, and this has been a reflection of changing attitudes, but also involves the media actively disseminating modern values.

I think it is a good thing to promote liberal values as they do not have to be entirely adopted but instead moulded to fit society and its needs and wants, and so will continue to evolve over time just as more traditional values had started diminishing with the younger generations so will modern liberal values to possibly become something entirely new and unique.

4) Why does Gauntlett suggest that masculinity is NOT in crisis?

men's magazines have an almost obsessive relationship with the socially constructed nature of manhood. The continuous flow of lifestyle, health, relationship and sex advice, and the repetitive curiosity about what the featured females look for in a partner, point to a clear view that the performance of masculinity can and should be practiced and perfected. Although the magazines reflected a concern for men to find an enjoyable approach to modern living, then, there was no sign of a 'crisis' in either the magazines or their readers. The self-help books for men (discussed in chapter ten) also refuted the idea that changing gender roles had thrown men into crisis. The problem for men was not seen as being their new role - or lack of one; instead, men's troubles stemmed from their exaggerated and pointless commitment to men's old role, the traditional role of provider and strong, emotionless rock. Where men had a problem, then, it was not so much because society had changed, but because they as individual men had failed to modernise and keep up. In contrast with women's 'you can be anything' ethos, the identities promoted to men are relatively constrained.

5) Does advertising still reinforce the "conventionally rugged, super-independent, extra-strong macho man" that Gauntlett discusses? Offer examples for 

both sides of the argument from the wider advertising industry.

I think some advertising does still reinforce that 'extra strong macho man' through ads for men's grooming like old spice and Gillette 'the best a man can 

get' still creates the idea that men need to be strong/dominant and in control. While the dove advert with 'feeling comfortable in your own skin' subverts this 

Idea and links to gauntlets' idea of gender being fluid and the things men are and want to be change over time.

6) Gauntlett discusses the idea of 'girl power' and offers examples from music and film. Does advertising provide evidence to support the idea of 'girl 

power' or is the industry still reinforcing traditional representations of men and women?

Magazines for young women are emphatic in their determination that women must do their own thing, be themselves, and/or be as outrageously sassy and sexy as possible. Their clarity only disturbed by the idea that women can be extremely tough and independent whilst also maintaining perfect make-up and wearing impossible shoes - seems to have had some impact on the identities of young women ,as well as being very successful within pop culture as an image/lifestyle idea. I think this still continues to reinforce the idea that women need to look a certain way but subverts the previous ideas as its not about looking good for a man anymore but instead yourself.

7) Do you agree with Gauntlett's argument under 'Popular feminism, women and men' where he suggests that younger generations are not threatened by 

traditional gender roles and are comfortable with social changes? Does advertising provide examples either reinforcing or challenging this idea that 

younger generations are more comfortable with changing gender roles?

Popular feminism is like a radio-friendly remix of a multi-layered song, with the most exciting bits sampled, and some of the denser stuff left out. As McRobbie notes, To young women official feminism is something that belongs to their mothers' generation.

I think that younger generations are still threatened by traditional gender roles through family tradition and societal reinforcement as it is instilled at a young age to [many] kids that gender roles exist and are often placed into those roles by their parents and those around them due to their traditional values and so future generations would only not be threatened if no traditional values were ever spread which is almost outright impossible.

8) What examples from advertising does Gauntlett provide for the changing nature of gender in society (from the section on Judith Butler's Gender 

trouble)?

there have only been a relatively small amount of media representations fitting the Butler bill. Some advertising - such as the sexually charged but androgynous imagery promoting the CK One fragrance 'for a man or a woman' - had reminded viewers of the similarity of genders, hinting that it wouldn't matter which of the attractive male or female models you chose to desire. Other ads, such as ones for Impulse deoderant and Kronenbourg lager, playfully teased heterosexual desires only to reveal that the lust object was more interested in their own sex, pointing audiences to the unpredictability of sexualities.

9) Why is advertising such a good example of the 'contradictory elements' that Gauntlett discusses with regards to the mass media? In other words, how 

does advertising continue to both reinforce and challenge gender stereotypes?

The contradictions are important because the multiple messages contribute to the perception of an open realm of possibilities. In contrast with the past - or the modern popular view of the past - we no longer get singular, straightforward messages about ideal types of male and female identities, although certain groups of features are clearly promoted as more desirable than others. Instead, popular culture offers a range of stars, icons and characters from whom we can acceptably borrow bits and pieces of their public persona for use in our own.

10) Finally, Gauntlett makes a clear case that things change and modern identities are increasingly fluid. What is your opinion on this debate - do you 

agree that the media reinforces the changing attitudes towards gender and sexuality in society?

I believe that gender is fluid and that it will continue to change as long as liberal values are upheld in society and that men and women will continue t

Though go through changes of ideas and conceptions of what it means to be a part of a specific gender and whether or not there really are roles that we 

need to fill or is everything completely dependent on our circumstances and livelihoods.


Media Magazine: Andrew Tate - Masculinity in crisis?

Now read 'Tate Crime' - Media Magazine's analysis of the rise of online influencer Andrew Tate. You can find this in MM83 (p6) in our Media Magazine archive. Answer the following questions:

1) What is misogyny and how does it link to Andrew Tate?

misogyny is the dislike of, or ingrained prejudice against women and links to Tate as he believes heavily in the traditional roles of woman and that they are the property of men, have to listen to men and should be confined to a position of submission while the man is in complete control and is the protector and bread winner.

2) How does the article suggest Andrew Tate used social media to build up his reputation and following?

Essentially a Donald Trump for Gen Z. Perhaps one of the most revealing ways to look at Tate is to juxtapose how he presents himself in two forms of media. Firstly, let’s look at his recent interview on the Piers Morgan Uncensored show. Morgan, despite being no stranger to mouthing off reprehensible views, does a good job of holding Tate’s feet to the fire. Morgan plays him a clip of him saying ‘I think my sister is her husband’s property’ and asks him if he believes this statement. In his responses, Tate complains about being taken out of context, repeatedly asks the audience to listen to the whole interview, knowing full well that would increase his engagement on social media. He crafts imagined scenarios about how if he is in a relationship with a woman he would have authority to tell her not to go out at night without him. He uses the argument that these things were said before he was famous and that he might say them differently now that he’s in the public eye and yet when Morgan asks him if he regrets saying what he said, he affirms that he stands by them, as if changing one’s mind might be seen as a sign of weakness. If this paragraph seems meandering and contradictory, then that might be an accurate reflection of the experience of watching the show. He’s a tiresome little man who wants to say hateful, misogynistic things to gain more and more attention but who doesn’t want to be labelled by others as a misogynist.

3) Does Andrew Tate's popularity suggest there is in fact a 'crisis in masculinity' - disagreeing with David Gauntlett's view?

I think that Andrew Tate does believe that masculinity is in crisis but that instead men should embrace hyper masculinity and that it is the norm for men to be dominant and believes that liberal values threaten the place of the man in society when men are rightfully based in a role of power and is a role of the man to be powerful and conform to these certain values and attributes of hyper masculinity.