I was watching television and I notices two snicker commercials that are related to the perception of gender. The commercials are humorous, but are issues that relates to the expectations of masculine and feminine from previous chapters. A male acting feminine is portrayed by the women characters consisting of Aretha Franklin and Betty White. I have seen both commercials many times, but didn't understand the meaning, until I took this course.
One commercial starts with three men in a car and Aretha Franklin. The commercial starts with Aretha Franklin complaining about the heat. The other guys are teasing Aretha Franklin, because they say she is acting like a diva. Aretha Franklin turns into a guy, after he eats a snicker bar. He doesn't complain about the heat. The commercial is the media influence of the concept of four men traveling and one of the men is complaining according to the stereotype of masculinity he is acting feminine, which the commercial compares him to a woman. The other snicker commercial is a group of guys playing football. The commercial has Betty White playing in a football game with guys. The commercial imply the guy is playing like an old lady, because he doesn't have a snicker bar. He needs a snicker bar to be a real man, instead of an old lady.
The commercial has the snicker bar as the symbol (a man snack) or to feel like a man. The commercial feeds of the stereotype of all women are divas and complains. I find this not to be true, but society influence stereotype. A person can complain without having to be characterize of having feminine qualities. In the commercials, each of the men is teased by the other men for complaining. Males learned in preschool of the acceptable behaviors in a male social group. Men complete and they are aggressive in sports anything else is perceive as being less than a man. Will the images of the masculine male change or stay the same in commercials?
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThose commercials are too funny! I never thought about the meaning of the commercials until you pointed it out in your post. These commercials target mainly men. The main point of the commercial is that a snickers candy bar will change you into a “real man”. What is the difference between a man and a “real man”? I don’t like the fact that they characterize the man in the car as a diva just because he was complaining. Also, I don’t like that just because an athlete had an off day, he played like an old lady .The commercials depict the traditional masculine model of a male. Males do have it hard. I feel like they always have to prove something to others. This commercial proved how males give each other a difficult time. I think that the images of the masculine male will stay the same in commercials for a while. This image sells the product; therefore, advertisers won’t do away with it yet.
ReplyDeleteAshley,
ReplyDeleteI think the belief of a “real man” is ideologies that cannot be define as male and female. I think women can be role models for men. Society has many strong women that are role model to boys and girls. The myth is only a man can teach masculinity to a child. I agree children that have positive male and female role model have a major advantage in society. I was a single parent at one time raising a daughter. I had to learn many things associated to young womanhood so I could teach my daughter. I try to have positive men and women in her life for her to become a better person. Would I be classified as “real woman” for raising a girl. Parenthood is hard without having labels.
A understand about gender is necessary for social change relating to gender. A “real man” phrase should be change to a positive leader. A good leader has the quality of compassion and aggression in stressful situations. A woman pastor is a positive role model for men and women. The comment from the pastor is very gender bias. She disregards all the women single and married who are raising children. Society perception is men are the only sexes to have the natural ability to be aggressive or masculine. The teaching of gender starts at an early age and the pastor reinforce the ideology of the “real man” to a new generation.
June 24, 2010 11:26 AM
I love these commercials. I wonder if female athletes are offended by them... I am not in the least offended by the commercials but I wonder if other women would be... that whole 'you play like a girl' thing. I do 'play like a girl.' Like the cliche girl... I hate getting dirty and if I manage to catch a ball I consider it to be a miracle. There is all but no hand-eye coordination and I really couldn't care less. I feel bad for Betty White because she's old... Some stereotypes exist because there is AT LEAST one person out there who fits it and I suppose I am one of those women who perpetuate the whole female non-athletic stereotype. Unfortunately I am not really motivated to learn how to tackle someone effectively or throw a football... I am content to leave that to the men. I'll bake cookies for after the game.
ReplyDeleteHey Michael,
ReplyDeleteYour blog was funny to read this week and as you can see by the number of responses everyone is familiar with those commercials. Advertising that markets towards different genders is usually pretty obvious. Like a deodorant commercial for ax shows the guy spraying himself and then incredibly sexy women flocking to him like moths to the flame. This is clearly targeting men. On the other hand, a venus razor commercial for a woman will portray her as a silky goddess. This one is definitely to hook the female viewers. However a candy bar seems pretty neutral in is function. I can't say that men and women alike don't both enjoy chewy caramel, with nuts and chocolate so why go to an ad campaign that is clearly leaning more on the side of men. The ad company had to know that this might offend some women but perhaps they think it isn't worth adjusting over that. As you can see this commercial all stuck in our heads so maybe that was the reason we all remember it.