Blurred Lines Analysis

Rather than a single standard of masculinity to which all men and boys are taught to aspire to, studies have documented a variety of masculinity that define manhood differently across racial , ethnic, class, sexual , and regional boundaries.(Kathleen Blee) In this quote the author states that due to intersectional differences, different racial groups of men might have different definitions on what it means to be masculine and what it means to perform masculinity. Gender roles are also modified by life experiences over time across racial groups. In the next images I presented are all images of my guy friends and cousins. More specifically they are all images of African American males in my life choosing to participate in gender and masculinity.

Words such as “slut” and “whore” are thrown around in the movie as insults towards girls in the Burn Book (Michaels & Waters, 2004). As for sexualization in the media, it shows the shockingly young age at which girls in today’s society are being exposed to this. For example, Regina’s little sister, who looks like she is in elementary school at most, is copying a dance from a censored music video featuring the song Milkshake by Kelis. The specific lyrics featured in the movie are “my milkshake brings all the boys to the yard/damn right, they’re better than yours”. The milkshake stands for a woman’s sex appeal.

By including young girls in the video, Greenfield successfully develops a feeling of guilt within the audience. Not only does she include multiple adolescent girls, but she also includes teenagers and young adults in order to provide additional perspectives on the effects of “like a girl.” Many humans feel a great amount of tenderness and understanding for girls, especially those who are young and self-conscious; knowing this, Greenfield makes sure to include multiple clips from young girls in order to remind the audience of the effects of their actions and comments. In so doing, Greenfield helps boost the confidence of women by generating feelings of regret and embarrassment in those who use “like a girl” in a negative way in an attempt to acquit their hostility. In other words, Greenfield reaches out to young girls in an attempt to build strength and convince them to continue doing what they love, despite what others say about

When first clicking on the video, it appears to be similar to a Katy Perry music video. The scenery is completely pastel, filled with ice cream, candy, and rainbows; the embodiment of the feminine stereotype. Along with the scenery, the women are all wearing pastel dresses with lavish jewelry and overdone makeup to exaggerate their feminine side. While welcoming men to their “hell,” the women describe the sexual harassment bubble as their “hometown” and smile. The women use logos again to demonstrate how backwards the gender system has been by using charming girlish attitudes, a stark contrast to the real meaning of the video.

The existing asymmetry in terms of social power between men and women was strengthened through these images, as the stereotyping of women in these categories was associated with lower degrees of social and control. In his book ‘Gender Advertisements’ Erving Goffman describes how feminity and masculinity displayed within western media. In his analysis, Goffman addresses several trends and patterns in how feminity (and masculinity) is portrayed as well as the messages this conveys to the viewer. According to him women are portrayed as soft, vulnerable, fragile, powerless, dreamy, childlike and submissive . Goffman described a number of symbolic ways in which indicative behavior displays the subordination of females to males, the ritualization of subordination is accomplished by using social connotation associated with elevation, location positioning, and body posture .

Her many roles on television in the past and present have allowed her to influence a vast number of people (“Ellen”). This has served as an exceedingly effective medium to fight for equal rights among same-sex relationships. By voicing these concerns out loud and to large groups, both straight edge women and DeGeneres were able to display their active resistance and generate a response against these harsh societal norms. The goal of the late 1900s punk movement was to the reject mainstream ideals placed upon the public by powerful and large corporations. Straight edge women did just that by consistently rejecting generally held female expectations and stereotypes.

Notions such as “sex sells” are not necessary true, for the observers recognize the damaging images in which women are portrayed. Advertisements that depict possessive and violent men toward women are should not be selling. For example, “no”does not mean “convince me”, when taken otherwise may lead to sexual abuse.  Despite that both genders can be objectified, it is women who are more at risk due to the already established idea that women are more vulnerable.

The advertisements are simply sexual just to be sexual. Many of the advertisements seem to just attract people to look at the models, not really to look at the clothes. According to the case study, American Apparel shoppers felt out of place when shopping in the store. The customer mentioned that the company “reeked of sexual sin”. The consumer said most of the items were “cute” but that some of the items were a bit too suggestive.

“Advertising contributes to people’s attitudes about gender, sex, and violence,” states Jean Kilbourne in her article, Two Ways a Woman Can Get Hurt With advertising agencies standing by the notion that “Sex Sells” it isn’t uncommon to find sex tied into a number of advertisements seen everywhere on a daily basis. “Sex in advertising is pornographic because it dehumanizes and objectifies people, especially women …” (Kilbourne, 271). The objectification of women in our society is more prevalent than many would like to believe. Women being portrayed as passive, easy, innocent, needy, submissive and dependent beings create an understanding that women are less human than men.

Advertisements paint a picture of how individuals are supposed to act and how they can show that they are either masculine or feminine. The advertisements that were shown in The Codes of Gender: Identity

Pfeifer fails to address the fact that these advertisements are not only found in magazines but also on television. Women can decide not to purchase magazines. But how do they control the advertisement that comes up when they are watching the television? Additional means of telling the media besides boycotting, that it is not okay to exploit the insecurity of women and young girls’ needs to be developed. This can be through campaigns or other means.

Being identified as black is different than being born black even though she believes its the same thing. She wears a curly dark haired wig and looks like she had darkened

Can advertisements really cause violence in people’s lives? Jean Kilbourne’s “Two ways a Woman Can Get Hurt: Advertising and Violence” talks about how advertising and violence against women can cause women to be seen as objects. The author discusses how pornography has developed and is now part of social media, which glorifies its violence that permeates society encourages men to act towards women without respect. Kilbourne uses logical and emotional appeals as well as ethical arguments to effectively convince readers to ignore specific advertising techniques. Jean Kilbourne author has spent most of her professional life teaching and lecturing about the world of advertising.

GENDER & ITS ROLE IN ADVERTISING Nowadays, in society, the role of male and female have changed dramatically, as opposed to the prominent roles in history. Today women are changing to break out of the mold that which our society has placed her in. This is cannot be when it comes to role representation in the different advertisements. Nowadays different organization from medium to large are spending millions of dollars on developing their marketing strategies. They spent countless hours to study their target audience to study them so that they can attract them a better way to their competitors.

It has no boundaries when it comes to the commercial realm. Therefore, kids are getting sex education through interactive media; they are getting immense doses from advertising, social media and the general society. Commercial campaigns constantly depict women wearing little or no clothes. This illustrates that both men and women today are utilized for their sexuality. The lack of clothes is a technique that is used to sell in this case a perfume.