History has repeatedly given men privilege due to their physical advantages; yet it is these same advantages that have developed into “rules” or expectations that all men should conform to in order to prove their manhood. Michael Kimmel’s essay, “‘Bros Before Hos': The Guy Code” outlines the “rules” where men are expected to never show any emotions, be brave, act knowledgeable, be risk takers, be in control, act reliable, and be competitive, otherwise they would be showing weakness which is analogous to women. It is humiliating that men associate weakness with women; they should focus on the potential of the individual rather than their gender. Most insults toward men attack their masculinity because society finds it shameful for men to be …show more content…
Dehumanization is the process through which someone asserts control and power, treating the person as an inanimate object with no dimension or surface; becoming an object means being acted upon rather than being the active subject. It is easier to be violent to someone who one already feels power over. Dehumanizing women and men is similar to pornography, where either violence or status (men over women) promotes “power over other” (Kilbourne 420). According to Jean Kilbourne in her essay, “‘Two Ways a Women Can Get Hurt’:Advertising and Violence”, advertisement is portraying women’s body as objects that both lead to dehumanization, violence, and mistreatment toward women. Considering the opposing characterization between males and females, femininity refers to submissiveness and vulnerability that is often depicted in advertisement. 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. In a woman’s case, being objectified promotes violence, harassment, and lack of control that is often reflected in relationships. When depicting another as a sex object, how can a relationship have value or exist at all when men
When someone think of a man, what do they think? Strong? Brave? That’s what most people think; in reality that is a very false image. “Bros Before Hos: The Guy Code,” by Michael Kimmel, talks about what it means to be a man and what it takes to be a man in today’s world.
One aspect of an author’s argument is their ethical character. This is important in assessing how credible and fair the author is being when considering their subject. [Transition] Jean Kilbourne has spent most of her professional life studying and analyzing women in advertisements. She has produced the award winning documentaries Killing Us Softly: Advertising’s Image of Women (1979) and Slim Hopes, serves on the Massachusetts Governor’s Commission on Sexual and Domestic Abuse, and is a senior scholar at the Wellesley Centers for Women at Wellesley College (420). Kilbourne appears to be qualified to speak on the matters of women and advertising and a reader can trust that she has done the necessary research to have an informed opinion them.
The words “Be a man!” is still powerful and has a deeper meaning to some people. Many men today are pressured by these words because they don’t want to be considered outcasts in today’s
In "Two Ways a Woman Can Get Hurt," the author, Jean Kilbourne, talks about how women are sexualized and mistreated in the public eye by advertisements. She contends that men and women in the media are distorted as sex images and instruments: Women are portrayed as mediocre in contrast with men. For example, she states that the woman is “rewarded for her sexuality by the man’s wealth.” The media has aimed towards promoting either women or men particularly. In one advertisement, she clarifies how a tie organization publicizes ties by having ties laid in a botched up bed — as though showing that this brand of tie will help you get laid.
Longaker and Walker identify how dehumanization effects emotion by discussing, “The Nazi pogrom, Jews were often made to do disgusting things—scrub toilets, relieve themselves publicly—to make them seem less than human and more deserving of cruel treatment and even mass extermination” (212). Similarly, advertisements can dehumanize individuals, like women, by portraying them in grotesque situations or environments. As a result, a society lessens respect for these individuals and creates a mentality that fosters abuse. Kilbourne tries to illuminate this issue by presenting various advertisements that are suggestive of women, and elaborates on the effects these advertisements have on society. For instance, alcohol companies tend to target women with advertisements like, “A chilling newspaper ad for a bar in Georgetown features a close-up of a cocktail and the headline, ‘If your date won’t listen to reason, try a Velvet Hammer’”
Furthermore, the author attempts to explain and decode the possible motives to use such a disturbing ad by stating that perhaps the ad is simply designed to get our attention, by shocking us and arousing unconscious anxiety. Kilbourne continuous by asserting that the plausible intent is subtler and it is designed to play into the fantasies of domination and even rape that some women use in order to maintain an illusion of being in control (496
The appeals to ethos is similar to logos, but relies more on trustworthiness and credibility rather than making sense immediately. In Jean Kilbourne’s article Two Ways a woman can Get Hurt: Advertising and Violence, overviews our society and the roles male and female are expected to fulfill. She exposes advertisement’s that promote the unfairness and wrongful
Advertisements: Exposed When viewing advertisements, commercials, and marketing techniques in the sense of a rhetorical perspective, rhetorical strategies such as logos, pathos, and ethos heavily influence the way society decides what products they want to purchase. By using these strategies, the advertisement portrayal based on statistics, factual evidence, and emotional involvement give a sense of need and want for that product. Advertisements also make use of social norms to display various expectations among gender roles along with providing differentiation among tasks that are deemed with femininity or masculinity. Therefore, it is of the advertisers and marketing team of that product that initially have the ideas that influence
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.
There were advertisements for men’s jeans and cologne that Kilbourne demonstrated where a woman is nearly naked, or several men are hovering over one woman. These images show women being passive, vulnerable, and delicate where men are shown as dominant and powerful. How men are portrayed in advertisements is completely different than women, but men are also negatively affected by them. For men, advertisements sell the idea that men are supposed to be bigger and stronger, so this suggests that men shouldn’t be sensitive because doing so would be feminine. How these women are posed helps legitimize violence against women because they are objectified to sex objects and are see as the weaker sex.
“Masculinity as Homophobia” an article by S. Kimmel, that talks about how men these days have the fear of being judged and ranked based on their manhood. There are some arguments that the Professor mentions and uses in his article that supports his argument and some experiences from other people 's perspective in life of men over the years. The author’s main argument is about how men these days are being watched and judged closely based on how they walk, talk, eat, dress, move and look like. The author explains how the world is judging men and how it tries to take that power and that pride of being a man.
(Ravelli and Webber 2016: 203). Throughout this paper I will be talking about how advertising makes gender codes and if they affect how I view individuals, and if they affect the way people view me. I will also be addressing if there are different codes, like class codes that may affect the way others and/or I view individuals. Lastly, I will be explaining how using a sociological perspective can help to think outside of gender codes and realize that it is not something that should be seen as normal.
There is a lot of pressure on men in society to be manly; however, what exactly does it mean to be manly? Though many people have different opinions, a lot of them conclude that a man has to be strong and somewhat emotionless to be considered a man. This assumption can lead to Toxic Masculinity, which is “A false idea that men are expected to be as manly as possible” (The Hard, Adrenaline-Soaked Truth About 'Toxic Masculinity, 2017). Men are forced to face these assumptions not only from those around him, but also from people he might see in Media. Media reinforces Toxic Masculinity which in turn causes men to belittle women.
This form of objectification is often used as a means to appeal to men's sexual desires in order to promote and attract consumers, because marketers still latch onto the old “sex sells”, or so it would seem (Rowland, 2016). Music videos, magazines, fashion commercials, are all channels through which women are exploited and put out to be headless objects isolated for their bodies solely for sexual pleasure and viewing purposes. Rowland explains that although this charade may allure and trap most men, this is not the case for women. Emma Rooney cites in The Effects of Sexual Objectification on Women's Mental Health, “the sexual objectification of women is a driving and perpetuating component of gender oppression, systemic sexism, sexual harassment, and violence against women”. Jessica Vanlenti writes in ‘Worldwide sexism…Women’, that researchers from The University of Missouri-Kanas and Georgia State found these forms of objectification to be linked to women’s psychological distress, and are leading causes of suicide among young adolescent women.
Sexual objectification refers to perceiving and viewing an individual as an object existing only for their sexual gratification (Malik). Sexual objectification of women occurs when their body or body parts are distinguished and separated from her as a person and she is perceived fundamentally as a physical object to fulfill the sexual desire of males (Szymanski, et al.). As the American Psychological Association (APA) outlines, sexual objectification also arises when the value of a person only comes from their sexual behavior or appeal while other features are excluded. However, both men and women have been objectified in different ways, but women’s objectification sexually has shown to be more rampant (Davies). In such cases, the woman is not seen as an individual with the capability of independent decision making and action.