Masculine Advertising

What are ads saying to our society? What are they saying to men? Take this Jbs ad for men's underwear.

The first thing I thought when I saw this was, why does she look like she was just violated? And what are they selling? After a closer look, the text at the bottom of the page says "men don't want to look at naked men." Okay, so I get it. I still don't know exactly what they are trying to say with the interesting arrangement of the naked girl with her boxers down and crumpled paper towels by her side. What possibly could this be hinting at? I can't help but recognize the similarity between this ad and a girl that was date raped (i.e. why she is passed out and naked). Maybe its my own trained mind that has been conditioned to see women as victims, but hasn't everyone's mind been conditioned to see women in that same way? So, on that note, maybe this ad is counting on us to see her as a victim. The perpetrator would obviously be a man since the ad is selling a product designated for men hence, men don't want to look at other men naked.



The problem with violent ads is that they depict men as the violent perpetraitors and women as the victims. Violence and power over another female or weaker male is used to validate the mans masculinity. Violence is often paired with sex in order to make something more desireable. The entire goal of an ad is to make people want whatever product they are selling. What better way to sell something to a man than to show a masculine man using violence and getting sex at the same time? Men are stereotypically violent and want sex: thats what we have been conditioned to think since we were born. The media has normalized and justified violent masculinity by repeatedly using men and violence paired together. It's justified because we are constantly told that men are inherintly violent. In conclusion, men believe that in order to achieve full manhood, they must be violent, intimidating, and in power just like advertisements tell them to be. Unfortunately, ads make women the most inticing targets for violence.

Workplace Violence?

Annie le, who was recently found dead, stuffed in a wall at research facility that she worked in has been yet another female victim of male violence. The article from the associated press told a slightly different story. The news article didn't blame the act on gender, but on a 'new' growing concern of workplace violence. I say 'new' because there is nothing new about violence (including sexual harassment) perpetrated by men, directed at women in the workplace or anywhere else for that matter. The fact that the article called it workplace violence and nothing else struck a nerve in me. They failed to address the issue of male dominant violent behavior and its overwhelming presence in everyday life. The article completely dismisses the fact that male violence is at least partly to blame and dismisses it as a messed up kid from the suburbs. The issue of male violence is an epidemic and this girl, unfortunately is another victim.

The Idiot Homemaker

There is a new phenomenon in the commercial business! It's called the idiot husband commercial (or so I like to say). It's no news that any advertising having to do with the home and children almost always features a female main character, so I was surprised when I started seeing more and more dads and husbands in domestic commercials. Then, I started to notice a trend; all the men were idiots! So why is it that when a male character is depicted as single he is surrounded by women, driving brand new sports cars, having fun with the guys, but when depicted as married he turns into a complete moron? I have lots of different theories. Maybe by adding a wife and home life into the equation automatically makes men incompetent. Maybe just by being in the vicinity of home makes him lose all common sense. Whatever the reason behind these commercials, there is a pattern in the world of advertising; If a man is depicted as single in a commercial, he is competent, successful, and attractive. When he is depicted as married, he loses all common knowledge and judgment. For example a Pepto-Bismol commercial shows a wife who called the Pepto-Bismol hot line because her husband got into some dog treats. Another commercial shows a man eating a hotdog, while his wife is vaccuming in the background. He turns with his mouth full of hot dog and says "do da thding, lets do da thding." She proceeds to play a famailiar ballpark song on the piano while rolling her eyes and shaking her head in disapproval. Apparently, he is trying to get that 'ballpark flavor' from his hotdog. Unfortunately it doesn't work (suprise). There are countless other commercials like the Lysol commercial that shows a man trying to make breakfast, getting grease everywhere while feverishly trying to flip an egg, and on the verge of a meltdown. The wife comes to his aid and wipes the grease up with a Lysol disinfecting wipe and the family takes a sigh of relief.

This new phenomenon is harmful to everyone. In a society that has (hopefully) moved past the notion that men and women do seperate and different work, commercials are still living in the fifties. These ads are putting men in there place (ie not in the home) when trying to help with their domestic duties by making them look moronic and ridiculing them. I believe that humans are a product of their environment and this annoying persistance of stereotypical gender roles in commercials just makes progress of really seeing men and women as having equal roles in the home almost impossible. The more we see something, the more likely we are to accept and adopt those values as our own.

More idiot husband commercials.
Chore Wars

Birth in the U.S.

We have always seen birth portrayed in the media, always in the same way. A woman in extreme distress, a complication during birth and the doctors who save the day. This is not a normal representation of what birth should look like. The media gives us fear based information and as a result, women distrust their bodies to do what they were so perfectly designed to do; give birth naturally. We think that we need hospital interventions to have a smooth, successful birth. The fact is, there is a direct correlation with hospital interventions and infant mortality rates. More interventions in hospitals means more c-sections and more deaths. Hospitals are a business and to hurry a birth, they inject pitocin (synthetic for of oxytocin made to cause contractions) in order to get more mothers to be in and out as quickly as possible. As a result, birth is much more painful and much more dangerous due to the constant, extremely strong and long contractions. The baby can become distressed and the mother ends on an operating table ready for an emergency c-section. This is not normal, yet this is how we see it every time a birth takes place on t.v. or in movies. Women flock to hospitals to have their babies, thinking it is their only option to have a safe birth. The fact is, giving birth naturally, away from a hospital setting (birthing centers, at home with a midwife etc.) is safer and give the mother the option to birth the way she pleases. Comfort of the mother is crucial to having a successful birth. I have a sneaking suspicion that if the media represented birth the way it was intended to be by nature, we would view the entire birthing process more like a natural process rather than pathological.




http://http://www.storknet.com/cubbies/homebirth/homebirthsafety.htm
http://http://www.gentlebirth.org/format/myths.html#Studies