Masculinity and Femininity Represented in Advertisements

What can you see from these picture?

This essay is written in order to answer midterm question. From some questions that offered, my paper is going to answer second question, analyze a set of advertisements or a television drama that construct femininity and masculinity. How are gendered identities achieved? What techniques used? And what roles assigned to men and women? My analysis will be focused on advertisements. Nowosenetz (2007) stated that within the lifestyle depicted in the advertisement, there may also be an identity and a specific gender identity that the reader may be encouraged to incorporate in order to achieve the lifestyle associated with the advertised product. She continues advertising in general has often been implicated in constructing masculinity, and in particular, femininity in narrow or restricted ways. Since, media has important role in construct gender identity in the context of visual and build the perception toward the society about the concept of gender, therefore it is needed to analyze advertisement in the way how the advertisement represent the concept of gender perception and in what way the advertisement differ the concept masculinity and femininity. Some advertisements that I want to analyze are ‘axe’ perfume, djarum super cigarettes, and ponds flawless white.

In this paragraph my focus is to discuss the culture perspective about the concept of femininity and masculinity. Stets and Burke mention that from a sociological perspective, gender identity involves all the meanings that are applied to oneself on the basis of one's gender identification. He indicates that a person identified masculine if he is behaving more dominant, competitive, and autonomous manner. A person may label herself female, but instead of seeing herself in a stereotypical female manner such as being expressive, warm, and submissive (Ashmore, Del Boca, and Wohlers 1986). In western culture, stereotypically, men are aggressive, competitive and instrumentally oriented while women are passive, cooperative and expressive (Stets & burke, 3). This concept also happens in South African. Nowosenetz (2004) mentions that South African advertising has been found to depict women as passive sex objects and men as strong, intelligent, and dominant gender. In short, the concept of femininity deals with passiveness, expressiveness, warmness, and submissiveness. Whereas, masculinity is deals with the domination, heroic, strength, instrumentally oriented, intelligence, autonomous and aggressiveness.

Next, this paragraph will show how the aggressiveness in men and passive women represented in the ‘axe’ perfume advertisement. Before I analyze the advertisements, I choose three ‘axe’ perfume advertisements that have the same concept in convey the meaning. These three advertisements played by different actors but the stories are the same. The advertisements depicted about women who interested in men after the men using ‘axe’ perfume. Then, the women tried to attract the men’s attention using tease act. The women’s body gesture tried to seduce the men. This concept is rooted towards women that women must be expressive in the way they attract the men. Then, the women write her phone number and give it to the men. It shows the passiveness of women that women will wait until the men call her. It also indicates that indirectly the men should take initiative to start call her. The way how the women seduce the men in ‘axe’ perfume are various. First, the setting is in restaurant. The man came to the restaurant, and women who sell hotdog sniff fragrant smell. The women continue seduce the men with tease gaze and pour sauce in hotdog. In the end, the sauce shaped her phone number. Second, the setting is in the library. When the women realize the effect of ‘axe’ smell, she continues seduce the men by dancing that focused on the buttocks, then she borrow the men’s phone and return it with her phone number in screen. In the end, the women using gesture as a signs she wants him to call her. Third, the setting in the minimarket, the man works as cashier. By the time, woman’s customer passing by, she suddenly stopped after sniff ‘axe’ smell. She continues seduce the man by accentuating the breasts. She came closer to the cashier. She pretended buy a candy, before she leaving, she writes her phone number in money and give it to the men. We can interpret that in the way women seduce the men in various way, using various part of the body, gazes, buttocks, and bosoms, indicates that every part of women’s bodies is valuable icon in attracting the men. The perfect body of the men also pictured in the ‘axe’ advertisement. Contemporary ads that depict men’s bodies in compelling and provocative ways suggest a change in the limits posited by the traditional male gaze of advertising (Schroeder & Zwick, 2004: 25). It shows from the scene when the camera shot six-pack bodies where perfume is sprayed. Schroeder and Zwick (2004) mention that in Patterson and Elliott conclude that hegemonic masculinity adopted to recent societal changes with “the increasing feminization of masculinities, as men are encouraged to partake in the carnival of consumption, to become concerned about their appearance, to get in touch with their emotions, and as male bodies become objects of display subject to the male gaze”.

In Djarum cigarette advertisement also pictured masculinity. If we make generalization, the object of every cigarette advertisements are always men. It indicates that smoking is directed to the men. In Djarum Super advertisement, opening shot pictured the landscape of the Indonesia land. Three men start their adventure by riding a jeep, first day they conquer the steep in Sumatra. Second day, they play soccer with elephants, it proves they like extreme things. They continue the trip to Raja Ampat Papua, in there they are surfing. Suddenly they reach Kuta Bali by surfing. Then, they reach Krakatau Mountains and climb up mountain side, imagine how strength they are. In the end, they smile in satisfaction because they success in conquer challenges and overcome the hardness. The scene back shot the landscape of Indonesia and the three men stand up in the top of highest mountain, the big slogan appears on screen ‘My life, My adventure’. In glance, we can interpret that a person could be assumed that men worlds are identical with adventure. Heroic men are clearly picture in this advertisement when they succeed in facing hardness.

In contrast to the advertisement for women, some beauty advertisements in Indonesia mostly show to be beauty we have to be white. Thus, most of beauty products offer whitening effect. Rasyid in Yulianto (2007) stated that Indonesian perception about to be beauty we have to be white is influenced by western perspective. For instance, ideal beauty shows in ponds flawless white advertisement if the woman having white and light skin. The stories start when the girl in the advertisement was left by her boyfriend because she has pallid face. After five years, the woman cannot forget her boyfriend and suddenly she read a magazine that reported her boyfriend will be married. Then, she found new solution. Only in seven days in use, her skin change to be white, light, and less black spot. When she met her boyfriend after using ponds flawless white, the man turn to be impressed with her new look and try to get her attention. This phenomenon in advertisement seems that the main point of women’s attraction is the beauty. The happiness pictured when women are loved by men because she is beautiful. Love only see from the woman’s beauty when she changes her beauty standard, the man want her. This advertisement pictured submissiveness of the women when men has the power to control women perception that if she wants to be loved, then she has to be beautiful. Here, the beauty means everything.

In conclusion, the concept of femininity and masculinity clearly shows in advertisement. The concept of femininity deals with passiveness, expressiveness, warmness, and submissiveness. Whereas, masculinity is deals with the domination, heroic, strength, instrumentally oriented, intelligence, autonomous and aggressiveness. In the ‘axe’ perfume advertisement show the passiveness and expressiveness of the woman. In Djarum Super Cigarette advertisement show the concept heroic men when they success in overcome the hardness. In addition, in the ponds flawless white beauty shows that the women are submissive. They are willing to be beauty by using pond flawless beauty in order to make them to be loved by men. Man has power to control women’s perception to be loved. These concepts of advertisement give the consumer understanding about the concept of masculinity and femininity from some theories. Indirectly, conscious or unconscious consumer will take role which is pictured in advertisements.

References:

Kusoematuti & Faturachman. 2004. Analisis Gender pada Iklan Televisi dengan Metode Semiotika (Gender Analysis in Television Commersials using Semiotics Methods). Jurnal Psikologi: 2: 130-141.

Nowosenetz, Tessa. 2007. The Construction of Masculinity and Femininity in Alcohols Advertisement in Men’s magazines in South Africa: A Discourse analysis. Unpublished Graduate Thesis. University of Pretoria.

Rasyid, Hannah. 2007. Putih Cantik- Persepsi Kecantikan dan Obsesi Orang Indonesia Untuk Memiliki Kulit Putih (White Beauty-Beauty Perception and Obsession among Indonesian to be White). Unpublished Undergraduate Thesis. Malang: Muhammadiyah University.

Saraswati, Ayu. 2010. Cosmopolitan Whiteness: The Effects and Affects of Skin-Whitening

Advertisements in a Transnational Women’s Magazine in Indonesia. Feminism, Race, Transnasionalis Journal: 10(2): 15-41. Smith College.

Schoeder, J.E & Zwick, D. 2004. Mirrors of Masculinity: Representation and Identityin Advertising Images. Consumption, Markets and Culture Journal: 7(2): 21-52.

Stets, Jan E & Burke, Peter J. Masculinity/Femininity. Washington: Washington State University.