Gender Sociology

The study of gender focuses on how society affects how individuals perceive and comprehend the differences between femininity and masculinity. Masculinity refers to a man acting in accordance with what is expected of him in society, whereas femininity refers to that behavior. The study of gender in society looks at and analyzes how societal forces shape social norms and individual identities.

Although they are frequently used interchangeably, gender and sex must be distinguished in sociology of gender (Zevallos, 2014). In essence, society uses sex to categorize people and distinguish between them based on their biological characteristics. This can be based on genitalia, chromosomes or various physical ascriptions (Plante, & Maurer, 2010). On the other hand, gender is a concept that depicts the society’s view of sex categories and cultural understandings of the roles of women and men. Gender may or may not be based on individuals’ biological aspects (Crossman, 2017). Sociology of gender can be witnessed in our day to day lives. It is however more common in the advertisement industry since most brand advertisements are based on gender and race to attract their target consumers.

Advertisements of a beer and a chocolate brand

A beer Advertisement

The picture below is an advertisement picture of a beer company in the United States (Chaudhary, 2015). The beer company boasts of being light and adopts this notion in advertising its brand and relates the beer’s aspect of being light with a gender biased view on a particular category of women. The advertisement picture depicts two images of women who are enjoying a glass of presumably the beer brand. The picture is captured at a setting which denotes that both women are in the company of a man who assumed to be enjoying the beer of this particular brand. The picture also shows that both women are drinking the beer and it is captured to illustrate the view point of a man who is assumed to be drinking the particular brand.

The picture denotes two images of two different ladies with the left side of the picture showing a woman is of a plus size and the right side showing a slimmer woman. The first side of the picture also shows the plus-sized woman being well dressed but shows an emphasis on her arms and body shape which are exaggerated to be huge and fat. On the other hand, the lady on the second right side of the image denotes that she is loosely dressed with a deliberate emphasis on her cleavage. On the other hand, the plus sized woman is from one of the minority groups and the other lady is white. In both images of the ladies in the picture, there is a small image of the beer brand with a phrase next to the beer image. On the left side of the picture, the writing next to the beer brand is written ‘only 92& alcohol’. On the other hand, the left side image of the other lady the same image of the particular beer brand with a different phrase next to it written ‘over 29% alcohol’ (Chaudhary, 2015).

The images reflect that plus sized women are less attractive than women who are slim  (Dolan, 2010). This is because this particular beer brand lays emphasis and bases this advertisement on the light aspect of its brand. The picture hints at how it assists men to shun away from plus sized women thus depicting its biasness on fat women (Chaudhary, 2015). The masculinity concept of the picture denotes a degradation of women in that it depicts them as a tool that men require while drinking. The femininity concept is also challenged since the picture shows only one sex depicting the superiority of the male sex to the female sex. The image denotes inter-sectionality based on sex denoting that men have resources, opportunities and unearned benefits and the women face oppression with regards to their social status (Zevallos, 2014). It also depicts the sexist concepts of women by portraying the female as an accomplice to the heterosexuality of men and feminine as eroticism symbol (Crossman, 2017).

A Chocolate Advertisement

The image below shows an advertisement of Magnum Company that was presented in Spain in 2006 (Mccann-erickson, 2006). The advertisement shows a black woman who is portrayed as the actual product that is being advertised. The skin on the woman’s body is cracking off. The woman’s face is intact but it does not depict the whole face of the woman. The woman is relatively slim shaped compared to her body size.

The image depicts objectifying of women since the picture shows the woman as nothing more that the chocolate product that has to be eaten. The woman is first and foremost objectified because of her race. The picture also shows a sexual nature of the woman since chocolate has socio-historically been linked to sexuality and sin. The image shows the femininity of the woman as a sexual satisfaction aspect since the lady is objectified in the image. The image also goes against feminism since it depicts that women are a product to be consumed just like the woman in the picture is linked to the chocolate as a consuming product.

Men’s and Women’s Jeans Advertisement.

Men’s Jeans Advertisement

The picture shows one woman in the presence of three men who are top less (Jhally, 2010). The picture denotes that two men are engaging in sexual activities with one woman since the woman is lying on top one man while the other man is kissing her. The picture displays the body of the woman as slim and fit and the bodies of the men as strong and builds in form of muscles.

The picture is a Calvin Klein Jeans advertisement that uses sex to advertise their product. The image denotes the masculinity aspect of the men in the society since it shows the men being muscled. The image however goes against the rules of female beauty as it depicts the woman as an object of sex. It goes against feminism since the woman is portrayed as a sex tool to be used by the men.

Women’s Jeans Advertisement

The picture shows a young pretty girl lying on a sofa an is an advertisement of Guess Company (Jhally, 2010). The young lady is slim and is wearing jeans from the Guess Company. The lady is slim since she has a flat stomach. The picture depicts that the lady is lying comfortably on the sofa due to the jeans she is wearing. This depicts that the jeans are also comfortable. Emphasis is placed on the beauty of the lady in terms of her size, her sexy values due to her cleavage and her face beauty.

The image denotes feminism in the form of objectification of women in advertisements. The image reflects the femininity aspect of the society of women being used in advertisement due to their bodies. The picture goes against the rules of feminism since they portray inequality of women. The picture is based

Advertisements of a women’s and a mans fragrance

A Man’s Fragrance Advertisement

The picture above denotes an advertisement image of a United States male fragrance called Dolce & Gabbana (Chaudhary, 2015). The picture denotes a woman who is presumably pinned down by a topless man. In the picture there are other three men standing next to them. One of the three men is shirtless denoting a scene that he might be next. The advertisement denotes the lady is of slim body thus depicting that she is prettier. On the other hand, the men have well shaped bodies which depict a lot of exercise and build muscles. The activities shown in the picture denote that these men want to have a sexual activity with the woman since one of them has pinned the woman to the floor as the others are watching.

The image depicts the feminism of the lady since it shows the lady as a tool of sexual satisfaction to the men. It challenges the rules of feminism since it depicts sexual inequality of women. This is because the picture denotes masculinity and violence in that the men seem as if they want to gang rape the lady. Masculinity is also observed in the picture since it shows the men as build in form of muscles and strong.

A Woman’s Fragrance Advertisement

The image above is a women’s fragrance advert of a company called Guess (Jhally, 2010). The image depicts a lady who is sitting outside and she is dressed in a seductive manner. The lady is dressed in some very short pants and a short top that shows her belly and cleavage. The body of the lady is slim fit and the picture shows the girl looking at her audience in a sexual manner.

The image reflects femininity of the woman is portrayed in the picture where the girl is portrayed to be wearing high heels and her physical features are observed. However, feminism is also observed in the picture since the advertisement uses the woman as a sex tool to appeal the audience. The advertisement uses the sex appeal of the woman to attract its consumers.

Films Targeting Male and Female Audience

A Film Targeting Male Audience

The advertisement shows a cover photo of a film known as Bad Teacher (Kasdan, 2011). In the photo, there is a lady holding an apple with an inscription eat me. Behind her are two men who are looking at the lady in a suggestive manner. The size of the lady is slim and fit while the men seem to be build and strong. The images portray femininity of the lady due to her attractiveness and physical features. The image also contradicts the rules of beauty since they denote feminism where the woman is depicted as the apple or basically a product to be consumed by the men. The woman is dressed the same color as the apple thus depicting how men objectify women as a sexual satisfaction tool.

A Film Targeting Female Audience

The advertisement above shows the picture of a film called Magic Mike (Soderbergh, 2012). The picture denotes six men who are presumably dancing. The picture of the film is used to attract female audience due to the objectification of men. The men are well build in form of muscles and are depicted as strong. The image shows the men as dancing while the female audience in the background as cheering on them. The image denotes masculinity of men since the men are portrayed as strong and well build in form of muscles. The image also shows objectivity of men since the men shown in the picture are well build and this is used to attract female audience.

Compare and Contrast the “Rules of Beauty”

There are various similarities and difference of what is expected of women and men. One major similarity is that both men and women have to portray their femininity and masculinity aspect. Another similarity is that both men and women are required to portray a sexual sensation in advertising a particular product. On the other hand, there are many differences in form of what is expected of women and men. First, women are objectified and used to denote their sexual sensation in advertisement (Lorber, 1990). They are used as a tool for sexual satisfaction to the men. Another difference is that women are expected to be slim fit and their physical features like breast and generally the whole body is used to denote sexual sensations. On the other hand, the men are denoted as containing well build muscles and strong and the images portray only the upper part of the men’s bodies that show muscles. This is because products that depict sexy women are advertised to show the sexual sensation values of the women and they are used to attract more women and men. The differences are observed since women are viewed as a sexual pleasure aspect to the men in the society.

Other than gender, race and sexual orientation are also observed to affect the rules of beauty. For example, in the case of magnum advertisement of their chocolate ice cream, the lady in the advertisement is black to depict the dark aspect of the chocolate. In the picture, the skin of the black lady seems to be cracking and her face is not fully shown. This shows that the lady is portrayed as a product itself to be consumed. As a result, the advert visualizes women as a sexual satisfaction tool.

Consequences of Objectification in Advertisements

There are various consequences of people being objectified in advertisements. However, objectifying in advertisements is more serious in women that in men. For women, they are expected to be ultra slim and are their body is used in a sexual aspect in advertisements (Sergeant, 2009). Women are used to denote sexual sensations and are more objectified than men. Images of women interact efficiently with the images of women in our culture since women dress nowadays dress in provocative manners as illustrated in the adverts (Suggett, 2016). However, the images depicted of men in these advertisements do not depict the image of men in the society since men do not go bare chest in the streets.

Objectification in advertisements has various implications on women and men. Objectification makes individual women to dress provocatively and become submissive. It also creates anxiety in both women and men since it portrays women as ultra thin and men as hyper-masculine. This causes anxiety and lead people to engage in bulimia, anorexia and over-exertion in activities that will enable them to attain perfect bodies (Jhally, 2010). The implication of objectification makes men make decisions of dating a lady who is slim fit in size and view the perfect family as a family made up of a gorgeous wife like the ones portrayed in the advertisements, and perfect children like those in advertisements (Jhally, 2010). On the other hand, women are influence to make decisions in careers since they are influenced by the media to choose careers that portray other women as cool and sexual. Women also tend to study courses that are portrayed by the media to dress cool and act in the womanly manner depicted in the media. Moreover, women tend to choose and date men like the ones portrayed in the advertisements.

References

Chaudhary, S. (2015). 20 highly sexist print ads that objectify women. Schoop Whoop. Retrieved from https://www.scoopwhoop.com/inothernews/sexist-advertisements/#.u3hamilkf

Crossman, A. (2017). The sociology of gender: studying the relationship between gender and society. Thoughtco.. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/sociology-of-gender-3026282

Dolan, E. (2010). Body fat and female attractiveness: rules and exceptions. Psypost. Retrieved from http://www.psypost.org/2010/01/body-fat-and-female-attractiveness-rules-and-exceptions-8842

Jhally, S. (2010). Killing us Softly 4: Advertising’s Image of WOmen. Hollywood: IMDb.

Kasdan, J. (2011). Bad Teacher. Hollywood: IMDb.

Lorber, J. (1990). The Social Construction of Gender (1st ed.). Sage Publications.

Mccann-erickson. (2006). ”CRACKING“ Print Ad for Magnum Ice Cream by Mccann-erickson. Retrieved from ttp://www.polyvore.com/cracking_print_ad_for_magnum/thing?id=32552786

Sergeant, J. (2009). Hot or Not: THe Rules of Attraction. Independent. Retrieved from http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/love-sex/attraction/hot-or-not-the-rules-of-attraction-1605270.html

Soderbergh, S. (2012). Magic Mike. Hollywood: IMDb.

Suggett, P. (2016). The Objectification of Women in Advertising. The Balance.

Plante, R. & Maurer, L. (2010). Doing gender diversity (1st ed.). Boulder, CO: Westview Press.

Zevallos, Z. (2014). Sociology of Gender. The Other Sociologists. Retrieved from https://othersociologist.com/sociology-of-gender/