Sep 02 2010
Note to students: To help reduce confusion, I’ve disabled the ability to post new messages on the main Rhetoric of G&S site. So right now, you can only post new messages on your own blog. But if you have something you’d like to contribute to the main site, send it to me and I’ll post it for you. You can still post comments on any entry below.
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Sep 03 2010
Someone mentioned these books in class, so I thought I’d share the info here. Click on the image to go to the Amazon page for the book.
Sep 02 2010
I was interested to see what the first picture would be when I typed in the word “girl” into Google. As it was, the first image that came up was not of a girl at all but rather the show Gossip Girl, and its main characters. The “girls” in the show are hardly girls at all in this ad, and while beign scantly clothed, they are also depicted as all being in bed together. I expected to have an image of a young girl come up, or perhaps a picture of girls playing but rather I got a picture that most of us have in our minds as a result of the media; sexy, lustful women.
Sep 01 2010
Here’s a NY Times article on the Pine Sol commercial that features a man doing the mopping:
IN a new television commercial for Pine-Sol cleaner shot in an over-the-top film noir style, Diane Amos, who has starred in the brand’s ads for 16 years, drives a late-model convertible on the Pacific Coast Highway in California, moonlight dappling the ocean. When she reaches an opulent home, she climbs a stairway, then opens a door to reveal a shirtless, muscular man mopping the floor. Finally Ms. Amos, sprawled on a bed strewn with rose petals and bottles of Pine-Sol as the man mops beside her, purrs the slogan: “That’s the power of Pine-Sol, baby.”
Sep 01 2010
I thought this was interesting because it seemed to reverse gender roles.
The woman rolls up to her mansion in an expensive car, dressed nicely and walks in to see “her man” cleaning her floors.
And on top of it all, she not only doesn’t help him, but rather lays in bed and watches!
Defying gender norms or what!?
Aug 31 2010
The Ralph Lauren Ad brought great controversy because of how skinny the woman portrayed in this ad is. The Ad seems to tell women that they should be lengthy, skinny, and dainty looking. This ad is very different from the Dove ads that portray women and men in all different lights: skinny, fat, middle class, high class, brown hair, blond hair, and even red hair.
Aug 31 2010
Athlete Caster Semenya was recently forced to take a gender test to confirm her sex. Our culture is surrounded by stereotypes on what the ideal male and female should look like. This picture was interesting because in our culture it is not normal for a female to be strong, powerful, and overall dominant… and in this picture she is!
Aug 31 2010
Across generations, Easy Bake Oven commercials consistently show only young girls or young girls with their mothers. By only including females in their commercials, it tends to enforce the “women should only be in the kitchen” gender role. To be honest, when I had an Easy Bake Oven years ago, I remember completely messing up every dessert I tried to make. I completely failed in what society tells me is “my calling.” When will the young boys who love the cook and bake get their day in the sun… or rather the kitchen?
Aug 31 2010
Although it seems although this ad was made to appeal to parents, and parenting difficulties, one can’t seem but grasp the double-meaning of the word “easy”. The girl who is in a dress and with flowers (representing femininity) is seen as more desirable, while the girl wearing pants is seen as more difficult and not something men would want to deal with.
Aug 31 2010
Dove has created ads that do not just show the skinny, gorgeous model but the ‘normal’ male and female. In this ad it shows men who are tall, short, on the larger side, and even on the hairier side. However it does not show the ‘abnormal’ model we are used to seeing in Abrecrombie and Fitch ads or on Hollister bags. I think this ad empowers people and does not bring their self-esteem down. I think this ad is a great advertisement and helps people to look at their bodies in a positive light.
Aug 31 2010
This caught my eye because the title seems as if this ad has to do with an affair. Instead, it is a coffee ad but it seems to be disregarding to women. The male is spanking the female and it looks as if she is at fault. But why is she at fault? Is it okay for men to “spank” women if they do something wrong?
Aug 31 2010
IN MANY WAYS THIS ADD ENTAILS MANY MESSAGES ABOUT GNEDER AND SEXUALITY WITH RACE AS AN ADDED RECIPE! NOT ONLY DOES IT SENDS OUT A POSITIVE MESSAGE WITHIN A NEGATIVE CONTEXT…SHOWS THE DEFEAT TO OVERCOME SEXUAL OPPRESSION…”IM GLAD I FAILED” REPRESENTS THE UNIFIED ASPECT OF BEING DIFFERENT AND PROUD OF IT…TO OVERCOME ATTEMPTS TO MAKE SOCIETY HAPPY INSTEAD OF YOURSELF EXPLAINS THE JUSTICE OF HOW TO LIVE ONES LIFE. DOUBLE OPPRESSION IS HARDER TO DEFEAT THAN ONE..BUT WHEN ALL SAID AND DONE…THE IMPOSSIBLE BECOMES THE POSSIBLE AND HAPPY ABOUT THE OUTCOME
Aug 31 2010
rhetorical analysis: The target audience is woman. I believe that the authors/creators of this advertisement were hoping the ad would attract woman’s attention and sell them on stationary. The ad also has a coupon which would also reel people in. Almost anybody can enjoy and appreciate a coupon. They use many strategies to make the artifact appeal and persuade. Women tend to be interested in pretty and cute items like butterflies, hearts, flowers and birdies, so they use decor along those lines. They also mention baked goods which many woman love to indulge in. The author/creator also makes the 40% coupon very visible and bold. Woman also are known to be the one who enjoys shopping where coupons would be ideal. The persons hand who is holding the card has pink painted finger nails.
ideological analysis: The messages conveyed through the artifact about gender norms are that woman would enjoy sweet baked goods,and flowers, hearts and butterflies are appealing. They also use a coupon to assuming it would attack woman who are reading through a magazine. The artifact does not seem to convey conformity. The artifact also conveys that society’s attitude about woman is positive and warm.
Aug 31 2010
women's rights
I found this cartoon in one of my text books from long ago and searched for it through Google images. This was created for the purpose of making light of women’s rights. It touches on women’s widely accepted role as a cleaning tool and this cartoon illustrates these women as so. It is challenging conformity but in some ways also conforming to it. It specifically illustrates older women (who probably wouldn’t be the ones starting in new careers) as the cleaning product. The phrasing points to a new time era. It suggests that the men had a lot to say on the issue and clearly denotes that they did not clean up after themselves before leaving.
Aug 31 2010
This barbie was obviously created by the Matel corporation in order to relate to young females. She is marketed as your “friend,” which is exemplified by the addition of “I’ll always be here for you” as a phrase, in addition to “math class is tough!” That being said, it is clear that in Matel’s idea of what a girl will find appealing, or relatable in order to sell a toy. The biggest issue with this barbie is obviously that she says “math class is tough!” Matel inserting this quote into Barbie’s vocabulary means they believe that most girls will relate to the idea that math is hard- which implements the stereotype that most girls do not like math, or are not good at math. It promotes a in crowd and out crowd of girls. If Barbie is your friend and she finds math hard, then so should you. Particularly because she represents an ideal for women. It suggests that the ideal women not only is tall, blonde, skinny, big breasted, and physically flawless- but goes on to make a statement about how the perfect woman should be mentally as well- which is mathematically challenged.
Aug 31 2010
This advertisement not only imposes sexual gender roles on men and women, but are suggestive of child pronography. This is a blatant exploitation of imagery. The idea being behind the ad that youth is beatufitul and old age is not. The actors in this commercial are solely seen as objects and nothing else. The ad implants the idea is your worth is placed in your looks.
Aug 31 2010
This clip from the Disney movie Mulan provides a look into the media’s perspective on gender roles. When first watching Mulan it looks as if gender roles are being swapped, a female becoming a warrior, but when taking a closer look the movie may be implying another set of ideas. In the beginning of the clip the men next to Mulan intentionally make her look like a fool, signifying they take her as a joke and do not see her as an equal. The dragon is seen helping her throughout the tasks, implying she would fail without help from others. When Mulan does hit one of the stones back (without help from the dragon) Li Shang, the captain, is perplexed. At the end, after Mulan retrieves the arrow from the top of the pole she is acknowledged as an equal by the others. However, she is mostly seen near the front, beating all the men out. To me, this is implying a woman must be better than a man at something to be considered equal. Mulan was produced by Disney and is intended for children. The gender norms of society are filtered through this movie into the minds of children who then mimic what they see on the screen. Whether this is intended or not, or these are the beliefs of Disney is unclear. The media gets a lot of positive feedback from these stereotypical gender norms. People tend to find them humorous and are so used to seeing movies and ads using these roles that it would be harder to make a profit going against the norms than playing along with them. Personally, I probably laugh the hardest at movies that play into this or poke fun at it.
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