Men, Women, and Advertisements:Analyzing Gender

Kinsel 1010:006

Assignment 2

Men, Women, and Advertisements:Analyzing Gender

as an “Advertised” Construction

Intro

On page 214 of her essay “Beauty (Re)Discovers the Male Body,” Susan Bordo tells her readers: “So the next time you see a Dockers or Haggar ad, think of it not only as an advertisement for khakis but also as an advertisement for a certain notion of what it means to be a man.” Taking your lead from Bordo’s essay, you are going to look at the ways in which a set of ads of your own choosing “advertises” gender. Your work for this essay will incorporate searching for ads in online archives, analyzing these ads in terms of masculinity and/or femininity, and bringing in scholarly sources to further engage with these questions of gender. In short, you will be analyzing a set of ads in order to construct a reading of gender that contributes to a larger understanding of how femininity and/or masculinity is portrayed.

The Project

1. Decide on a “set” or “collection” of ads. Bordo does this using a set of Calvin Klein ads throughout her essay to show different ways in which men are portrayed in CK perfume/cologne ads. You can be as creative as you’d like with your choices, but there should be some cohesiveness to the type of ads that you choose (ex: car ads, male virility ads, household cleaner ads, perfume ads, pet food ads, cable TV ads, etc…). The set of ads that you choose should be varied in terms of the time they were published. In other words, don’t just use ads that you pull from magazines currently on the stands.

1. Using these ads, you will write to introduce a reading of what is being “advertised” about what it means to be a man or a woman. What is your set of ads saying about gender? What are the ads implying about masculinity and/or femininity? UseBordo as an example of the type of work that you’re doing. For example, pay attention to how she looks for patternsand how she compares ads. Bordo isn’t only finding patterns or comparing—she is also using these comparisons to contribute to a larger argument and understanding of gender.

While analyzing and writing about your ads, feel free to invent your own terms to account for what you’re seeing. Bordo uses “rocks” and “leaners,” for example, to talk about men’s poses in ads (203). Bringing in new terms (and being sure to explain them) can be an effective way to work towards an analysis.

1. Aside from researching to find advertisements, you should also research to find articles from journals and/or academic databses that help you to further ground and expand upon your argument. You should useBordoand your scholarly sources to further engage with the ideas that you are developing. You should be creating your own analysis of how gender is “coded” or “advertised” in the ads, but you should also be referring to other voices, as Bordo does. For example, she uses Berger’s theory of “men act and women appear” in order to further read ads (210). Whichever scholarly sources you choose, be sure to clearly show your readers how these sources contribute to your argument.

Grading

The major goal of this essay is to create a cohesive “reading” of gender in ads by close reading ads and drawing upon sources. As such, a strong essay will offer a cohesive argument with that takes into account its different parts while also working towards a specific conclusion. In sum, your essay should make a clear, debatablethesis that relates to a larger point. The reader should have a strong sense of your argument and how each part of your essay is a necessary part of that argument. Also, this essay is drawing upon sources: be sure to be precise in documenting and citing the sources that you are using. This means in-text citations and a Works Cited page that includes all of your sources.

Remember that the academic essay is as much about process as it is about completion. A good essay is a written record of the process of thinking through an idea. You should be exploring problems and possible concepts, not answering easy questions. Take risks!

Note

Something that this essay allows you to do is “read” advertisements by writing about them. Writing, here, allows you to compile your own observations, visual sources, and other voices. As with our first essay, this allows you to compile texts in a way that will be uniquely your own.You shouldn’t merely read advertisements as Bordo does; your intellectual task is to advance new knowledge that goes beyond Bordo—that says something that she didn’t. Bordo herself does this with her own argument when she discusses African American males as represented in ads. Her initial theory didn’t account for the role of race in ads, and she thus modified it. You, too, should be modifying her readings of ads. What can you say that Bordo didn’t? What new angle can you use, or new aspect can you approach?

The Details

-The set of ads that you look at should include at least 4 ads, with at least 2 ads found in non-current sources (published more than 10 years ago)

- You should incorporate at least 2 scholarly articles (besides Bordo) in your essay. In class, we will discuss possible sources and how to use these sources to deepen your analysis

-Draft 1 should be at least 6-7 pages

-Your final draft should be at least 7-8 pages

The Timeline

-InfoLit at the library to learn about research and to begin finding ads and scholarly sources: 2/26

-Draft 1 (6-7 pages) due on HuskyCT by 11:59pm: 3/6

-Writing Group Conferences: 3/10 and 3/12

-Final draft (7-8 pages) due on HuskyCT before class: 3/24