“I’m sorry” is said to be a phrase most women are familiar with. In particular, studies have shown that, in fact, women do apologize more than men in circumstances where they may either be the culprit or the victim. Earlier this year, Pantene has created the commercial advertisement, “Not Sorry”, which begins by depicting the powerless roles that women play in society and, then, ending with a self-empowering motive for all women to follow. The advertisement voices a clear message for all women to “be strong and shine”, particularly, in the presence of men. Demonstrated throughout Andi Zeisler’s article, “Worst Sales Pitch Ever”, feminism is noted of being fostered in modern day advertisements. Pantene’s “Not Sorry” advertisement focuses primarily …show more content…
The preferred social identity of a person’s gender has no similarity to their sex for the reason that sex (the labeling of male or female) is something that is biologically assigned at birth. In simpler terms, gender is a set of conventions that cannot be associated simply to nature (Williams Lecture, 10/21/14). In the article, “What It Means to be Gender Me”, Betsy Lucal emphasize how gendering is an activity “we cannot break out of” within society’s dichotomous gender system (Lucal 794). Pantene’s “Not Sorry” advertisement presented a Western approach of “doing gender” where women were portrayed as the passive, apologetic and inferior sex who had social interactions with men who, in the various scenes, were culturally signified as the dominant, respected and superior sex. The social construction of gender was illustrated in Pantene’s “Not Sorry” advertisement in the act of each scene presenting women of different cultural backgrounds undertaking the stereotypical behaviors formulated to their gender by …show more content…
They were able to open their viewer’s eyes to a world where women no longer have to be hesitant when stepping out of the shadow of a man. Unfortunately, the Pantene advertisement was entirely exclusive seeing that it ineffectively contributes the male’s perspective. Consumers were given scenes that fed into the victimized role of women in society, yet were not given the authentic standing point of a man, solely associating the negative stereotypes that were formed against them. Throughout Nancy Dowd’s article, “Towards a New Theory of Feminist Jurisprudence”, she argues that “men pay a price for privilege” (Dowd 58). In other words, they are held to standards in society to constitute the label of a “masculine” man. In society, masculinity is defined as a social construction of the male, a construction that is not simply attained biologically. Accordingly, the socialization of manhood must only be achieved through making heavy sacrifices, possessing masculine attributes and creating emotional, self-sufficient barriers. Dowd illustrates the two important pieces of masculinity which were “not [becoming] like a women and not [being] gay,” therefore forcing all men to be similarly situated with each other (62). In her article, Dowd made it evident that “certainly, it is indefensible to ignore the disadvantages and
In the article “Two Ways a Woman Can Get Hurt,” by Jean Killbourne, she discusses the culture of male superiority over females. With the rise of feminism and exposure to media being at an all-time high, the two topics seem to be overlapping more and more. Daily, society is flooded with sexist, violent, and inappropriate ads and messages that usually degrade women and praise men. This is an issue which only recently gained traction while the “feminist” movement increased in popularity. Women are wrongly objectified for the sake of tradition and a male-driven agenda. This thought has been held on for far too long.
Chapter 4: The Rhetorical Shaping of Gender: Competing Images of Men was a chapter that I knew nothing of. I never heard the terms masculinists, father hunger and profeminists. (Apparently Microsoft Word never recognized profeminists as a word either) Luckily I am familiar with two organizations from the book- Million Man March and Walk a Mile in Her Shoes. I needed to read this chapter because I forget that man have problems and faces inequality like any one group. This chapter is very necessary to shape people’s personal idea of gender and gender equality. Men organizations should receive the same media coverage as women, race and civil issues. The fact that these organization do not receive the same attention as women organizations continues to force men to not be able to express their problems freely.
Enter into any café on the UCSC campus for a prolonged period of time and you are likely to hear the words “gender is a social construct”. Initially you’ll think to yourself, “what a load of granola” this is an expected reaction because for most people the concept of “gender” is natural. Its not until you are able to see how the idea of gender is constructed from physiological differences between males and females as discussed by researcher Miller AE and his team of scientists. Or how men possess great privilege because of gender roles, and women are seen as objects, that you will truly be able to understand that gender is nothing but a social contract. Authors Gloria Anzaldúa, Marjane Satrapi, and Virginia Woolf discuss in their novels Borderlands,
Gender is such a controversial subject. There are some people who see it as what you are born as whereas other people see it as a choice to be whatever you want. There are people who judge whatever gender you are, no matter the choices you make. Paul Theroux wrote about how restrictive masculinity is in his article “Being a Man.” There are so many more restrictions on being feminine. Theroux’s idea of masculinity being restrictive is being challenged on the account that being feminine is seen as bad, and weak.
The gender binary of Western culture dichotomizes disgendered females and males, categorizing women and men as opposing beings and excluding all other people. Former professor of Gender Studies Walter Lee Williams argues that gender binarism “ignores the great diversity of human existence,” (191) and is “an artifact of our society’s rigid sex-roles” (197). This social structure has proved detrimental to a plethora of people who fall outside the Western gender dichotomy. And while this gender-exclusive system is an unyielding element of present day North American culture, it only came to be upon European arrival to the Americas. As explained by Judith Lorber in her essay “Night to His Day: The Social Construction of Gender”, “gender is so pervasive in our society we assume it is bred into our genes” (356). Lorber goes on to explain that gender, like culture, is a human production that requires constant participation (358).
In cJudith Butler’s essay Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity, she examines the restrictions placed on men and women by the process of socialization. She makes an important distinction between sex and gender and argues that both sex and gender are culturally constructed. A vital term Butler fashions is Gender Performativity. She says that no identity exists behind the show that we put on. We are taught to wear a mask that supposedly expresses the gender society has prearranged for us. Those people who alter their masks or try on the opposite gender’s mask are socially outcast or at the very least frowned upon. These masks establish the roles we are to play rather than convey the illusion of the unwavering, traditi...
Gender, in society today, is clarified as either being male which embodies traits of masculinity or on the other hand being female embodying traits of femininity. However the embodiment of these traits are just actions, decisions, or expressions rather than sexual anatomical features we are born and constrained by. Gender depictions are less a consequence of our "essential sexual natures" than interactional portrayals of what we would like to convey about sexual natures, using conventionalized gestures. (West, Zimmerman p.130) This excerpt reinforces the idea that society should view gender not as a absolute but rather a work in progress during your day to day routine. This capability to accept that gender is something you do rather than something that is leads opens up the tolerance to realize the implications that traditional gender views have impacted
Masculinity is a subject that has been debated in our society for quite some time. Many wonder what it means to be masculine, as it is difficult to define this one –sided term. Pairing this already controversial term with “feminist studies” can bring about some thought - provoking conversation. Feminist studies of men have been around for many years with regards to the feminist movement. It seeks to create gradual improvements to society through its main principle of modifying the ways in which everyone views what it means to be a man. Feminist studies of men bring forth the discussion of hegemonic masculinity; how this contributes to the gender hierarchy, the radicalized glass escalator and ultimately the faults of this theory.
Pantene’s ad entitled “Not Sorry” stands out amongst other advertisements because it employs both verbal and nonverbal forms of communication in order to convey a message that goes beyond selling their brand. The ad strives to empower females and encourage a pivotal change in an unacceptable aspect of societal behavior. It opens with a question: “Why are women always apologizing?” The words are in a bold, black font with a white background. The simplicity of their appearance draws the audience’s attention. The graphics are direct and unadorned, speaking directly to the message and motivation behind the ad. It is an engaging question, one that gets at the heart of a prominent societal issue: what is the role of women and how is it different
Prior to the 1970s when the theme of gender issues was still quite foreign, the societal norm forced female conformity to male determined standards because “this is a man’s world” (Kerr 406). The patriarchal society painted the image of both men and women accordingly to man’s approach of societal standards that include the defining features of manhood that consist of “gentil...
The patriarchal system hinges upon the domination of women through implicit and explicit acts of subjugation by men. The society we, as human live in, has been subjugated to this patriarchy since the hunter and gathers era, and only in the last century have we seen serious waves of feminism to challenge the patriarchal society we live in. Although the domination is not as obvious as we have seen in the past, there still remains patriarchy in the form: wage discrimination, leadership positions, and the focus of this paper sexualization of the women body. The problem posed of Jane and other women being asked and complying with the removal of clothing is a direct act of patriarchal norms that society has placed by
Western and non-western societies “culturally emphasize the distinction between the two sexes resulting in the pronounced sex differences by putting women in skirts and high heels and men in pants and sneakers. In this way, we make categorical differences” (61). Sociologist Prof. Erving Goffman, provides a social constructionist approach to gender differentiations in his publication on Gender Advertisements (1979), which is based on multiple new photographs and advertisements. Goffman wrote about “interactionist manifestations of gender differences,” (61) called gender display. Social or cultural differences should not be explained through biological differences. Prof. Goffman moreover states that “there is only a schedule for the portrayal of gender… only evidence of the practice between the sexes of choreographic behaviorally a portrait of relationship” (qtd. in Kawamura 61). The society encourages, even forces people to adapt to the gender script by dressing as female, or male, which helps them to create a respective gender identity and these identities are distinguished through footwear and clothing
Taking a Gender Studies course opened my eyes to the ways that gender impacts my everyday life, especially where gender rules are being broken. Instances of gender can be found in unexpected places, whether it be a gender-neutral New Baby card, mention of homosexual behavior in a country song, a book dedication from a father to a son, or a college offering of a course in Men’s Studies. Other gender stereotypes hold fast, like using attractive women as eye candy at car shows, but never attractive men. Lastly, we assume that each generation is more progressive than the last, but are proven wrong when we look back to an older culture and discover that gender fluidity was accepted as part of nature’s plan.
Kimmel, Michael S. “From ‘Conscience and Common Sense’ to ‘Feminism for Men’” Feminism and Men: Reconstructing Gender Relations. Schacht, Steven and Ewing, D, eds. New York University Press, 1998. Messner, Michael A. & Co.
Biological sex indicts from birth whether we are born as a male or female based on our reproductive system. Once we enter the world, we are shaped and influenced by our social environment and culture, and we begin to identify with masculine or feminine roles that form our gender expression. Sociologist Raewyn Connell established a four-fold theory on the structure of gender relations in certain societal structures. This theory includes power relations, production relations, cathexis (emotional relations) and symbolism. This theory shows us the structures within society that have resulted in the development of gender roles. This essay will argue that biological sex develops the foundations of gender, however it is the social environment and culture that heavily influence our gender expression and shape gender into a socially constructed performance.