Gender Essay

Essay


Advertisements can often be heavily influenced by gender differences, patriarchy and objectification. Gender is defined as the masculinity or femininity of a person's character, often something a person is able to decide, differing from a person's which is the biological identification of someone whether that be male or female. Patriarchy is a society dominated by men which is often presented in advertisements. Objectification is to demean someone and see them as an object, usually done in a sexual manner. The first advertisement has been produced by Hugo Boss, a luxury brand that produces products for both men and women however tend to appeal more towards men. The second advertisement is by Beyoncé's in which Beyoncé herself is modeling for. This advertisement appeals directly to women.

The Hugo Boss advertisement is of a man facing the audience whilst a woman is positioned behind  the man seductively facing him. The camera shot is a medium close up, displaying the man from his head to his chest and for the woman, the face as her chest is covered by the man's shoulder, implying that the man is very dominant whereas the woman is submissive to the man which shows reinforces a sense of patriarchy. The costumes worn by the models consist of suits and dresses showing the audience the importance of status which is generated through wealth. The product itself is shown on the right side of the advertisement to show the audience what the product can do for them. The lighting is brighter in the centre of the advertisement and darker in the corners. This is to establish a sense of attention and how the fragrance has made the man and woman the centre of attention. The fragrance was named "The Scent" implying a sense of perfection and being the main choice for fragrances. In the advertisement both men and women are being objectified in a subtle manner as to the audience they can appear to be pleasing to view without blatantly sexualising them. The advertisement embraces the stereotype that men are dominant through the positioning of the models. The man is placed ahead of the the woman, identifying him as a leader whilst the woman is behind the man, establishing her as a follower however in this case it seems as though she is seduced by the man which also embraces objectification of men and women.

The fragrance by Beyoncé consists of Beyoncé being presented to the audience in hyper sexualised manner, holding on to neon poles. The advertisement uses a medium long shot to display Beyoncé's body to the audience. This initially appears to be extremely objectifying to women as it makes them out to be figures for men to gaze at. Beyoncé wears a revealing silk dress in the advertisement to make herself appear more glamorous, linking to the purpose of the product which makes the user's scent much more glamorous. The product is shown on the left side of the advertisement so that the audience are aware of what the producers are attempting to advertise. The lighting focuses primarily on Beyoncé with a glow of light coming from behind her, implying to the audience that the product will leave you glowing. There is also significantly more lighting on Beyoncé's breasts and hips which reinforce gender stereotypes being that women exist to serve men. The slogan however contrasts with the gender stereotypes and objectification in the advertisement as it reads "Feel The Power" suggesting that the advertisement and product were created with the intention of empowering women. This could be justified by implying that men fall prey to a woman's seduction, allowing women to discreetly manipulate and control men. The slogan contrasting with an initial interpretation of the advertisement indicates that the advertisement does not challenge patriarchy but rather takes advantage of it through the use of seduction and objectification. 

The two advertisements embrace gender stereotypes and take advantage of them within a consumerist society that the audience live in. The ideologies of the advertisements are still quite prevalent across the advertising industry as it is heavily influential and the controversy that it can create can be beneficial as it spreads the advertisements to the a larger audience group. Attempts to challenge gender stereotypes have been successful as the ASA & UN have banned certain advertisements due to their extreme gender stereotyping and objectification.