Sarah Haskins, always entertaining, mocks the imperative that men buy women jewelry to show them they love them:
I’ve always wondered how women who share bank accounts with their partners feel about this.
Lisa Wade, PhD is an Associate Professor at Tulane University. She is the author of American Hookup, a book about college sexual culture; a textbook about gender; and a forthcoming introductory text: Terrible Magnificent Sociology. You can follow her on Twitter and Instagram.
Michelle N. sent us a video by the ever-fabulous Sarah Haskins, this time on the use of scientific imagery and language in skin care commercials. Michelle says,
In these advertisements, complex, scientific-sounding language is used to obscure the actual simplicity of the beauty product and the “conditions” they aim to correct (body-aging anyone?)…Since when do we refer to lotion as a “serum”?
Thansk to Meia G. for sending in these “tool set” ornaments for sale at Home Depot. Notice that they don’t just group these tools into ones associated with women (gardening) and men (building), they actually label them as women’s and men’s on the price sticker. This is a great example of how gender isn’t just something we encounter in objects because we know enough to read gender into them, it’s actually prescribed to us.
Christmas gift advertising tends to be highly gendered in part because buying gifts can be difficult and time-consuming. Gender helps us narrow down options or find something that seems suitable for someone we don’t know very well. Marketers exploit this imperative and its uncertainty for all its worth.
And perhaps all this was just an excuse to re-post Sarah Haskins on holiday jewelry advertising. You’re welcome.
I added the tools sets to our constantly expanding collection of pointlessly gendered products. It’s our most popular Pinterest board and we can see why! Recent additions include gendered pickles; “Junior Park Ranger” and “Park Princess” vests for sale at a Yellowstone gift shop; scissors, q-tips, and dryer sheets for men only; and globes and glue just for girls.
Lisa Wade, PhD is an Associate Professor at Tulane University. She is the author of American Hookup, a book about college sexual culture; a textbook about gender; and a forthcoming introductory text: Terrible Magnificent Sociology. You can follow her on Twitter and Instagram.
This Course Guide is in progress and will be updated as I have time.
Disclaimer: If you’re thinking about writing a course guide. I totally overdid it on this one! It doesn’t have to be nearly this extensive.
Course Guide for
INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY
(last updated 5/2012)
Developed by Gwen Sharp
Nevada State College
C. Wright Mills and the Sociological Imagination
Intersection of biography and history as illustrated by:
“the capacity for astonishment is made lively again”
Karl Marx/Marxist analysis
Emile Durkheim
[Because the course guide has gotten to be so long, I’m putting the rest of it after the jump.]
The California Milk Processor Board, the group responsible for the Got Milk? and Happy Cows ad campaigns, produced “Medusa,” a commercial about a princess whose “ugly hair” destroys her chances for love…until, of course, a man comes along who knows how to tame her hair, make her beautiful, and “conquer her love,” allowing her to finally get married:
I get that her hair is made up of snakes, but as a person with incredibly curly, unpredictable, shall we say boisterous hair, I can’t help but notice that the beauty ideal espoused here clearly calls for sleek, straight, controlled hair.
Sarah Haskins takes on the fairy tale trope in commercials aimed at women, including my favorite, a milk ad in which the princess’s PMS mood swings cause a tidal wave of her tears that threatens her entire realm:
I’m trying to catch up on some of our email, so you’re getting another round-up of similar-themed items, this time on the gendering of food. Laura L. sent in an advertisement for Muscle Milk, a product generally marketed to men, that she saw on the BART (San Francisco’s public transportation system). The ad presents the product as a means to become more attractive by building muscle — a body type usually encouraged for men but not women — and thus gain sexual access to your friends:
It’s interesting because it’s a gendered product that uses a tactic common in products that market to women: you’re body isn’t good enough, but our product will fix it. It’s not the first time the company has used tactics more often seen in products aimed at women.
In another example of the association of meat-eating with men, Tom Megginson, who blogs at Work that Matters, sent us a link to a story at AdFreak about KFC’s inventive promotional campaign for their Double-Down sandwich, which, if you didn’t know, consists of bacon and cheese between two chicken breast patties (fried or grilled). The promotions, which started in Louisville, KY, involve undergrads wearing sweats with “Double Down” across the butt and giving out free stuff:
The KFC announcement of the program makes it clear that only women are wanted as “brand ambassadors” to help them meet their “key target of young men.”
While men are encouraged to eat high-fat/sodium/calorie monster/mega/ultra/double meat-based items, women, of course, get to eat yogurt. Brianna L. found this Australian commercial for Yoplait Formé, in which women are shown eating foods that are clearly meant to appear unappetizing and illustrate they are sacrificing flavor for their diet, as well as policing one another’s food choices:
Notice at 12 seconds in they all wave away the plate of cookies, but then, just for a second, one of the women shows weakness and starts to reach for one. The woman next to her, however, quickly reins her in with a disapproving look and gesture. As Brianna points out,
Even the tag line “feel fuller for longer” shows eating is not about sustenance, or taking pleasure in food. Being in perpetual hunger – that’s the status quo, at least until a magic yogurt comes along to save you.
Now for a palate cleanser, watch Sarah Haskins’s take on yogurt commercials.
Gwen Sharp is an associate professor of sociology at Nevada State College. You can follow her on Twitter at @gwensharpnv.
Larry Harnisch of The Daily Mirror sent in this 1910 ad that suggests electric cars are appropriate for women because they’re clean, quiet, and easy to drive:
Also: Sarah Haskins on marketing cars to women, women choose Chryslers over men, Ford says cars liberate women, it’s ok if your wife wrecks your VW, break the glass ceiling with a Jeep, get revved up with a Cadillac, and the Dodge La Femme.
NEWS:
During November we divvied up the massive gender tag into 18 sub-categories to make it easier to search for specific types of gender posts. For example, you can now browse all of our posts about masculinity by going to the “gender: masculinity” tag. We hope this makes it easier to navigate the site.
In other words, we worked our asses off for you over Thanksgiving break, so go browse a gender tag right now!
And, your monthly reminder: we’re on Facebook and Twitter, if that floats your boat.
FROM THE ARCHIVES:
Last November we posted an analysis of the negative reactions to female body builders’ bodies. It reveals the entitlement that many feel to be aesthetically pleased by women’s appearance.
And in November ’07 we featured an Orangina ad that Gwen says is “possibly the weirdest freakiest ad I have ever seen in my 34 years on this planet.” As reader Gis said in the comments:
AH! AH! AH! AH! WHAT?!?! AH! I can’t unsee this!
So, yeah, uh, check that out. You might want to watch it in high quality on a full screen. I’m just sayin’.
NEWLY ENRICHED POSTS (Look for what’s NEW! Nov ’09):
Remember that 1981 ad for Legos that everyone LOVED? I found three more examples of vintage ads that seem rather devoid of gender differentiation.
Just last month we added material to our post on racial and ethnic themed college parties. This month, we get to do it again. This time courtesy of a University of Delaware party at which white people dressed up as Mexicans (triggering and NSFW).
We added another example to our collection of vintage illustrations of the argument that black people are closely related to apes and monkeys.
Erin M. sent us an example of a sex toy for men being described as “shameful.” We added it to our post discussing how the use of sex toys by women and the use of sex toys by men are evaluated very differently (NSFW).
Tim McC. sent in a link to a Volvo concept car aimed specifically at women. We added it to our post on the Dodge La Femme. It’s really interesting to compare how cars were marketed to women in the 1950s and today.
Kristyn G. sent in another commercial where the idea that women are liberated by choice is used to market a product. This time, it’s an Indian cable company marketing itself by comparing itself to non-arranged marriage.
Jackie S. sent us a link to a satirical Onion news report illustrating how feminists might protest PETA. We added it an old post with an image of a PETA protest.
Dmitriy T.M. sent us another example of services being marketed as “wife” or “husband” services.
Jessica S. sent us a comedic skit for the Shii, a girls’ version of the Wii. We added it to our post on otherwise-gender-neutral-games gendered female.
We added a fourth commercial, this one for Target, to our post featuring commercials that depict women as just plain insane.
We added another vintage ad featuring the word “gay” as it used to be used.
Do you feel you have a truly special relationship with your cleaning products? If so, check out the Lysol commercial we added to our post about Sarah Haskins’s “Target: Women” segment on household cleaners marketed as women’s special, special friend.
We added another example of U.S.-based advertising that removes people of color when moved overseas. This time the product is the movie Couples Retreat.
We added a 1987 ad for Contra to one of our collections of sexism in the technology world.
Last month we posted about the Ralph Lauren ad featuring a woman photoshopped to be incredibly thin. We updated the post with a video about the model in the ad, who has now been fired for not fitting into some clothing.
