Simply Everything

By Peter K. Lam

Sex in Advertising

Advertisements play a major role in what determines normal masculine and feminine behavior because people look to advertisements as a role model for how they should behave in order to fit into society.  Advertisements, found in any common magazine, show the definition of masculinity and femininity in very different ways.  Passivity and submissiveness characterizes femininity whereas masculinity relates to aggressiveness and dominance.  Because both men and women get constant exposure to advertisements that show images of how men and women should behave, normal people should act like the models in the advertisements.  In the essay, “Gender Roles Behaviors and Attitudes,” written by Holly Devor, she claims that men and women measure their manhood or womanhood through how well they conform to the standard for masculinity and femininity (424).  Women in advertisements rarely assume the dominant or aggressive behavior associated with masculinity because they learn from an early age that aggression rejects the passive trait of normal femininity and women should not reject their femininity because society looks down on them if they do.  Women usually assume passive roles especially when it comes to advertisements where men and women interact together because men are taught to take on the dominant and aggressive roles.  Dominance and aggression makes the man masculine and society expects men to abide by this code.  Oppositely, submissiveness and passivity makes the woman feminine and by not abiding by these roles, the woman would not confirm society’s expectations of a normal woman.

In an advertisement for Skyy Blue, a malt liquor, features a man and a woman in compromising positions.  As usual, the man appears shirtless and perfectly, physically fit.  He holds the woman very close to him, ready to kiss her.  The woman looks slender and passive by how she appears to let the man get close to her without resisting the man at all.  Her head tilts somewhat away from the man while the man tilts his head forward toward the woman as though he takes the initiative.  It seems like the woman remains helpless and the man becomes her knight in shining armor that has come to sweep her off her feet.  The man looks muscular and symbolizes what society considers average and normal.  On the other hand, the woman looks slender with beautiful facial features that seem nearly flawless, provided through photo manipulation.  She appears physically fit with some muscle tone but not too much muscle tone because muscularity characterizes masculinity more than femininity.   Having too many masculine traits, such as muscularity, would go against society’s norms so a normal woman would not do that.  Both hold a bottle of Skyy Blue implying that if one were to drink Skyy Blue, something like this could very well happen to them.  This advertisement depicts the standard for normal masculinity and femininity extremely clearly. The image tells men that they should take the initiative and exert aggression to confirm their masculinity.  Conversely, women should take passive and submissive roles to assume their femininity.  Not assuming these roles would make them deviate from the norm and make them abnormal.

In an advertisement for a television show, called Just a Walk in the Park, starring Jane Krakowski of Ally McBeal fame and George Eads, the advertisement shows Krakowski struggling to get in control of a dog she holds by a leash, appearing to try to slow the dog down.  She conveys passivity through the closeness of both her arms to her body which creates the image that she uses little to no force to control the dog.  Eads, on the other hand, has many types of dogs on a leash.  He shows aggression through spreading his arms more apart and by how he appears to actively pull the dogs in his direction.  These two images put together on the same advertisement compares and contrasts the standard model for masculinity and femininity.  The advertisement says that women are passive and can be controlled by others.  In this case, the dog has control by how it appears to pull Krakowski where it wants to go.  The advertisement also says that men actively and aggressively retain control by how Eads aggressively fights for control over the dogs.  The mere fact that Krakowski gets pulled by a single dog and Eads pulls multiple dogs shows that society expects men to have, not only aggression and dominance, they too need strength as well so that they fulfill society’s expectations for a normal masculine man.  Krakowski’s more passive image shows that normally, women do not have the strength to equal a man.  Therefore, society believes that men have strength and dominance over women who should assume passive and weak roles.

In an advertisement for the Cartoon Network’s Futurama, found in the ESPN magazine, it features a masculine gendered android with a feminine gendered android clinging onto him.  The masculine one has no hair, smokes a cigar, and has a bottle of beer in his hand.  The feminine one has metal hair to create an image of a woman and holds on closely to the masculine android to show that she needs protection provided by someone strong and masculine, such as this masculine android.   The advertisement also has an “Adult Swim” label on it, which is Cartoon Network’s primetime programming geared toward adults.   These two characters are obviously robots but the advertisement proceeds to state, “Characters You Can Relate to.”  How can a flesh and blood human being have anything in common with lifeless androids?  The advertisement seems to suggest that robots seek to be normal, just like humans do.  Because robots can conform to what society defines as normal masculine and feminine behavior, people can conform to society’s standards for normal behavior as well.

A half page advertisement for the American Film Institute’s love stories, also found in Entertainment Weekly, features another heterosexual couple beginning to make out.  The man assumes the dominant role as he appears to move closer toward the woman.  The woman again appears passive because she does not look like she tries to resist the man.  She does not resist the man because she portrays passivity and this image of passivity fulfills society’s idea of a normal feminine woman.  Instead of resisting, the woman looks like she invites the man to kiss her.  Her head leans a little to the side of the man as though she allows him to kiss her neck.  People that see pictures like these must wonder if they must assume these roles.  After all, the advertisement depicts the man as the aggressor and the woman as the passive one who takes what the man gives her without resistance; society regards this as normal masculine and feminine behavior.  The message broadcasted here tells people that the behavior they see all over many different advertisements is reality and that they should conform to these norms if they want to fit into society as a normal person.

So, what does advertising say about normal masculine and feminine behavior?  At face value, not many conclusions can be drawn from the images depicted in the advertisements.  But with close examination, it becomes clear that a constant theme and pattern runs through most of the advertisements which get people to accept these behaviors as normal.  Aggression, domination, and physical strength define normal masculinity.  Submission, passivity, and vulnerability define normal femininity.  Only outcasts stray from the norm, so whoever does not possess the standard traits associated with masculinity or femininity can expect a lifetime of scorn and ridicule.  Advertisements sell these ideas.

Advertising has a profound affect on people and it litters the billboards along highways and windows of shopping malls with subliminal signs of society’s norms.  Advertising should find ways to improve society and make those different from society’s norms feel more human and not more alien.  More often than not, people feel compelled to conform because labeled as a freak does not make anyone have positive feelings about themselves.  Unfortunately, people do not look at advertisement for the sake of confirming their self-image, but rather, people look to advertisements to find out what defines “normalcy” in society.  If advertisements continue to fiercely input subliminal messages of “normalcy,” no one will ever be “normal” because changing one’s entire character to become like the models in the advertisement is simply abnormal.

Works Cited
American Film Association’s 100 Years 100 Passions.  Advertisement.  Entertainment Weekly
June 2002: 75.
Devor, Holly.  “Gender Role Behaviors and Attitudes.”  The World is a Text.  Ed.  Jonathan
Silverman and Dean Rader.  Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2003.  424-29.
Futurama.  Advertisement.  ESPN Jan.  2003: 54.
Just a Walk in the Park.  Advertisement.  Entertainment Weekly Aug. 2002: 63.
Skyy Blue.  Advertisement.  Entertainment Weekly Aug. 2002: 70.