Running Head: Three Media Examples from a Gender Perspective

Identify three media examples: 1. A media sin from a gender perspective - in Advertising. 2. A media sin from a gender perspective - in another format. 3. A positive example of gender portrayal in any format.

Mauro Busuttil 230687M Yasmine Formosa 93789M University of Malta

Running Head: Three Media Examples from a Gender Perspective Stereotypes are a useful yet simple and easy ways to recognise and imply an assumed consensus of ideas upon people. The strength of such a statement lies in its mixture of validity and distortion; therefore, it can be a powerful means of socialisation (Condry and Condry, 1976). Chibnall (1977) argued that Media is the offspring of monopoly capitalism, thus its role is to generate profit. It is in such interest that commercials portray various stereotypes as it is the means to maximise profits even though they can be essentially classified as a type of media sin.

Bretl and Cantor (1988) conducted a quantitative study as regards to commercials exposure. The average viewer sees 714 commercial per week and by the age of 17, he or she would have seen 350,000 commercials. This old study is still relevant as it gives a clear picture of the audiences exposure towards the dramatic differences in which males and females are portrayed. Proctor & Gamble Thailand is promoting Pantene Chrysalis shampoo with Violin, a commercial that makes the use of particular underlying stereotypes narrating the story of a deaf and mute girl, who against all odds learns the violin and shines. The heroine inspires herself from a homeless street violinist (whom plays Canon by Johann Pachelbel), while being hampered by her cruel peers, especially by an ambitious girl who aims for greatness on the piano, till finally making it to a classical music competition. It was released in September 2008 and aired on TV, cinemas and online. Why am I different from others? Why do you have to be like others? No matter who/how you are You can Shine. (P&G Ad. September, 2008)) There is a process of development ongoing throughout, where the heroine from an ugly duck (her association at the beginning) reaches greatness and starts shining. This concept of transformation reflects Pantenes brand message You Can Shine as well as the products actual name,

Running Head: Three Media Examples from a Gender Perspective

Chrysalis, where the chrysalis is shown at the opening and at the final scenes as it finally opens as the girls hair is revealed as a symbol of her shining, along with a brief shot of the Shampoo bottle. The ending kind of insults such motivated and ambitious girl when the people judge her from the looks of her hair. The signs throughout the advert (when she cries, takes care of the homeless violinist at the hospital, her behaviour, her white clothes [purity and innocence]) build the advertising image of the female protagonist as fragile, lacking self-confidence and hesitating which matches what Claude Herne discussed that women are portrayed in order to make them feel inferior. Females are depicted as passive victims of social forces and as such in order for them to express their feelings such as anger, frustration, ambition they need to utilize a medium that is music. She is perceived as invisible as music yet it can be seen if one desires so. In contrast, the majority of the males in the video equalise to Anthony Easthopes (1986) masculine myth based on strength, competitiveness, aggression and violence as clearly seen when they attack both the heroine and the old man. For a man to have female traits he needs to be portrayed having a disability, as is the case of the old, deaf and mute man whom is gentle, caring and inspiring towards the girl; while for a girl to have male traits, she needs to be perceived as being a bitch. Girls cannot show their aggression, it is invisible to society and needs to be expressed subtly while for males it is direct and physical. When at the end the heroine plays the violin, the shots are juxtaposed with all her feelings of anger (when the boys attack them), sensitivity and caring (shots of the homeless bed in hospital) as she is putting all her unexpressed feelings in her music. Walt Disney himself saw that women were regarded as adorable, but fallible creatures and men were the ones who never let you down (Mosely 1990). With this perception in mind, he rendered Disney Movies in such a way that they can be considered as Media sins. As Golombok

Running Head: Three Media Examples from a Gender Perspective (1994) states, our world is an extremely gendered civilization and children quickly learn masculine and feminine roles and knowledge from a very young age. Young children gain

further knowledge of gender stereotypes through different media, but mainly through storybooks and TV. Page Van Evra (2004), also gave her views on this subject. She claimed that children turn to TV to learn about the world so as to build their views on how to be a man and how to be a woman. In Disney movies, the perfect female model is always portrayed as fragile, obedient, passive, inexperienced and very emotional. Women are practically always treated inferior to men. On the other hand, the perfect male model is most of the time portrayed as violent, strong, commanding, brave and charming. Thus young boys are immediately socialized to aim towards positions of authority and independence while females are socialized to aim towards more domestic and submissive positions. Some examples which show this media sin in Disney movies are; the innocent yet loving way in which Ariel gives up her voice and her family for her prince in The Little Mermaid, compared to the savage way Gaston treats Belle in Beauty and the Beast. He wants Belle to be his wife, only because of her good looks and strongly believes that shes only good to be a wife and should not waste time to think or read books. The songs used in these movies are highly stereotypical themselves. They show how females are wanted for their housework abilities like stated in The Work Song sung by the mice in Cinderella, where the female mouse sings leave the sewing for the women, and not for their intelligence, like the soldiers sing in Mulan in A girl worth fighting for, when they say how bout a girl whos got a brain. On the contrary, in the same Mulan, another song is sung entitled Ill make a MAN out of you which is all based on highlighting the strength of the male gender and how a real man should act.

Running Head: Three Media Examples from a Gender Perspective Disney shows clearly a constrained set of gender expectations that are proposed over and over again to audiences (Shields, 2002). Even nowadays, after 43 years of Walt Disneys death, the corporation has still kept gender roles traditional. Stereotypes seem to permeate our media culture, but not all that is shown presents these predetermined sins and clichs. Taking for example the Microsoft Xbox 360 banned advert, Stand Off, one has quite a contrasting portrayal of the male/female worlds. This ad that Microsoft was banned from airing depicts adults acting as a bunch of kids playing cops and robbers in a mall. The mall itself usually signifies a female place for run-around shopping, though here it is re-depicted as a war zone where males as well as females have their aggressive say. There is a turnaround from Anthony Easthopes masculine myth, as females are seen as competitive and aggressive as males and the various victims left behind them, prove this

position. (0:37) A female tensed face expression determined to kill without pity; which is not the stereotypical one seen on a woman in an advert; or else (0:48), a blonde woman with long hair not at all sluggish and clumsy as proven by two dead ones. (1:01) Elegant fragile looking couple taking their tea quietly and then BANG. (1:09) A brunette with her skirt doing a combination of cartwheel and shooting who even Solid Snake would envy, where the skirt is not in the way at all. (1:13) An overpowering scene where a girl with a hand grenade was able to dispose of two opponents in one shot. Her pouch resembles those worn by soldiers stacked with grenades, bullets and provision. All these can be seen as in direct contrast to Disneys movies, as here, females shown are still seen as sexy, beautiful and cool but still assertive and ready to shoot. There is an equal mix of both genders, where both males and females are giving their say with facts, rather than mere talk. This commercial shows that even females are able to play the masculine shoot-them-up games and they know the trade well. The slogan at the end, Jump In

Running Head: Three Media Examples from a Gender Perspective continues to enhance this concept, as this text in itself is neutral and quite inclusive it is appealing to everyone without distinction. Even the advert name, Stand Off contrasts the

message of Pantene, You Can Shine as both reach greatness, but in the Microsoft one, females reach it through assertiveness and pure competitiveness instincts rather by merely having a shiny good-looking hair. Researchers continuously strive to show the effects media has on the daily life of its audience in various aspects such as gender. As De Lauretis (1987) states, gender is the product of various social technologies, such as media texts, cinema and adverts. Media is undeniably one of the main technologies which forms the world and helps us make sense of it. Gender is one of the top categories used for sorting out human being in media. One of the most powerful media for transition of messages and advertising is television and companies like Pantene, Disney and Xbox dominate this Advertising and Media market. With all our examples being visual and shown as movies or commercials, we can conclude that certain companies do not care if they do a media sin as long as they reach their profit target.

Running Head: Three Media Examples from a Gender Perspective References: Gauntlett, D. (2008). Media, Gender and Identity. An Introduction. England: Routledge Shields, Vickie Rutledge (2002). From Disney to Calvin Klein: The Implications of SenseMaking for Gendered Audience Reception of Entertainment and Advertising. Retrieved from http://communication.sbs.ohio-state.edu/sense-making/meet/1999/meet99shieldsv.html Mosely, L. 1990. Disneys World. Lanham, MD: Scarborough House Golombok, S., & Fivush, R. (1994). Gender Development. United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press Page Van Evra, J. (2004). Television and Child Development. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc. Kimmel, M. S., & Aronson, A. (2004). Men and Masculinities: K-Z. California: ABC-CLIO, Inc. De Lauretis, T. (1987). Technologies of Gender: essay on theory, film and fiction. United States of America: Indiana University Press Clements, R., & Musker, J., & Ashman, H. (1989). The Little Mermaid. United States: Walt Disney Pictures Coats, P., & Cook, B. & Bancroft, T. (1998). Mulan. United States: Walt Disney Pictures

Hahn, D., & Wise, K., & Trousdale, G. (1991). Beauty and the Beast. United States: Walt Disney Pictures Disney, W., & Jackson, W., & Luske, H., & Geronimi, C. (1950). Cinderella. United States: The Walt Disney Company Herne , C. (1993) La dfinition sociale de la femme travers la publicit, Paris/Bruxelles: L'Harmattan/F.P.S./Contradictions. 241p. Condry, J., & Condry, S. (1976). Sex differences: A study of the eye of the beholder. Child Development, 47. Bretl, D., & Cantor, J. (1988). The portrayal of men and women in U.S. television commercials: A recent content analysis and trends over 15 years. Sex roles, 18(May), 595-609 Easthope, A. (1986). What a Mans Gotta Do: The Masculine Myth in Popular Culture. London: Pladin, 7.

Running Head: Three Media Examples from a Gender Perspective Chibnall, S. (1977), Law-and-Order News, London: Tavistoc Procter & Gamble (Advertiser). (2008, September). Pantene Chrysalis You Can Shine. Retrieved from http://www.funnycommercialsworld.com/pantene-chrysalis-you-canshine-82.html Microsoft (Advertiser). Xbox 360 Stand Off. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_b2isAxMTM&feature=player_embedded