A couple nights ago, my friends and I got together and did an impromptu "ranting game" (meaning we used a random word generator, and gave someone a random topic to rant about). One of the topics that became a popular discussion was that of advertising. My friend brought up a couple of interesting points:
1. that advertising is ruthless in exploiting the stereotypical insecurities of the genders and 2
2. that those insecurities don't usually overlap. For example, men are sometimes insecure of their masculinity and oftentimes, ads provide them with ways to reassert their masculinity (ex. with a specific type of beer). Women, on the other hand, are usually concerned with their appearance. If they, however, choose to buy Cover Girl foundation, they shouldn't have to worry about that anymore.
It was interesting to me to note how the stereotypes don't overlap, and it was an interesting discussion all around because I found that other people have the same opinions as I do when it comes to reacting to advertisements.
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ReplyDeleteFirstly, I also believe that it is interesting to note how the stereotypes do not overlap. Secondly, another example of an ad that provides men with ways to reassert their masculinity is here
ReplyDelete(http://goodmenproject.com/wpcontent/uploads/2012/12/bushmasterad-maxim_0.jpg).
This is a perfect add that describes how advertisers provide men with ways to reassure their masculinity because as this ad clearly states, if you buy a gun, your "man card" will be reissued as you would be able to assert dominance and fear into others.
Good Job!