Man-mercials May 13, 2007
Posted by ajaramillo in bodies, commercials, football, gender, general considerations, humor, ideology, imagery, NFL, objectification of men, relationships with men, sports, stereotypes.add a comment
We’ve been looking at many commercials that have strange twists on girl power and examining what they are projecting as the ideal women. But we have been completely ignoring the man-mercials out there! It seems like most of the new macho-resurgence commercials drill into our heads what a “man” is supposed to be… which can be pretty damaging to those men out there that do not live up to the image portrayed in the media. I’m putting up two of my favorites; Old Spice Manly Test, and a Full Throttle Energy Drink ad. Both of them suggest that real men have to do certain things, such as have hairy chests, “do recon work”, and drive monster trucks through suburbia.
These ridiculous expectations for what constitutes a man probably ensure that plenty of guys out there are taking a hit to their self-esteem. This is especially true because most of these commercials run during sports games, where athletes that are often the pinnacle of “male perfection” are on display in front of average joes. It is no small wonder why these manly ads run most often during the SuperBowl or other testosterone-fueled events; ad companies are relying on average, everyday men who feel threatened by the portrayal of perfect male specimens on their screen to look towards their products as a way of boosting their own manliness.
Girly Business May 10, 2007
Posted by jsaffold in commercials, menstruation, relationships with men.2 comments
Along with my comment on Jennifer’s post about tampon commercials, this is a Dr. Pepper commercial that pretty much speaks for itself: the guy is doing all these girly things for his girlfriend like folding her underwear, holding her purse, holding an umbrella over her and her shopping bags. The beginning part is really funny but I’ll let you all watch the commercial; you’ve probably seen it before. It goes along with my questions about male aversion to all-things-period. I’ll repost my comment here in case anyone missed it: (more…)
Bush or Backlash? May 9, 2007
Posted by lindamc in 911, Bill Clinton, class, controversy, Dixie Chix, Female Power, feminism, G W. Bush, Girl Power, nationalism, politics, Power, relationships with men, sexual power, sexuality, Shut up and Sing.add a comment
I can’t remember who made the comment about the post 911 reversion into a sort of white-boy southern American pride on Sunday’s class, but watching Shut up and Sing really got me thinking about Bush’s influence on aspects of our popular culture (more…)
“One of the Guys” May 1, 2007
Posted by erinsull in cosmo, gender, relationships with men.3 comments
Today in class we talked about the idea of “guys girls”. I don’t know if it is new to our generation but being “one of the guys” is a point of pride. I can’t tell you how many times in high school I heard a girl declare that she “just did not get along with other girls” so she would rather just hang out with guys. This did not diminish her social status at all, if anything she placed higher on the girl hierarchy. (On a side note I notice this phenomenon much less in college, but that may be an issue for another day). So what is so exciting about being “one of the guys”, what makes this girl so special? I looked around online and found this definition of the “One of the Guys Girl”: (more…)
Girlpower + 1 