Compare how media language is used in the construction of gender in two print advertisements for fragrances? (500-800 words)
The two products that I am analysing is a David Beckham perfume advert (Intense Instinct) and Shalimar perfume advert ( Parfum Initial). The key terms that are used is; gender this is the state of being male and female, also another key term is patriarchy where men are expected to go to work whilst women stay at home and look after the children, objectification means degrading someone to the status of a object for example a sex object.
The first advert includes David Beckham standing up shirtless with a straight face looking into the camera. The advert is shot in a medium close up and its in a eye level angle. In the mise en scene; the location is in a studio, the prop that was used was the perfume, there was artificial lighting used in the advert also in addition they used the standard 3-point technique using the key light and fill light. The anchorage text tells us the name of the celebrity, the anchorage text is at the bottom corner of the advert in a small text. This is for us to see the main to picture of David Beckham clearly and so that we can recognise him straight away. The brand name is of the celebrity which can show us the popularity of the celebrity as his name is a brand. Furthermore this advert does challenge patriarchy and stereotypes as men are supposed to be working and providing for there family as the women are expected to stay at home and they are the ones who show off their body making them look like sex object. I think the picture used in the advertising has been airbrushed and edited to make David Beckham better looking and bring out more of his facial features.
The second advert like the first one includes someone shirtless standing up with a straight face looking into the camera but this time its a women covering his breasts. The advert is also in a medium shot with an eye level angle. In the mise en scene; it is also shot in a studio, the props used was also the perfume but also they have a stage that the women is leaning against. Similarly to the first advert the standard 3-point technique was used but now using all the lights; the key light, fill light and the back light, the anchorage is bigger than the first advertisement with David Beckham and this time it is at the bottom of the advert. The perfume is big and clear at the front so people can recognise it and the women is in background to most probably grab peoples attention. Furthermore this reinforces patriarchy as the women is being degraded and being turned into a sex object. She is being objectified for the purpose of the advert and further evidence is that she is nearly the same size as the bottle of perfume, whilst in the first advert it was much smaller and at the bottom of the screen. In addition like the first advert I think that the picture has been edited and airbrushed to make the model look better and so she can promote her body even more for it to look more pleasant.
In conclusion, what I have learned from those two adverts is that women are objectified in most advertisement and made to look 'sexy' which degrades them whilst men if they do the same advert they are made to look powerful and respectable whilst being shirtless. Gender stereotypes will always be a matter in advertising and as it is successful people wont want to change there ways although sometimes its broken and the roles are reversed, the government can make a change but it will still always be there.
The first advert includes David Beckham standing up shirtless with a straight face looking into the camera. The advert is shot in a medium close up and its in a eye level angle. In the mise en scene; the location is in a studio, the prop that was used was the perfume, there was artificial lighting used in the advert also in addition they used the standard 3-point technique using the key light and fill light. The anchorage text tells us the name of the celebrity, the anchorage text is at the bottom corner of the advert in a small text. This is for us to see the main to picture of David Beckham clearly and so that we can recognise him straight away. The brand name is of the celebrity which can show us the popularity of the celebrity as his name is a brand. Furthermore this advert does challenge patriarchy and stereotypes as men are supposed to be working and providing for there family as the women are expected to stay at home and they are the ones who show off their body making them look like sex object. I think the picture used in the advertising has been airbrushed and edited to make David Beckham better looking and bring out more of his facial features.
The second advert like the first one includes someone shirtless standing up with a straight face looking into the camera but this time its a women covering his breasts. The advert is also in a medium shot with an eye level angle. In the mise en scene; it is also shot in a studio, the props used was also the perfume but also they have a stage that the women is leaning against. Similarly to the first advert the standard 3-point technique was used but now using all the lights; the key light, fill light and the back light, the anchorage is bigger than the first advertisement with David Beckham and this time it is at the bottom of the advert. The perfume is big and clear at the front so people can recognise it and the women is in background to most probably grab peoples attention. Furthermore this reinforces patriarchy as the women is being degraded and being turned into a sex object. She is being objectified for the purpose of the advert and further evidence is that she is nearly the same size as the bottle of perfume, whilst in the first advert it was much smaller and at the bottom of the screen. In addition like the first advert I think that the picture has been edited and airbrushed to make the model look better and so she can promote her body even more for it to look more pleasant.
In conclusion, what I have learned from those two adverts is that women are objectified in most advertisement and made to look 'sexy' which degrades them whilst men if they do the same advert they are made to look powerful and respectable whilst being shirtless. Gender stereotypes will always be a matter in advertising and as it is successful people wont want to change there ways although sometimes its broken and the roles are reversed, the government can make a change but it will still always be there.
Gender is socially constructed - so not quite as simple as 'male' and 'female'.
ReplyDeleteOtherwise, a clearly written analysis with good points. We could think about the gaze - are the models there to look or be looked at? or both? C+