Slides: Lesson 5 Slides
We’ll look at this at the end of class: Click the following to see Historical ads examples (scroll down to page 3 to see the examples)
Assignment: answer the questions found in the link here: http://goo.gl/forms/A86BQYMhkX
“Femvertising” article:http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/oct/12/femvertising-branded-feminism
“Hunkvertising” article from the Telegraph:
The survey, of 998 men aged over 16, found that 26 per cent of us think blokes are sexualised as much as women in ads, whilst 22 per cent say men are “too stereotyped”.
Of those who take any notice – and gratifyingly, 50 per cent of men don’t even pay attention to this guff – the result is a generation of narcissists who prize having a ripped body (45 per cent) over getting married or being in a relationship (38 per cent); having kids (23 per cent); or promotion at work (18 per cent).
While tawdry, much of this is hardly news. A year ago, I wrote about how men are now objectified more than women – and that was before Poldark’s scythe sent even BBC Woman’s Hour all aquiver.
The big question is: does any of it matter? Certainly, there is evidence some men are damaging themselves in the pursuit of physical perfection thrust upon us by the media, in the same way many women have for a generation.
What is more concerning is advertisers’ and programme makers’ depiction of men as stupid, subservient slaves to career-juggling supermums – a trend that runs from the buffoonery of Daddy Pig to an endless tidal wave of cretinous TV ad dads.
The Mintel research confirmed that 20 per cent of men think we are portrayed as incompetent about the house in ads, and small wonder. In ad land – unlike the real world where men dominate computing and engineering – bumbling blokes can’t even get a broadband connection and struggle with basic domestic appliances, while smarter women roll their eyes, then save the day.
Overall, this means that, increasingly, men in adverts are prized for their looks, but ridiculed for their brains – which is precisely where women were in the 1950s and ’60s.
Complaining about sexist ads is still an obsession that keeps many feminists busy. In particular, many are eager to instantly shut down ads that “fat shame” women, even at a time when women’s obesity has been hailed as “the biggest threat to women’s health” by England’s chief medical officer, Dame Sally Davies. In England in 2013, 56.4 per cent of women aged 34-44 and 62 per cent of women aged 45-54 were classified as overweight or obese.