As part of this unit of work you need to complete the following exam essay, as ever exam essays can be found on the top menu, with feedback from the exam board.
Judith Butler describes gender as “an identity instituted through a stylized repetition of acts”. In other words, it is something learnt through repeated performance.
How useful is this idea in understanding gender is represented in both the Score and Maybelline advertising campaigns?
In this essay I will discuss how gender is represented in both the Score and Maybelline advertisements. Judith Butler, writer of the book “Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity”, is a philosopher and gender theorist whose work has influenced political philosophy, ethics, and the fields of third-wave feminism, queer theory, and literary theory. She strongly believes that gender should be seen as a human attribute that shifts and changes and disagrees with gender being limited to male or female. Butler says “Audiences learn how to perform gender via the media.” meaning that the media construct a person and their identity form them without people realising. Although he has similar beliefs to Butler, David Gauntlet, said “Audiences are in control of the media – adapting and assimilating ideas about themselves through the various representation that the media presents.” illustrating how audiences are collectively adapting cultural norms and adapting themselves to fit in to society.
Lisbet Van Zoonen is another theorist that supports Butler and highlights the idea that the concept of ‘woman’ is not a homogenous, collective noun. He thinks that people could be aware that there are differences between women and that ‘gender is not the defining quality alone for women, and intersects with race, sexuality and class.’ (Hendry & Stephenson 2018:52). Van Zoonen, develops and applies ideas of cultural hegemony (GRAMSCI) and interpellation (ALTHUSSER) towards feminist studies while prioritising the realm of popular culture as the site of struggle, where identities are continually being reconstructed.
The Maybelline advert represents an inclusive advert consisting of people who are not the stereotypical male or female. For example sexuality, gender, race and the use of marketing strategy’s encourage a wider audience and target audience. Most makeup adverts are stereotypical and usually only include women however in this particular advert it uses a male to represent their product.
Manny MUA, a social media influencer is included in this advert alongside another character, Shayla who is another social media influencer. Manny is a gay male, he is presented in this advert as quite feminine as he has a high pitched voice and is American which are both ‘stereotypical‘ traits of a gay/feminine male. This could be perceived as both positive and negative to the representation of sexuality as it represents men in the makeup industry that has been preciously dominated by women.
The advert presents both characters using the mascara and showing the audience how the mascara is applied. It is presented as a rich expensive product as the emphasis on the amount of gold used in the advert to show the expense and high standard of the product as gold connotates to money and power. In the advert it shows both characters going from not having expensive clothes on and being in a average NYC apartment to the transformation of them wearing gold outfits and looking ‘glammed up’ after using the product. Presenting this idea to the audience that if you use the product then you will then also feel this luxury. The advert also presents the idea of diversity of gender and race as Shayla in the advert is a black straight female and Manny is a white gay male. This is and example of a positive counter typical advert as it shows the audience that the product is not aimed at any specific group of people and that anyone can use this product. As in the advert ‘score’ that we looked at it focused on a specific group which is focused on middle class white men. Notice how in the video, the dominant signifier is the product shot of a suitcase full of mascara with gold shines illuminating from it. The gold shines represent the product as being a high quality product. However, the scene and set (the apartment) reminds the audience that the mascara is cheap.
Barker and Jane (2016) said ‘rebellion of younger women against what was perceived as the prescriptive, pushy and ‘sex negative’ approach of older feminists.’ According to Barker and Jane (2016), third wave feminism, which is regarded as having begun in the mid-90’s has many recognisable characteristics such as; an emphasis on the differences among women due to race, ethnicity, class, nationality, religion, fluid and multiple subject positions and identities, the reappropriation of derogatory terms such as ‘slut’ and ‘bitch’ and sex positivity.
The Queer Theory was founded by Alan Sinfield and Jonathan Dollimore in 1990. In terms of applying queer theory to feminist critical thought, many people, including Judith Butler, expressed doubt over the approach towards the oppositions like male/female; feminine/masculine, man/woman.
In contrast to Butler’s beliefs, the Score advert represents a degrading advert consisting of women who fit the stereotypical female category. They are dressed in little clothing, and carrying a man on a raised platform
The use of marketing strategy’s encourage a wider audience and target audience. Most makeup adverts are stereotypical and usually only include women however in this particular advert it uses a male to represent their product.However, not in a positive way. The Score advert was produced in the year of decriminilasiation of homosexuality and as such, the representation of heterosexuality could be read as signaling more anxiety than might first appear. When studying the advert, it was important to take into consideration it’s historical, social and cultural contexts. Score heavily relates to gender roles, sexuality and the historical context of advertising techniques. The advert makes men think that if they use score, women will instantly be attracted to them and they will become the superior, alpha male. Women didn’t have the rights that they do now when this advert was made and they were often objectified by men and were and are often stereotyped. This is an example of Laura Mulvey’s ‘male gaze‘ theory. The male audience are most likely attracted to the females in the advert due to the little and somewhat ‘tempting’ clothing. Notice how in the advert the woman at the back of the photo is reaching up to touch the male sitting on the platform. This represents her desire to connect with the male as he is using the product. Notice how in the fine print the word ‘Score‘ is mentioned 7 times and there are 4 pictures of the product containing the word ‘Score‘ also.
In summary, I believe that gender being “an identity instituted through a stylised repetition of acts” is learnt through the repeated performance of more modern adverts being made that are inclusive and focus on realistic/actual audience, meaning all types of gender rather than companies continuously focussing on their target audience and finding models who fit their stereotypical customers. The Score and Maybelline adverts are a perfect example of stereotypes/countertypes, radical/reactionary, and inclusive’exclusive.