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 am going to discuss how Judith Butler’s idea of identity being something that is performed is very useful to understanding gender in the Maybelline and Score adverts.

I would suggest that gender as performance by Butler shown in the quote  ‘nobody is a gender from the start.’ and that our gender identity and sexuality is ever-changing depending on the context of the situation. She expresses how gender is fluid, changeable, plural, and “a set of categories to be played out and performed by individual subjects in individual moments in time and space” implying that we are able to change our gender/ identityand shouldn’t be regarded as just one identity.

Futhermore in the past women were seen as a object of a man, which is suggested by Laura Mulvey and so their identity was fixed as being there to proivde for the man and the family and not able to do anything else.

These theoretical approaches around gender, feminism and representation can be linked to both CSP 3 (Score) and CSP 4 (Maybelline).

Firstly, in the Score advert there are a number of theories relating to how the characters in it are portrayed. It is created by considering the social and historical context of what was happening at the time. For example during the 1970’s there was emerging acceptance of homosexuality and a slight lead towards change of gender roles. In this CSP it is evident that the company doesn’t support these new ideas and that you are born a gender and sexuality (heterosexual) and this doesn’t change throughout your life time. Judith Butler suggests that the “lack of alternative representations in media helps reinforce heteronormativity” which could be an explanation as to why the society was unwilling to change and the Score advert (CSP 3) further enforces heteronormativity.

However, in the Maybelline advert (CSP 4) there is a significant change in the way that gender and sexuality is portrayed. It features 3 character Manny Mau, Shayla and a bell boy. Manny is could be seen as a countertype to your stereotypical makeup artist for a few reasons. Firstly, he is a male, in the 1960’s if a male would have wanted to be in involved in ‘feminine’ activities it would have been frowned upon and the audience positioning of such advert would have been non-existent. Secondly he is a homosexual which back in the day, this trait wouldn’t have been featured for the public.

Butler’s work is very useful in allowing us to understand CSP 4 because it is clear that Manny doesn’t portray a masculine look, rather more of a feminine kind with a gentle posture. Butler says that men don’t have to perform to the masculine standards and can perform however they like and that their gender can somewhat be shifted according to a situation eg. getting ready for a party and wanting to get glammed up, proving that gender is performed.

Another idea i would like to raise is about the different waves of feminism which can be seen in both CSP’s. There are 4 different waves of feminism. The first wave of feminism occurred in the early 20th century with movements such as the suffragettes and the international council of women. Virgina Woolf was part of first wave feminism said that women don’t have equal opportunities and were encouraged not to pursue their ambitions but instead stay home and do housework. This encourgaed a second wave years later.

The score advert (CSP 3) was created in the times of the 2nd wave of feminism which was about was about civil rights, equal rights for women (equal pay, decriminalisation of abortion, exposes mechanisms of patriarchy). Although this advert doesn’t appear to support this ideas it does however give us an insight into how corrupt situations were in the 60’s due to the way women are shown. Jean Kilbourne suggested that the way in which females are seen in adverts almost encourages idea of abuse, institutional behaviour stems from sexualised female adverts. Leading it to be seen as acceptable because it is the constructed reality that media influences who we become.

Next came the third wave feminism in the early 21st centuary when the Maybelline advert was created. The third wave feminism included things like intersectionality, raunch culture and queer theory. I believe that intersectionality plays an important part in the representation of a modern day world. Shayla (the woman in the Maybelline advert) is what would be described as a positive stereotype because she doesn’t fit the ‘ideal’ beauty standards but still goes out there being confident. Additionally she is a black woman which can be seen as double burden ‘in a postcolonial context, women carry the double burden of being colonized by imperial powers and subordinated by colonial and native men’. But Maybelline wanted to show how they are breaking free from stereotypes and having a less selective representation, appealing to all kind of people across the world leading it to be a very successful business.

In conclusion, I believe that in both CSP’s gender and sexuality is presented very clearly, showing the beliefs surrounding these areas in a very coherent way linking in with Judith Butler’s theories nicely about how gender is something that is performed through actions as seen by the way they dress, the positioning of the characters and interrelationships portrayed in the adverts.