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?
The interpretation of gender, Girl, boy, man and women, has constructed how humans live for millions of years. Only now in the last two century’s it’s starting to be challenged. Through many types of media for hundreds of years the ideology of gender characteristics and how they can be desirable to each other has determined how each gender lives their life. A woman expressing her delicateness and virtue results her being wed and respected, and a man being tall and strong is desired and celebrated. But the question is why women cannot be big and strong, and men are not delicate and emotion. The social construct of gender is the answer, without generations passing down the social ideology of gender we would not be subjected to do certain things or present ourselves in a certain manor to seek the approval from our opposite gender to finally mate and pass on the exact same ideals to our children.
I suggest that Judith butlers claim that gender is a performance, negotiates that we ‘pretend’, and ‘act’, the characteristics that are compulsory to are gender assignment. She protests that we are not born with the desire of certain things, for example boys playing with trains and cars, and girls playing with princess dolls and unicorns, it is the result of ‘‘an identity instituted through a stylized repetition of acts’’. Butler explains that gender is fluid that there isn’t a box we should fit in, she follows up on this theory and argues that our gender is on a suggestive spectrum of male and female. On the other hand, Laura Mulvey (2nd wave feminist) suggests that gender is fixed to male and female, that it is structured by institutions and those powerful individuals who are able to exert power and control for example Harvey Weinstein. While still recognising those arguments presented by Mulvey, Jean Kilbourne, Butler suggests that gender is fluid and changeable and can be altered by anyone at any point in time depending on how they see fit.
The sexualisation of women has been among one of the most argued and challenged subjects in media. From the ‘wash is whiter’ and ‘score’ adverts they both along with thousands of other adverts from that time subjected women to limited purpose in life, to be sexualised and to serve men. On the score advert I intently analysed that the date of this advert, 1963 explains the sexist reasoning behind it. The ideology of women being stay at home mothers and the stereotypical women cook and clean was still very much distinctive. Therefore, advertising a product that shows women working hard to please the man, ie, holding him up on the stretcher teases the men that the product brings this. The disregarding focus on women shows them in a negative and gullible light, and that we would they are happy. The only aspects of women that the advert show are those that are favourable to men are their bodies and their submissive tendencies, illustrating the voyeuristic tendencies of the patriarchy.
In addition, the third wave feminism included things like intersectionality, raunch culture and queer theory. the Maybelline advert in context to Judith butlers’ theory’s the advert describes gender as non-conforming and an illusion. The male actor Manny Mua is a gay man is used to highlight the fluidity of gender and sexuality and proving that these ideals shouldn’t be one thing, like the stereotype of men being strong and heroic. In this advert he over exaggerates his actions and tone of voice to present more feminine and to promote LGBTQ plus furthermore also links to Judith Butlers theory that gender is performed and not set in stone as such. Maybelline has applied a male to advertise their product, this is a clever advertising strategy as it does not target a specific audience. The advert is radical as normal advert for makeup would have a white female using the makeup, this advert challenges that as it has a gay male using the makeup and representing the product. Things such as “promotes the dangerous sentiment that men are supposed to adhere to hyper masculine culture.” and “he encourages people to think of makeup as genderless. He thinks boys deserve just as much cosmetic recognition as their female counterparts.” shows how people are trying to advertise the idea that gender isn’t fixed, and so certain things shouldn’t be applied to one gender.