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 establish Butler’s views on gender – how they are relevant to a contemporary advertisement and then the contrasting classic advertisement.
Judith Butler’s famous work on Gender was Performative Acts and Gender Constitution. This work entails the distinctions between performing and acting. On page 519 Butler states that ‘social agents constitute to social reality through language, gesture, and all manner of symbolic social sign’ The reader may interpret this as one may act differently which then defines their character and how they are socially. For example, the gestures that one female makes can be the complete opposite of how another female’s gestures are – both their genders are female though. Just because they are both female does not necessarily mean that they will look and act the same. This is what Judith Butler believes in.
Toril Moi’s (1987) crucial set of distinctions between: ‘feminist’, ‘female’ and ‘feminine’. Feminist = a political position, Female = a matter of biology, Feminine = a set of culturally defined characteristics.
Toril Moi has the three concepts <Feminist<>Female<>Feminine> which shows her awareness in the differentiation of gender. Which is what Judith Butler strongly believes in. This supports Butler in which Gender is on a whole spectrum. Moi suggests that there is great difference between <Feminist<>Female<>Feminine> which shows that if you are female biologically you don’t necessarily have to be feminine nor a feminist. Toril Moi’s three concepts can apply to CSP4:Maybelline. In the Maybelline advertisement, one of the beauty guru’s used as a dominant signifier who is part of the face of the campaign, is a male and is gay and is also rather feminine. That is what the audience will gather from watching the advertisement. This correlates with Toril Moi because the beauty guru: MannyMUA goes against the age old stereotype of being a male and the need to be masculine and against feminism.
Laura Mulvey developed the theory of the male gaze. This theory indicates that all throughout film and the media and even real life the male gaze has been very prominent. This is the idea that women are viewed as objects by men. This also supports the ancient ideology of patriarchy in society; men being above all. In accordance to Laura Mulvey’s theory of the gaze, CSP3:Score depicts clearly men to be superior in a way against women. The man in the Score advert is being lifted by the 5 women which links to the idea of patriarchy. He has a proud look on his face which is symbolic as it can represent a poacher stood in front of his prey that he’s just poached. This creates a negative outlook on woman because it portrays them as objects that men can do as they like to them.
There is the Gender performativity theory which is the theory that gender and gender roles are elaborate social performances that one puts on in day-to-day life, the hegemonic versions of which underlay popular conceptions of “man”/”masculine” and “woman”/feminine”.
Feminist critical thought became much more prominent during the cultural movements of the late 1960’s and early 1970’s, which brought on, other changes such as acceptance of birth control and divorce, abortion and homosexuality.
However, the Score advert was produced in the year of decriminalisation of homosexuality and so the advert can be seen as negative and a “step backwards” since the reader might see the Score advert and sense that the world isn’t as accepting of homosexuality. This is because the Score advert does not show any awareness or acceptance of homosexuality, rather the opposite. The man is lifted up and above the women signifying his precedence over them. The 5 women are all made to seem as though they are “swooning” over him and showing their interest and admiration. One blonde woman is even reaching out to grab the man as if he is some special artefact that is wanted by all. That is what Score wants men to believe if they use their product. They mention their product countless times in the copy in their advert with numerous photos of the product.
Although the women’s movement was not the start of feminism. In other words, the issue of women’s inequality goes as far back as before the 1960s. ‘the feminist literary criticism of today is the product of the women’s movement of the 1960’s’ (Barry 2017:123) This quote means that during the second wave of feminism, many opportunities and greater personal freedom for women came about. Due to that, we have many written things to take from that such as, The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan. Women also took over the means of production by setting up feminist printing houses such as Virago Press.
Third-wave feminism began in the early 1990s, coined by Naomi Wolf, it was a response to the generation gap between the feminist movement of the 1960’s and ’70’s, challenging and re-contextualising some of the definitions of femininity that grew out of that earlier period. In particular, the third-wave sees women’s lives as intersectional, demonstrating a pluralism towards race, ethnicity, class, religion, gender and nationality when discussing feminism. ‘rebellion of younger women against what was perceived as the prescriptive, pushy and ‘sex negative’ approach of older feminists.’ (344)Barker and Jane (2016 p. 344) This quote means that women that were trying to get on with their lives and do as they please but older feminists were seeing them as if they were acting out and judging them as of course this type of behaviour was new and unexpected for everyone. Maybelline shows the freedom of individuals that these women during the third wave of feminism were trying to achieve peacefully. This can be further supported by Raunch culture. ‘Raunch culture is the sexualised performance of women in the media that can play into male stereotypes of women as highly sexually available, where its performers believe they are powerful owners of their own sexuality’ Hendry & Stephenson (2018:50)
However, 4th wave feminism also looked to explore these contradictory arguments and further sought to recognise and use the emancipatory tools of new social platforms to connect, share and develop new perspectives, experiences and responses to oppression, ‘tools that are allowing women to build a strong, popular, reactive movement online‘ (Cochrane, 2013). This encouraged things like the radical stance of #MeToo to the Free the Nipple campaign, which Miley Cyrus endorsed and supported, the use of new media technologies has been very helpful and progressive for broadening out the discussion and arguments that are played out in this timeline of femininity
In conclusion , I believe in Judith Butler’s belief that gender and that Maybelline and Score adverts have contrasting representations of gender and their take on feminsm.
