Men Are From Mars Women Analysis
Gender Targeting in Print Ads
Nicola Batchelor
Allegedly “Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus.”
What the author of this book, John Gray, meant is that in certain key aspects of behaviour, men and women are so different that it could be argued that they are entirely different species. That these behaviour patterns are so different is due to fundamental differences in how members of each gender perceive themselves, what they aspire to, and how they want to be perceived by members of their own and the opposite sex. These particular attitudes and beliefs can give rise to strong motivational impulses, which can also be triggered to influence purchasing behaviour. Tuning in to these attitudes and values therefore lies at the very heart …show more content…
Kelner believes that this is because modern advertisements have the difficult task of “stressing gender difference in an era characterized by a loosening of rigid gender distinctions.” (Dines & Humez 1995:135) Research by Marsha Smith (Nottingham Trent University) has shown that an increasing number of men wax their legs and pluck their eyebrows; this increase she believes has arrived not only from the gay culture but because men are more worried about hygiene. There has been an increase of men using the gym and sport like bodybuilding, which has persuaded them to ‘clean’ themselves by removing hair. (Daily Mail 14.01.2003:29) Fig.6 and fig.7 are good examples of how adverts stress gender difference. The man being muscular showing his masculinity whilst the woman being mannequin-like, showing her feminine perfection. The women in adverts used to be portrayed as working class mothers but with the increase in numbers of successful businesswomen, adverts have been adapted to show this change. Trevor Millum categorises the four most common portrayals of women in British adverts; mannequin, narcissist, hostess and wife/mother. He thought that most women in advertisements where portrayed as the mannequin, devoid of personality whilst men appeared to have more thoughtful expressions. Adverts also focus more on womans hands, suggesting gentleness and femininity. (Courtney 1983:12-13) …show more content…
[WWW document] URL http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/gaze/gaze.html
Cook, Guy (1992): The Discourse of Advertising. London: Routledge
Courtney, Alice E & Thomas W Whipple (1983): Sex Stereotyping in Advertising. Lexington, MA: Lexington Books
Dines, G. & J. M. Humez (Eds.) (1995): Gender, Race and Class in Media: A Text-Reader. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage
Leymore, Varda Langholz (1975): Hidden Myth: Structure and Symbolism is Advertising. New York: Basic Books
Thwaites, Tony, Llloyd Davis & Warwick Mules (2002): Introducing cultural and media studies: a semiotic approach. Great Britain: Ebb Vale.
Vestergaard, Torben & Kim Schroder (1985): The Language of Advertising. Oxford: Basil
Nicola Batchelor
Allegedly “Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus.”
What the author of this book, John Gray, meant is that in certain key aspects of behaviour, men and women are so different that it could be argued that they are entirely different species. That these behaviour patterns are so different is due to fundamental differences in how members of each gender perceive themselves, what they aspire to, and how they want to be perceived by members of their own and the opposite sex. These particular attitudes and beliefs can give rise to strong motivational impulses, which can also be triggered to influence purchasing behaviour. Tuning in to these attitudes and values therefore lies at the very heart …show more content…
Kelner believes that this is because modern advertisements have the difficult task of “stressing gender difference in an era characterized by a loosening of rigid gender distinctions.” (Dines & Humez 1995:135) Research by Marsha Smith (Nottingham Trent University) has shown that an increasing number of men wax their legs and pluck their eyebrows; this increase she believes has arrived not only from the gay culture but because men are more worried about hygiene. There has been an increase of men using the gym and sport like bodybuilding, which has persuaded them to ‘clean’ themselves by removing hair. (Daily Mail 14.01.2003:29) Fig.6 and fig.7 are good examples of how adverts stress gender difference. The man being muscular showing his masculinity whilst the woman being mannequin-like, showing her feminine perfection. The women in adverts used to be portrayed as working class mothers but with the increase in numbers of successful businesswomen, adverts have been adapted to show this change. Trevor Millum categorises the four most common portrayals of women in British adverts; mannequin, narcissist, hostess and wife/mother. He thought that most women in advertisements where portrayed as the mannequin, devoid of personality whilst men appeared to have more thoughtful expressions. Adverts also focus more on womans hands, suggesting gentleness and femininity. (Courtney 1983:12-13) …show more content…
[WWW document] URL http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/gaze/gaze.html
Cook, Guy (1992): The Discourse of Advertising. London: Routledge
Courtney, Alice E & Thomas W Whipple (1983): Sex Stereotyping in Advertising. Lexington, MA: Lexington Books
Dines, G. & J. M. Humez (Eds.) (1995): Gender, Race and Class in Media: A Text-Reader. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage
Leymore, Varda Langholz (1975): Hidden Myth: Structure and Symbolism is Advertising. New York: Basic Books
Thwaites, Tony, Llloyd Davis & Warwick Mules (2002): Introducing cultural and media studies: a semiotic approach. Great Britain: Ebb Vale.
Vestergaard, Torben & Kim Schroder (1985): The Language of Advertising. Oxford: Basil