Advertising: assessment

Assessment

David Gauntlett has argued against the idea that masculinity is 'in crisis’. To what extent do you believe masculinity is 'in crisis'?

In your response you should refer to your Advertising and Marketing Close Study Products: the Score hair cream advert (1967) and the Maybelline ‘That Boss Life’ YouTube advert (2017).

This highlights the changes over time as "views of gender and sexuality,masculinity and femininity, identity and selfhood, are all in slow but steady processes of change and transformation". 

[20 marks]

It could be argued that masculinity is in crisis due to the significant changes in the representation of men and the idea of masculinity over time. However some people may also argue that masculinity is not in crisis like David Gauntlett suggests that it is just changing over time.David Gauntlett has the idea that identity is becoming more fluid and there is a "decline of tradition". He suggest that the traditional views of masculine ideals such as toughness,stubbornness and emotional silence have changed and it is more accepted in society for men to explore their emotions and that it is okay for them to ask for help or advice. This doesn't mean that masculinity is in crisis but as times change ideologies also change. 

The typical hypermasculine idea of how men should be is represented in the 1967 Score Hair Cream advert where you can see a man dressed in hunting clothes carrying a gun and being carried by women wearing scantily clad hunting clothes.The preferred reading for a 1967 audience is that using the hair cream will make you seem manly and desirable to women. This is suggested by the slogan 'Get what you've always wanted' which hints that men will be able to fulfill their desires by getting any woman they want. However the oppositional reading is that the advert is objectifying women and making them seem like objects only for the pleasure of men to look at and that they are subservient/inferior to men. The advert was produced in the year of the decriminalisation of homosexuality which could be linked to the hypermasculine image of the advert. In the description of the product it states that it is made by men which could be to dismiss any hesitation men may have of buying grooming products as if it were made by women it might undermine or compromise their masculinity especially since there was pressure on men to not be labelled as 'queer'. A modern audience would not react well to this advert and would reject it since women are now more empowered due to the feminism movement and are against the objectification of women and there are more laws for gender equality. This highlights the generational differences in views of sexuality as "the mass media has become more liberal".

The Maybelline 'That Boss Life' advert challenges gender stereotypes as it uses a gay man as the face of beauty products which for years has been limited to women but are now targeting men as well as women.

This highlights how identity is becoming more fluid. as years ago using a man to advertise makeup would not have been accepted. The campaign was such a landmark as it was the first time Maybelline used a man for any campaign and began breaking boundaries.The modern audiences are now much more accepting of breaking down the expectations of masculinity and are open to different forms of masculinity. This is a significant contrast to the Score Hair Cream advert as there are two opposing representations of men, one that has been carried for years that men should have strength and limited emotions whereas the other is more liberal and promotes the idea of homosexuality and that men can wear makeup.

In conclusion i think that masculinity is not in crisis, although the traditional old school view of masculinity has changed over time now there are more liberal ideas of gender and people are more open to different forms of masculinity.