The text made me consider how gender is a facet of identity that exists purely as another thing to be advertised or advertised to. For example, marketing to men involves affirming their masculinity, whereas marketing to women involves a need to be seen as “progressive” in encouraging female empowerment, but often with products marketed to women, this is counterintuitive as the products themselves further encourage a limited idea of women and their roles. Another aspect of this is the way women, and sometimes men, are objectified in media. In movie trailers, the actors themselves become the attraction rather than the film. It is often said that “sex sells,” in turn reducing women to merely a marketing device. However, gender can exist in media in more positive ways. Seeing gender stereotypes and identities countered or questioned in media can also allow individuals to critique their own cultural expectations and assumptions of gender. This kind of positive representation in media is necessary for further understanding and growth of knowledge about gender and how it impacts individuals’ identities and experiences, especially for young children.
3 thoughts on “Gender: Mary Margaret Clouse”
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I believe that this idea that “sex sells” is an interesting idea because it can be seen in different types of media the effects that it has. For example on Tik Tok there are many users that hold experiments where they will wear more revealing clothes in one Tik Tok and then change their clothes and put on less revealing clothes and compare how much reach each video gets. In almost every test I have seen the Tik Tok with more revealing clothes always receives more views and likes. This raises the question whether this happens because of Tik Tok’s algorithm or if it’s something that happens naturally.
This is an interesting example – thanks for bringing it up.
I’d love to see you include examples of “marketing to men involves affirming their masculinity” and “marketing to women involves a need to be seen as “progressive” in encouraging female empowerment, but often with products marketed to women, this is counterintuitive as the products themselves further encourage a limited idea of women and their roles.” These are excellent and accurate claims, but an example of each would strengthen your position.