Advertising- Gauntlett

1) What examples does Gauntlett provide of the "decline of tradition"? How can we link our advertising CSPs (Score hair cream and Maybelline 'That Boss Life') to this idea?

Traditional gender identity used to be an important factor to include in advertising 20-30 years ago, mainly due to the significance of gender and what it meant in society in that time period; as society progresses, as society continues to adopt liberal ideas

2) How does Gauntlett suggest the media influences the way we construct our own identities?

Gauntlett states that the media gives us room to create our identities and that media texts like magazines help to promote and encourage the idea of self-identity by providing information on a range of topics etc  

3) How do the two CSPs reflect the generational differences that Gauntlett discusses? Is it a good thing that the media seems to promote modern liberal values?

The idea of what being masculine means has changed; it went from complete disregard of emotion and to constantly assert dominance to embracing femininity and the normalization of multiple sexualities for men 

4) Why might Manny and Shayla be a good example of the role models that Gauntlett discusses - and also demonstrate how those role models have changed in recent years?

They act as navigation points, people that help to guide others with their own life decisions.

5) Why does the Score hair cream advert provide such a good example of traditional masculinity? How can you link this to Gauntlett's discussion of whether masculinity is in crisis?

The score hair cream plays into typical ideas of toxic masculinity ideas of dominance and over sexualisation of women

6) Gauntlett consistently argues that masculinity is not in crisis. Can the Maybelline 'That Boss Life' advert be used as evidence of this?

The maybelline That Boss Life advert can be seen as evidence to evolution of masculinity, Gauntlett believes that masculinity is not in crisis, instead it's in a process of evolution, the advert shoes that the ideals of what makes a man masculine have changed over time

7) Does advertising still reinforce the "conventionally rugged, super-independent, extra-strong macho man" that Gauntlett discusses? Offer examples for both sides of the argument from the wider advertising industry.

I don't believe it does entirely, I believe it does both by having an advert that stars an actor that meets all the traditional stereotypes that makes a man good looking while also having a meaning/message behind it that supports the idea of being more open and emotional, it does both

8) Gauntlett discusses the idea of 'girl power' and offers examples from music and film. Does advertising provide evidence to support the idea of 'girl power' or is the industry still reinforcing traditional representations of men and women?

Adverts reflect the views of the public, that's how they're seen as relatable, whether or not the public sees if the advert represents them is he determining factor for the adverts success; due to this, not supporting "girl power" would be commercial suicide for most businesses, this shows a changing mentality to gender ideals. 

9) Do you agree with Gauntlett's argument under 'Popular feminism, women and men' where he suggests that younger generations are not threatened by traditional gender roles and are comfortable with social changes? Does advertising (and our CSPs in particular) provide examples either reinforcing or challenging this idea that younger generations are more comfortable with changing gender roles?


I agree with the idea that younger generations are more open to liberal ideas such as popular feminism due to the fact we were raised with these ideas being common, it's not something that we've had to adapt to, instead they're ideas that we grew up with.


10) How do the two advertising CSPs show the changing 'diversity of sexualities' that Gauntlett suggests?

heterosexuality was the only legal route for men and women in 1967, years later, a gay man is front lining the advertising campaign for a large company. That in itself shows that diversity and different sexualualities have become normal, showing the changing mentalities of society

11) What examples from advertising does Gauntlett provide for the changing nature of gender in society (from the section on Judith Butler's Gender trouble)?

His main example was from fragrance companies and their choice of using androgynous models for their advertisements trying to show that the product is for both men and women   

12) How can the Maybelline 'That Boss Life' advert be applied to Judith Butler's work on 'gender trouble'? ("The binary division of 'male' and 'female' identities should be shattered, Butler suggested, and replaced with multiple forms of identity...")

Their use of a male lead for their makeup advertisement shows that Maybelline trying to change and subvert the binary outlook on gender and sexuality, it's slowly destroying social norms, showing the audience that anyone can wear their makeup

13) How can our two advertising CSPs be used to argue that power has shifted from media institutions to audiences? (Clue: how did Manny and Shayler from the Maybelline advert first become famous?)

Manny and Mua are both online personalities with millions of followers and possibly hundreds of thousands accounts of engagement between them both, this along with the fact that they're probably both cheaper to hire than traditional celebrities shows that theyre the future. Mainstream celebrities and media corporations are shifting to social media due to this growing influence it has over the media landscape

14) Why is advertising such a good example of the 'contradictory elements' that Gauntlett discusses with regards to the mass media? In other words, how does advertising continue to both reinforce and challenge gender stereotypes?

Advertisements are constantly changing their marketing methods in order to try and relate to their audience, this can sometimes backfire and contradict itself e.g. an advert could try and subvert stereotypes by showing the women as a the dominant figure, but does so using her sexuality- something that enforces the stereotype that women are sex objects 

15) Finally, Gauntlett makes a clear case that things change and modern identities are increasingly fluid. How do our advertising CSPs demonstrate the changing attitudes towards gender and sexuality in society?

The most apparent example of change are the views on sexuality and gender dominance in society, Score hair cream and maybelliene are two products within the same industry but from two different periods in time. The views on liberal issues are clearly contrasting and thats due to the constant liberal progression within society