For my third essay, I simply want to switch the roles the men and women play in the ad in relation to the messages in the text. Like I mentioned earlier, in the current ad campaign, the men are acting out the text and are dressed in bright colors, tutus and looking ridiculous with the text of the ads reading something like "Go crazy" and "Spoil yourself." For my essay, I want to discuss and study how the ads would be perceived if the women were the ones who were performing the active role in the ads-and they were the ones dressed silly and being crazy-like the text of the current ad campaign reads. The men would be seen in the passive and "conservative" role, which is the role in current ad campaign that the women possess.
Flipping the ads would lead to a completely different way that viewers would digest the messaging they are seeing through the images AND the text. I am going to study how women are represented in media-and I feel that flipping women and men as the active role will challenge heteronormative standards. The current campaign just reinforces gender roles-although the viewer might not think so at first, because the men look so serious. In the real Do the Dont's campaign, the men are doing the active role, are in the limelight of the viewer's eyes and are tied into the text of the ad. My switch would allow women to have the exact position the male does in the actual Do the Dont's campaign.
I'm interested in doing this for my final essay because I think switching the male and female roles completely changes the message behind the advertisements-and actually challenge heteronormative ideas. In terms of who would be interested in reading about this topic, I think this would be an interesting topic for people to read about, especially those who are interested in analyzing different ways men and women are portrayed throughout contemporary media and how although ads might look like they are sending a specific message; often the message actually sent to the viewer is the opposite (as in the current Juicy Do the Dont's campaign ads). My ultimate goal is to find out how men and women respond differently to ads like the current Juicy ad campaign.
In terms of visuals-I am going to base it off of the current campaign and write about what the opposite imaging would look like. I want to study sources that are more relatable to current representations of men and women's roles in ads, but also how they have been portrayed in the past. In terms of a timeline, I am hoping to work on this at the end of this week and during week nine and ten so the research isn't built up to do all last minute. I'm also interested because the research will relate not only to essay 3, but the essay 2 that I'm finishing up. I'm really excited to begin working on this-but I guess I should finish my essay 2 first...Thanks for any feedback!
i think your idea is great and from reading your blog i am actually interested in reading your finished product of your research paper. I think that a lot of our articles will relate to what you are doing. The (i think Bordo article) could possibly fit well with the opposite idea...women can take control of the ad and be pushed into some small corner or made to appear smaller incomparison to the men. I havent seen your adds, but I assume that the men are taking up the majority of the frame and it might be a fun angel to switch their positions with the women. Have the women being front and center and the men squeezed in around the text. I think you are on a great roll and it seems like you have already started your research. Good luck with the rest of your paper, it sounds like its going to be very interesting!
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like you have a great start on your reasearch. I like the idea. I was having a bit of trouble understanding how this paper was going to workand what my aim should be, but after reading this I have a much better understanding. It will be really interesting to examine the advertisements with the changes you've made, because as we all know, we rarely see images like that in today's mass media. I also believe that researching the past representations of men and women's roles in the ads will really add to your analysis. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteHi Andi,
ReplyDeleteYou have really thought about how to put this essay together! Simply flipping the roles of men and women in the ads has really generated a lot of thought for you, and I like the way you are positing the research questions you want to explore.
For your research, I think that you are very smart to look at research that discusses the roles men and women have traditionally held in print advertising. Britney is right - Bordo is a great place to start. You might also rewatch Killing Us Softly, because Kilbourne lays out fairly clearly the differences between how men and women are represented in advertising. Those differences seem to fit with what you are thinking, and could be a good base to work from.
Overall, this should be interesting research, and an interesting project. I'm looking forward to seeing how it turns out. ~Megan
I think this is an awesome idea and their is a lot you can do with it. It seems like you have a very good start. But I feel like researching may be a little difficult, but not impossible. I also think that another way you could look at this is the "do the dont" aspect. Why is Juicy telling its audience this and what would the ads be like if it was "do the do". The topic goes great with all the tings we have discussed in class and i look forward to seeing how you execute this paper.
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