Nick Lacey- Representing Gender (Chapter 5)

11) Gender Oppositions

Male                             Female
active (do)                    passive (talk) 
dominant                      submissive
hard                             soft
intelligent                    intuitive
hard (muscles)            soft (curves)  
rational                       emotional
strong                          weak
thoughtful                 

These gender oppositions show the significant difference between how men and women are portrayed. Men are seen to be stronger than women as women are seen to be very emotionally weak which is a advantage for a man to become dominant in a relationship. In many women's magazines for example cosmopolitan encourages women to show themselves as sexual objects by positioning them in hardly any clothing with a seductive facial expression. The coverlines on the magazine cosmopolitan always suggests a way to win your man over and it always includes the word 'sex' which suggests women are sexually active.

12) "Analysis of ads suggest that gender is routinely portrayed according to traditional cultural stereotypes: women are shown as very feminine, as 'sex objects', as housewives, mothers, homemakers; and men in situations of authority and dominance over women. (Dyer 1982: 92-8)"

This quote once again suggests the difference in the two gender roles as men are constantly being portrayed as dominant and having power over women.

13) "adverts frequently depict ritualized versions of parent-child relationship, in which women are largely accorded childlike states. Women were typically shown lower or smaller than men using gestures which 'ritualized their subordination', for example, lying down ... [and with] deferential smiles. (Gill 2007:79)"

14) "The traditional image of the 'wife-mother-housewife' is now being replaced by images of sexually assertive, confident and ambitious women who express their "freedom" through consumption" (ibid.: 95).

This quote suggests once again how gender roles have changed for women throughout the years. The traditional view of women is that there housewives and stay home whilst there husband goes out to provide for there family.

15) “The exemplary female prototype in advertising regardless or product or service, displays youth (no lines or wrinkles), good looks, sexual seductiveness, and perfection (no scars, blemishes, or even pores).” (Cortese, Provocateur 1999)

16) "Men act and women appear. Men look at women, Women watch themselves being looked at. This determines not only most relations between men and women but also the relation of women to themselves"