Compare how media language is used in the construction of                                                              gender in two print advertisements for fragrances. (500-800)

The first product I will be analysing is called "Axe Dark Temptation" shower gel. I chose this product specifically due to the sexuality portrayed by the brand in the adverts. The advert objectifies females as sexual possessions therefore degrading their social statuses to being entertainment for men. Objectification is the action of degrading someone's status to a mere object. The second product which I shall be analysing and comparing to my precious analysis is "Lynx Cool Metal" shower gel. This advert is similar to the first product in what is being portrayed, but there are little differences which I’d like to touch on. For example patriarchy is upheld more clearly in the second product. Patriarchy meaning a society in which men hold the power and women are disregarded.

First Product

There are three different print advertisements for the brand but they all portray the same thing. I will be analysing the advertisement in the provided link below.

https://adsoftheworld.com/media/print/axe_whip

This advert shows a male figure in the shower using the axe shower gel to clean his back with a brush, whilst there's also a female figure in a room, which looks like a shower room, holding a whip at her back in the same position that the man does and the actual product is placed in the middle. The caption is, "The Cleaner You Are, The Dirtier You Get".

The Anchorage text is split into two using different fonts, one half on the males image saying, “THE CLEANER YOU ARE", in a sort of normal font style and then the other half on the females image saying, “THE DIRTIER YOU GET", in a sort of sexually elegant font style. The anchorage text on the male image is evidence of patriarchy as the male being "clean" has connotations of a form of holiness. The male being "clean" and the female being "dirty" also goes against the stereotypical phrase that boys/males are dirty and untidy compared to girls/females. The comparative adjective "Dirtier" is used on the female’s image to avoid use of the taboo subject of sex. Dirtier has connotations of sexual activity and being lascivious. The fact that this is on the female’s image further strengthens the fact that women are being objectified for the pleasure of men.

The camera shots for both male and female in the images are mid shots, but there is a slight difference. The shot done for the female is a little lower than the shot done for the male in order to show a little bit of her hip/curves. Although the advert is for men, there is more emphasis on the female in the advert and this strengthens Laura Mulvey's theory on "The Male Gaze" in the media and in everyday life. "The Male Gaze" can be understood as men being the "lookers" and women the "looked at". Women are presented as objects of male pleasure. The images, I believe, are airbrushed in order to sexualise the females physic. The shower gel is also in the middle of these two shots, the shot type of this is like an extreme long shot. This is done in order for the audience to get a clear view of the bottle.

The mise en scene is craftily done in order to contrast props used on the male to a more sexual object on the female. The male in the advert holds a brush, which he scrubs his back with using the gel, whilst the female is then seen to be holding a sexual toy, a whip, and she has placed it on her back in a similar position to the way the male is placing the brush. The lighting used is a Key light in order to focus on the important parts of the images, there's most probably also a Back light. The male is in a shower, which makes sense as the product is a shower gel for males, and the female is in a room which looks like the shower.

Second Product

This product also touches on the taboo subject of sex and objectification of women. I will be analysing the advertisement provided in the link below.

http://cdn.newsapi.com.au/image/v1/634eef3f9c4db238ec8f923f86e2223d?width=1024

The advertisement shows the product in the middle of the image and the name of the product at the top right hand corner with a quote below saying, “CLEANS YOUR BALLS", with a rugby ball and cricket ball underneath it. On the Left side the quote says, “Because no one likes dirty balls", with a woman standing next to the quote.

There are also 2 anchorage texts in this advert, one being more evident than the other. The more evident one says, “CLEANS YOUR BALLS", whilst the other says, “Because no one likes dirty balls", with the dirty balls underlined. The taboo subject of sex is portrayed again in the phrases "dirty balls" and "Balls". We can clearly tell, although there are sport balls in the advert that the "balls" mentioned is referring to the male genitals/sex organ. The woman standing next to the "Because no one likes dirty balls" is being similarly sexualised as the women in my previous analysis, as females are the "no one’s" in this subject. This upholds patriarchy and portrays objectification of women, as females are referred to as no one, therefore giving power to males as they are indirectly implied to be more important. The anchorages also imply that if you clean your balls you'll be able to attract a woman like the female being shown in the advert, which is very wrong as there is a very high chance that the woman's image has been airbrushed.

The camera shots on the female in the advert is a medium shot, this is not so typical as her "curves", compared to the female in my first analysis, aren't really shown. Although there is the unbuttoned shirt which exposes a little sexuality, but other than that the female isn't physically sexualised she's only sexualised due to where she's been positioned on the advert, right next to the quote "Because no one like dirty balls". The camera shot on the product itself is a long shot as we can clearly see the product from top to bottom which is important for the audience.

The mise en scene can be said to be quite tricky as it uses props such as the sports balls in order to talk about the taboo subject of sex. The female in the advert seems to be in a tennis outfit which most men find attractive. This also links to my fact about "The Male Gaze" in my first analysis as males will be looking at the females due to their sexual appearance. This is also strengthened by the fact that the lighting used on the female is High Key Lighting in order to make her stand out. Although she does already stand out as she's the only living thing in the advert. It could be argued that the High Key Lighting was unnecessary and just another way for females to be objectified.

To conclude, from looking at the two products, it is evident that females are portrayed more sexually than men in the media. The similarities in both products are that females are objectified a lot in men's products and there is more focus and attention on the females rather than the actual product. Due to Laura Mulvey's theory on "The Male Gaze", when a female is sexualised in a picture/image males are likely to be intrigued. So the marketing strategy which I can see in both products is that sexualise a lady in order to grab men's attention and increase the chances of the product being bought. Also, the products are aimed at more sexually educated men, adults Due to the implied audience and actual audience mostly likely being different, they made the sex subject taboo and this is done a lot more in the second advert. The differences are that, the woman in the second advert is less sexualised than the one in the first advert. Although patriarchy is used more in the second advert one in order to make men feel powerful.

Gender stereotypes are still prevalent in the media as in most products for men/males, they are either shown to be doing a manly thing by buying the product or females are objectified in order to draw their attention causing them to buy the product. Females are seen as just a mere object to be played with by males and males are seen as the stronger figure in society. These gender stereotypes are very incorrect yet, people are still falling into the trap of those stereotypes in media. It makes you wonder whether maybe people subconsciously like the stereotypes and want life to be stereotypical.

The challenging of these gender stereotypes is a good step towards equality for both males and females. The ASA was founded in 1962 but the law on female objectification in advertisement will only be in proper vigorous effect in 2018. It's sad that gender stereotypes in adverts weren't noticed and challenged a long time ago as it is what builds our society. From a young age adverts have caused many generations to believe females are supposed to be one way and males the other way. This is an important reason why we are in an unequal society. Hopefully, when the gender stereotype law is fully in action, society will start to become more equal in generations to come.