Gendered Ads and Food

For my analysis paper, I wrote about the new Mitchum deodorant advertisement campaign. I think these ads are degrading to both sexes. Although, when I showed them to my boyfriend (Justin), he did not appear as offended as me. He thought some of them were funny. Of course, I got on a rant about gender stereotypes and how women are not sex objects, etc. After a little thought, Justin decided that some of the ads were definitely offensive (or maybe he was just trying to stop my rant...?). When I see ads like the Mitchum ads, my thoughts immediately go towards the underlying messages. Justin (like many people) enjoys ads based on their face value without evaluating the underlying social content. I think if more people took the time to analyze ads, they might make different consumer choices. For example, due to Dove's positive advertising of the female body, I try to stick to their brand when buying hygiene products.

After discussing Mitchum (and ensuring that Justin was not buying their deodorant), our conversation transferred to food. Did you ever notice that the salad line in Muddy is about 90% female? Society seems to dictate that women should be thin, and therefore, eat salad. Men, on the other hand, should eat meat. Right after Justin and I talked about this stereotype, a commercial came on TV with a man eating a hamburger (ironic, right?). Another example of the idea of gendered food occurs in the movie "Shallow Hal." When Hal's girlfriend orders a lot of food at McDonalds, Hal mentions that he likes a girl who eats more than just a salad. The gendered food stereotype is something I never picked up on before talking with Justin. I am going to pay more attention to it and see what I notice.