Gender Stereotypes

(Source http://www.texascollaborative.org/BoerckerModule/Maxim-2.jpg)

                                                 

This advertisement above has the stereotypical notion that men go out and party and that they want to hook up with every women. Axe plays on this and says in order to recover and hook up with a girl you need use their shower gel. The picture shows a man in a state were he isn't masculine, but by using Axe recovery shower gel this man will be strong and masculine again. The slogan is, "Who will hook up with you if you're hung over? Axe recovery shower gel wash away your hangover." This slogan shows that men are only masculine if they hook up with women. It also shows that with using Axe recovery shower gel, the man will be able to hook up with women again. The man's pose is lying down in his bed and looking into a toilet in case he has to throw up. This implies that he had a rough night and drank too much alcohol. The man also looks really sick from all of the drinking. This portrays the stereotype of masculinity very well because it implies that only men get hung over and need to start hooking up with people again. The toilet on the bed is supposed to represent his hangover and his need to throw up. This implies that a man cannot be in a weak state like this guy, but needs to be masculine and never show any weakness. The fact that the man in the advertisement doesn't have a shirt on and that he has muscles shows the masculine stereotype of men being shirtless and having big muscles. The setting of this advertisement seems to be early morning when the man woke up with a hangover. Axe exploits this stereotypical setting with saying that by using our shower gel, you won't look like this man. The mood in this advertisement is supposed to be depressing. This is to get the person looking at the advertisement to remember a time they were like this and that next time they should have Axe recovery shower gel. The lighting is bright on the right side of the bed and it is darker on the left side of the bed. The lighting is done like this because the right side represents the bright new day ahead of the man if he uses Axe recovery shower gel and then he will be able to hook up with women and the left side represents that if the man doesn't use Axe he will keep puking in the toilet. The stereotype shown here is that in order to be masculine a person, they have to go an hook up with people. Overall the advertisement is meant to tell the viewer that they should be masculine and use Axe recovery shower gel in order to beat the hangover and start hooking up. This advertisement falsely portrays what masculinity is and it ends up reinforcing the stereotype of masculinity. 

Jack Lopez the Surfer

Jake Lopez is a surfer even though many other Mexican Americans did not look kindly at him. Jake dressed like a surfer, he wore his Bermuda shorts, large Penney's Towncraft T-shirts. He wanted people to view him as a surfer. Being a surfer was Jake's social identity. Jake's dream as a child was to get a surfboard. He constantly did chores and babysat his brother and sister in order to save up for his surfboard. Even though Jake didn't have a surfboard at the time, he was a surfer because he always carried around his copy or Surfer Quarterly. Jake and his friends always talked about the magazine. Surfer Quarterly was Jake's cultural artifact. That is what made Jake a surfer and made others view Jake as a surfer. Jake's dad thought that the whole surfer thing was just an adolescence phase, but Jake thought otherwise and all he wanted to do is get a surfboard. Jake didn't race was a big issue, in his mind being a surfer was more important. The problem is that his social identity was a Mexican American who is a surfer. Cholo gangsters didn't like that Jake was a surfer and at one time he was even confronted about it. Jake told the cholo gangster that he was Mexican and he backed off, but the gangster was confused that someone who is Mexican is a surfer. Jake was different than many other Mexican Americans because the stereotype was that Mexican Americans were gangsters and Jake broke out of that stereotype. Surfer Quarterly shaped Jake into a surfer. He wanted to be the surfer they were showing in the magazine. This is good because it helped him achieve his dream of surfing the waves. It helped Jake stand out and he was proud of that. Jake liked the magazine so much that when he got a new issue he skipped watching 77 Sunset Strip and eating popcorn. Jake was really interested in magazine and it was his life. Jake's cultural artifact, Surfer Quarterly, was really unique to him and it was his inspiration to do something else than get involved in the gang life in his neighborhood. Jake realized that he could be anything he wished and not have to worry about what other people think; he could be a surfer and not even the cholos would object.

(source: http://looky.wordpress.com/2008/05/30/vintage-knits-1960s-surfer-tops/)