Discussion: This is us
Discuss about the Gender Portrayal In Advertisement.
Gender portrayal in various media is a trending aspect in modern day communication process. In doing so, empowering and encouraging women to break free of their conservative cocoon in which they remain confiscated by their respective societies has been the prime message of many communication media of the modern world (Drake 2017). The chosen media for this discussion is an advertisement by Nike named ‘This is Us’. The advertisement aims at promoting women as a part of modern day working force who can equally achieve greatness along with men. The advertisement portrays eminent Turkish women who have established themselves in sports and other fields and shows how they dramatically break stereotypes to gain their personal foothold. Portrayal of women, breaking stereotypes and focusing on sports which has always been a forbidden domain for women even to the present day (Sehlikoglu 2017), is the main agenda of the advertisement. In this discussion, the advertisement is to be analysed critically to see how such gender portrayals has presented a powerful message to the modern generation women who are still not confident to pursue their ambition. The discussion further analyses various communication theories that are used in the advertisement to provide a deep impact on the target viewers. Moreover, an analysis of the advertisement with two other advertisements of the same campaign is to be done for the better understanding of the advertisement trilogy and how they have been created to influence the viewers of the different locations which have been portrayed in the advertisements. The above discussions and in depth analysis of the advertisements can lead to the conclusion of the better understanding of the communication theories. It can conclude how importantly they influence gender portrayal in the modern day society to spread the message of gender equality (Cornwall and Rivas 2015). It can counter gender discrimination for the advancement of the society towards a better and developed one.
The advertisement chosen for the discussion of this assignment is a famous advertisement by Nike, ‘This is Us’ (Nike 2018). The advertisement was published as a part of a three ad trilogy to promote a worldwide message of women empowerment on the event of International Women’s Day in 2017. The chosen assignment primarily focuses on the portrayal of Turkish women and to send a message to the Turkish community, but nonetheless it had a worldwide impact. The advertisement features Beyoncé’s ‘Run the World Girls’ as the background music and features some of the biggest female Turkish sport personalities and popular actresses. The advertisement was created by Wieden + Kennedy Amsterdam in favour of Nike and emphasized on the motto of the advertisement ‘Believe in More’.
Gender and media analysis
The advertisement begins with a simple family, featuring kick boxer, Funda Diken Alkay??, posing for a family photograph which is quite natural sending the message that women are identified for their pretty faces but suddenly Alkay?? smiles, revealing her odd-looking boxing mouth guard. She breaks the stereotype by gearing up in sports attire and throwing punches. The advertisement follows with actress Elvin Levinler, with the message that women have fine and delicate hands and kneads dough, but she throws away the flour dough and picks up fitness weights. Triathlete, Esra Gökçek sends out a powerful message that women love gold, and it suits them well and then flaunts her gold medal with her well decorated trophy shelf in the background, which makes her look more elegant. Tennis star, ?pek Soylu, conveys the traditional idea that women should remain silent and humble but suddenly breaks it with her on field attitude of shouting while taking shots. Çisil S?k? with her Dans Fabrika Dancers, questions whether women should laugh in public, and with their talented dance moves laugh out loud sending the message to break the stereotypes. Lastly, popular actress Dilan Çiçek Deniz can be seen questioning the viewers that if they really knew who the women were and crushes a doll’s house, commonly identified as the only game for little girls, with her feet and acts indifferent. ‘This is us’ aims at recreating women’s identity (Wieden+Kennedy 2018) in the Turkish community where women are still considered to remain traditional and conservative and refrain from creating their own identities.
Gender studies in communication has been an interesting field of research since a long time, investigating into matters which can analyse the factors regulating portrayal of women in various media in different characterizations. It is quite common that if a study is carried out on advertisements, which is the prime media source of the discussion, it can be seen that women in media has always been depicted as lesser to men except for a few exceptions. The main characters in a general advertisement show women in negative or subordinate role (Eisend, Plagemann and Sollwedel 2014). The characters of the women have often been sexualized to draw more public attention towards a product whose value is not judged by its quality but by the sexual appeal the women in the advertisements provide. These types of stereotypes pertain to cater to a social category. These type of gender inequality discriminates between the male and female attributes.
The types on the basis of which discrimination is done in gender portrayal are namely, trait descriptors, physical characteristics, role behaviours and occupational status (Zotos, Yorgos and Tsichla 2014). Each of these factors are judged on two levels, masculine and feminine. Roles are specified according to the gender biasness, such as, commonly women are allocated the roles of homemakers, endorsers of beauty products, promoting household objects while men are given more ‘masculine’ roles such as entrepreneurs, drivers, promoters of science and technology. These type of gender biasness creates a gender gap leading to differences in attitude towards work and also the society’s viewpoint of allocating specific roles for gender types. Content analysis of different advertisements over the period of time has marked the stark differences in the gender portrayal in media. Stereotyping becomes a hindrance when these lead to opinions and judgements for the subjects portrayed in the social category. It can be seen that how gender stereotyping can restrict opportunities for women by the portrayal of a negative consequence and judgement. The advertisement in discussion tends to break the stereotype by showing an alternative way of portrayal of women in a positive and strong manner. The typical stereotyping has led to occupational disadvantages in women’s careers (Evers, Andrea and Sieverding 2014). Inequality and discrimination such as different pay scales for men and women in the media industry, treatment of female co-workers as subordinate and weak are some of the many consequences that women face due to stereotypical and unequal gender portrayal.
In a society where media communication and advertisements have become the prime source of information in the modern world, a major portion of the advertisements do not reflect the ideas of gender equality which is one of the modern pillars of achieving societal advancement (Buonanno 2014). The pessimistic views on unequal gender portrayal has continuously come under critical fire over time from all fields of media critics but still continues to portray women as show pieces and objects of sexual appeal which enhance the popularity among the predominantly male population of the world. Moreover, stereotyping gender roles limits the potential of the future generations, who are sub-consciously taught about limited gender roles from a very young age which gets embedded in their thought process permanently.
The optimism in the field of advertisement shows promise when once in a while advertisements such as Nike’s ‘This is Us’ surfaces to hit hard on the pessimistic views that the whole world holds for the feminine society consciously or sub-consciously. These type of advertisements establish a hopeful future for gender portrayals and show that contemporary women are rapidly developing their identity as equal to men (Watson 2014). Over the past years there have been a hopeful decline in the gender stereotyping of women in media communication. The number of positive advertisements, though, are very low compared to the typical media producing pessimistic ideas, they promise hope for the women fighting for equality in the near future.
Relating, to the modern day Turkey, the similar conditions can be highlighted where similar conditions can be identified. An unhealthy relation still prevails between the community and the contemporary women who are still today discouraged from achieving social and opportunistic success (Dunn, Gerlach, and Hyle 2014). The Nike advertisement provides hope for the women who wish to pursue their dreams, be it in sports or any other field. The advertisement provides them with the confidence to ‘Believe in more’.
The advertisement which was released in Turkey featuring Turkish celebrities on the event of International Women’s day has a special significance for representing the common women in Turkey. In a country like Turkey, where even the President holds conservative views for women (Grossman 2018), empowerment of women to create their own identity is a challenging task. Women still today are expected to maintain a conservative approach towards life and refrain from ‘masculine’ activities such as sports and other fields of work. They are expected to dress in the traditional costumes and appear in public in a calm silent manner. These type of laws officially doesn’t exist in Turkey but still women are expected to follow them. There have been reports where women have been physically attacked for wearing shorts in public (Agerholm 2018). The women of Turkey doesn’t feel safe on the streets alone.
‘This is us’ advertisement comes as a revolution against these norms where women have been subjected to constant domination and abuse. The advertisement could have featured any of the women celebrities of the world, just like Beyoncé’s song in the advertisement, but that wouldn’t have had the effect that this one created among the viewers. The common women of Turkey could identify themselves with their national female heroes who represented their country worldwide and has brought several accolades (Karagün 2014). They are inspired by the fact that their achievement have earned them respect even among the majority male population who were more accustomed to looking down upon women as people restricted to being homemakers doing household chores and upbringing the children.
There can be arguments that the women shown in the advertisement, are members of the elite society who had to face less difficulties but, at the same time their achievement worldwide are the results of their immense hard work and will power. This can serve as an inspiration for the women of Turkey to imbibe confidence and courage to break the chains and come out of the stereotypic notions of conservativeness. The graphic representations such as the posing for the family photographs, kneading the dough, sitting quietly during an elderly advice or the love of women for gold, are very much common in the everyday life of normal women but the breaking away from them to carve one’s own path is the challenging part of life.
A society where women are taught from childhood to be docile and submissive, it is often challenging for women to accept such ideas (Kaya 2015). Therein comes the power of the media to make them believe, that the idea conveyed is also a right one. The message at the last of the advertisement states ‘This is Us’ which in itself is a statement which establishes the fact that women can be anyone who they want to become, that is, their work defines their personalities and it is not the society’s duty to determine their future(Erden-?mamo?lu 2013). W+K Amsterdam also emphasizes on the ‘Believe in More’ tagline which can help the women develop more confidence to in themselves and believe that they can do more than just the household chores. The motto of Nike ‘Just Do It’ further provides a seal to the statement which can escalate the women’s confidence and make them believe that it just their one decision which can make all the difference that they had always wished for in their lives.
Discussion of only one advertisement against a prevailing social media custom can lead to the development of biased views and one sided opinions. Analysis of a couple of more media can lead to a proper argumentative analysis of the gender portrayal that promises to bring change in the prevalent media customs and theories (Ragin 2014). In this part of the discussion, two more advertisements, part of the Nike’s ‘This is Us’ trilogy are to be analysed for the proper statement that Nike wanted to promote on occasion of The International Women’s Day. All the three advertisements were created by W+K Amsterdam.
The first advertisement of the trilogy was released for the Russian community. The advertisement named ‘What are girls made of?’ questions the identity of women in a politically and socially disturbed Russia. The advertisement aimed at destroying the subtle yet outdated subdued status that women had to bear with them. The advertisement begins with pretty little girl singing a popular Russian folk song in front of a filled auditorium. The song is a popular folk song which sweetly describes that little girls are made of flowers, gossip and marmalade. The main notion of the advertisement challenges these ideas by bringing a twist in the song. When the audience seemed happy with the sweet verses of the song, the arrival of ice skater Adelina Sotnikova changes the attitude of the little girl who was singing. Shifting from the traditional verses, the little girl changes the words to convey a more inspirational message. She goes on to sing that girls are made of iron, of bruises, of punches, bravery and clenched fists. She mentions that self-confidence, skills, dignity, passion, iron will, strength and fire are what girls are made of. Finally, she makes the statement that girls are made of freedom, accomplishments and achievements. During this course of the song some of the strongest Russian female athletes, such as Anastasia Yankova, Olga Kuraeva, Irina Gorbacheva, Kayla Shingelia and Kristina Sivkova appear one by one to inspire and give strength to the little girl. The girl’s voice sounds more confident and firm as she approaches the end of the song. The video ends with the little girl about to take a football shot with the message that girls are made of what they do. A strong advertisement, such as this creates an own identity for the feminine society who are inspired to develop their own skills to be recognizable. Depending on the society to be considered sweet and pretty are outdated norms (Roussell 2013) and women should break these stereotypes and ‘Believe in more’.
The second advertisement of the series was released for the Middle East region where women have the subject to complete subjugation and abuse from ancient times to even today (Bayat 2013). The main theme of the advertisement centres on the notion, ‘What will they say about you?’ questioning the very fact of demotivation that Middle Eastern women face while thinking of developing their careers. The advertisement features some of the popular Arabian female athletes practicing in their traditional dresses, defying disapproving stares from passers-by. Messages such as they will be considered unladylike appears with the stares but as the film continues highlighting the professional athletes such as Amal Mourad, Zahra Lari, Balquees Fathi, Ines Boubakri, and boxer Arifa Bseiso, the messages evolve into positivity. The women think they are strong, free, who made tough tasks look easy and consider themselves to be the next big thing one day. These type of powerful messages are very crucial for the development of the women’s confidence in the Middle Eastern regions where despite technological advancement, feminine attributes are considered to be lower and proper to hidden behind the veil (Karam and Jamali 2013). Nike’s ‘Believe in more’ once again hits against the inequality in gender portrayal and boosts self confidence among the female viewers.
The last part of the trilogy is the ‘This is us’ advertisement, which has been discussed earlier. The last and final advertisement released in Turkey draws the questions from the previous two advertisements, ‘What are girls made of?’ and ‘What will they say about you?’ and provides the final statement ‘This is Us’. This establishes the fact that whatever the world might think about the women, the ultimate power rest in their own hands to decide their own future and carve a path on their own breaking the stereotypical notion of gender portrayal and continue the movement of equality.
The above discussion opens up a huge space for the modern media industry to develop and change for the betterment of equal gender portrayal which can have a positive impact on the society as a whole. In a society where still now social, religious and political dogmas are prevalent in the society, diminishing women rights as mere text book materials with no practical applications (Soffan 2016). Apart from the few metro cities all over the world gender biasness is predominant and women are looked down upon as mere tools of home making, household support and sources of entertainment. In this case scenario, if the media does not play its active role for the upliftment of women, then gender equality will always remain an unachievable myth. Gender portrayal is one of the strongest tools that the media has in its arsenal for the proper portrayal of women in modern day society. The media should have an occupational morality and responsibility of utilising its most effective tool for the advancement of the society (Ward 2014), in this case being the champion for the movement of women’s rights. Refraining, from portraying women as sexual objects to enhance the appeal of advertisements, the media should portray women as the versatile dominating force who can achieve the similar heights as men does.
The achievements of women when portrayed on the screen on a positive note, helps encourage the feminine backward society to garner courage and confidence to step out of the way to do exceptional things and stand out in the crowd among men. Equal portrayal of women, and highlighting of their success stories to the level of magnanimity of their male counterparts can provide a serious boost to women think about their careers seriously. In a society where women are taught from childhood to look down upon themselves as weaker to men (Pai, and Pai 2014), where they are taught that the ultimate aim of their life is to get married and settle down under the protection of men, it is quite natural for common women to see themselves as weak. Lack of self-confidence and inability to find the spark of talent inside oneself makes the women limit themselves to the corner of their houses. The only one weapon to reach them, is media, through television or by print, which are accessible by the women. Advertisements such as ‘This is us’ can make the women rethink about their life and how limited their knowledge had been about their own potential. Older women can dream of making their daughters capable of living in a respectable way, facing the outer world. Positive gender portrayal and increase in the number of positive and creative advertisements can raise the awareness in younger women, who can discover their potential, and act accordingly to develop their skills (Williamson and Baird 2014). All women might not achieve the goals but a gradual change in the numbers in the future years to come can make the difference.
Conclusion:
The above discussion, leads to a number of positive conclusions that can sum up how gender portrayal in a single advertisement can deliver a strong message to the society. It pinpoints a serious issue, of the modern day society, where women are subjected to serious subjugation and domination all over the world. People living in urban societies might remain unaware of these, because these small pockets of development overshadows the huge masses of land which are still underdeveloped and lives with the outdated ideas of the society such as gender inequality. Moreover, from the above discussion it can be concluded that gender portrayal in Nike’s ‘This is us’ and its other series of advertisements sets an example for the world media to follow the trend and awakes them to realize of their social responsibility besides profit and business. Unequal payment of female artists, gender biasness and dominating female values in the media industry are some of the main features that play an important role in the unequal gender portrayal in media communication. Dealing with issues can surely lead to a better future for the advertisement industry which can portray women on a more positive note and promise its potential for the development of the feminine attitude to a strong and dominating one. The confidence and the belief in media’s own potential can make the quality of the advertisements more enhanced and meaningful, similar to Nike’s motto in the discussed advertisements, ‘Believe in more’.
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