Graphic Design & Gender (Male Objectification)

Everything I have looked at so far about gender has been about the male's gaze on the woman, so I decided to have a look at the female gaze on men, as sexual objectification is not limited to females. Here are some interesting things I found in my research and some examples of graphic design that objectify men.


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Background: In recent years men are found to be objectified in advertising. Though the numbers of such ads are still lower than those representing females, we should all be concerned about the use of advertising to objectify persons of any background. One current example of the trend to target males in ads is found in the trope of stupidity. The examples below illustrate how males, as well as females, are portrayed as less than intelligent in advertising. 


There are only a few ads featured, and, unfortunately, this collection will likely grow. Like similar exhibits related to women, the ads here reflect certain poses, expressions or cultural scenarios that associate men with stupidity. We should be just as critical of these negative portrayals of men as we are of ads that target women.


Many men and women suggest that men are now equally objectified in popular culture. Are  advertisers recognizing the desire of women to objectify men in our society. But what is really happening in advertising? Can men be objectified as women? If so, in what frequency is objectification present in ads?


http://genderads.com/page6/objectsmale/objectsmale.html

This two examples made me think of the examples I have looked at when writing about the female gaze - the mens bodies are on display, they are in similar reclining positions, and look comfortable with the situation and they know that they are being watched, as their gaze meets the viewer.

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http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2008/aug/03/gender.healthandwellbeing

Depressed, repressed, objectified: are men the new women?

The Advertising Standards Bureau reports a steady increase each year in the number of complaints about the way men are portrayed on television as 'buffoons' or 'idiots'. A 2007 advertisement for MFI kitchens depicted a woman slapping her husband in a dispute about leaving the toilet seat up. 'If a man belittles a woman, it could become a lawsuit,' says Farrell. 'If women belittle men, it's a Hallmark card.'

This article made me think about a recent Boots advert where two women with bad colds are out shopping despite being ill as it suggests the men can't do what they can.

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http://thesocietypages.org/socimages/2008/11/30/objectifying-men/

Elle Magazine (July 2008) in which clothed models are posed with naked men. The objectification of men in this way is unusual as advertising routinely objectifies women but rarely objectifies men in the same way. 

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http://thesocietypages.org/socimages/2008/05/29/sexualized-images-of-female-dominance/

Adverts that put females in control, but do this by objectifying men. All of the examples I've found seem very sexualised.

These images show women in “control” of, or dominating men, but in a very sexualized manner that often references S&M or bondage. So women can have power, but have to be sexualized at the same time. This fits in well with our cultural beliefs that women have power over men because men want sex and will allow themselves to be manipulated by women in order to get it. So women can supposedly control men by threatening to withhold sex until they get what they want.

And is it not possible to just have some images where men and women are equals and no one has to be dominant? Is that out of the question?

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http://www.freewebs.com/candaceharper/

This is an interesting essay on the female gaze, explaining many of the photographs found on the gender ads website of male objectification. Here are two examples where the men are either seen as stupid or not in control as compared to the woman. As the point made from the article above - why does one sex have to be dominant in advertising?

The woman is in control but has to objectify man to do this.

Males are indirectly objectified in this ad; pigs are portraying men which is not only a demeaning stereotype given to some men it is also a direct comparison of males to animals. Dehumanization is the ultimate level of objectification according to scholars, and it is being taken to the highest level in this ad.