Esquire, a “Magazine for men’ was to a great extent about women” (Breazeale 231). Similarly, Unilever’s line of Axe grooming products for men is to some extent about women. Just as Esquire magazine, Axe objectifies and exploits women in order to create a niche for men in the beauty industry and show that their targeted consumers are unequivocally heterosexual. All of their commercials boast that any unattractive and undesirable man can use their products to instantly become sexually appealing. Our “Hatchet” commercial exposes this marketing strategy by portraying the product user as comparably unattractive to females and appealing to males.
Works Cited
Breazeale, Kenon. “In Spite of Women; Esquire Magazine and the Construction of the Male Consumer.” Gender, Race, and Class in Media 2003:230-242.
I worked on the description paragraph, and initial ideas.
Every day as teenagers and young children flip through the TV channels or turns the pages of a magazine, they are exposed to a variety of messages. The various teen magazines that are distributed today are inclusive of about 90 percent ads. These advertisements only send one message to the young consumers, which way they should dress, act, and be like the models. These models, while being very beautiful, are often photo-shopped and do not represent the average women. Young teens see these ads and believe they should be like the models. These magazines also publish articles that basically tell the readers how to act. These articles are telling the young women to go out and be sexy, get cute guys and to love themselves. While giving some good advice such as “Love yourself,” the articles and ads also include contradictory advice such as “Be thin, but not too thin.”
In today’s popular culture, advertisers are kings. According to Kilbourne, the author of The More You Subtract, The More You Add, “Advertizing is one of most potent messengers in a culture that can be toxic for girls’ self esteem,” (Kilbourne 259). Young girls in our society look to fashion models and celebrities as the standard for what a woman should look like: beautiful, outrageously thin, and perfect. But these images portrayed by ultra-thin models are typically unattainable. When young women try to mimic the “model look,” they endanger their health and ultimately develop eating disorders. The international community saw this corruption and took multitude of steps to combat the growing demand for thinner models. But American fashion institutions have continued to demand more starving women and teens. An example of international outrage over the size of models was at the 2006 Madrid fashion show. At the show, underweight models were band because the fashion committee believed that the young women watching the show would attempt to copy the thin look.
According to Higginbotham, the author of Teen Mags: How to Get a Guy, Drop 20 Pounds, and Lose Your Self-Esteem, “You should love yourself for who you are,” (Higginbotham 96). Higginbotham explains that teen magazines suggests women should love themselves but right after that article, they post another article on how to lose weight. This is the magazines way of telling the young women of America that it is ok to lose a few ponds. Many women are known to have self-esteem issues and magazines such as Teen offer advice to “help” women but in reality it is all about profit from advertising and sales. This is proof that there is a double standard being passed onto the American youth about “Being thin, but not too thin.”
Works Cited
Higginbotham, Anastasia. “Teen Mags: How to Get a Guy, Drop 20 Pounds, and You’re your Self-Esteem.” Becoming A Woman In Our Society: 93-96
Kilbourne, Jean. “The More You Subtract, The More You Add.” Gender, Race, and Class in Media 2003:258-265.
“Skinny Models Banned from Catwalk.” CNN 2006: 1. 07/22/2009
Since September of 1990, The Fresh Price of Bel-Air has exemplified hegemonic ideals with their diverse set of characters. Will Smith is the main character along with the Banks Family consisting of Philip, Vivian, Hilary, Carlton, and Ashley. In this sitcom, Will Smith comes from an inner-city house to a Bel-Air mansion. Coming from outside the Bel-Air “norm” Will is often judged by Philip Banks, the head of the Banks household and Will often speaks down towards Carlton. The back and forth squabbling between characters creates and enforces hegemonic representation of masculinity and femininity.
In Hegemony, James Lull explains the factors of power one group can hold over another. “Hegemony is the power or dominance that one social group holds over others.” (Lull 61) This quote has direct relation to the two different cultures the characters in The Fresh Price has been exposed to. The societies where both Will Smith and the Banks family grew up have taught them two different standards. Will was taught at a young age that boys are supposed to be tough and rugged and those qualities will make him a man. But across the country, the Banks family, particularly Carlton was taught to be intelligent, pleasant and calm. When the two societies from different geographic locations came together, there was a clash which resulted in hegemony. Everyone viewed Will as a “ghetto” kid who did not know how to behave. Due to the fact that Will came from an inner-city neighborhood, the Banks’ believed they had the power to dictate the way Will should act.
The Banks’ believed Will was in fact different the “norm,” although hegemony does not have a unified set of rules or beliefs that define the “norm.” But, Will Smith did not adhere to those preconceived beliefs and showed it by doing as he pleased as long as he stayed out of trouble. This was explained by Lull as counter-hegemony, “Hegemony implies a willing agreement by people to be governed by principles, rules, and laws they believe operate in their best interests, even though in actual practice they may not.” (Lull 63) Will was always known to be defiant, thus he rarely agreed to be governed by the principles and rules of the society of Bel-Air and his uncle, Philip Banks.
In Patriarchy, the System, Johnson writes that “It [patriarchy] is about defining women and men as opposites, about the ‘naturalness’ of male aggression, competition, and dominance and of female caring, cooperation, and subordination.” (Johnson 94) This quote is evident in the way Will Smith ridicules Carlton Banks. Upon moving to Bel-Air, Will believes that the way his cousin Carlton was raised has made Carlton “soft.” The softness is frowned upon in Philadelphia, where Will Smith was born and raised. Carlton was also raised in the ideal “American” way and is considered more gentleman-like than Will. This created a competition in which Will always reacted with aggression. Will Smith views Carlton as a person with many feminine qualities. These qualities fuels Will to make fun of Carlton. By calling Carlton names, Will shows that he needs to be more like Carlton because in a society like Bel-Air, being Carlton-like is the “norm.”
Will Smith’s attempt to be dominant over his cousin can be viewed as patriarchy/hegemony. It is hegemony because Will believe that growing up in Philadelphia has taught him many lessons. These lessons known as “street smarts” can get a man farther in life than just “book smarts.” Will believes he is better than Carlton because he possesses “street smarts” as well as “book smarts,” compared to Carlton who only possessed “book smarts.” This example can also be counter-hegemonic because Carlton never gave into Will’s crude humor. Carlton acted the way he was brought up and loved Will as a brother.
Johnson also wrote, “Patriarchy can exist without men having ‘oppressive personalities’ or actively conspiring with one another to defend male privilege.” (Johnson 94) This was visible in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air during the episodes Philip Banks’ mother Hattie Banks visited the family. When “DJ Granny,” as Will liked to call her, came to visit, she was the person who held the most authority. In a household where the husband is a judge and he is known for his dominance, an old woman commanded everyone as if she was the czar. This example shows us that that patriarchy is not only about men and oppression by men. It can be practiced by women as well as groups in our society.
Thus, hegemony is an incomplete process that has experienced evolution. Hegemony was presented when Bel-Air’s society believed they were better than Will Smith. But, it is also present when Will Smith’s “street smarts” made him believe that he is better than Carlton Banks. I believe that Hegemony is present in our society and it is exemplified in our media and popular culture. I also believe that hegemony can also be controlled by the process of unwillingness as Lull wrote in Hegemony. The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air creates hegemonic and counter-hegemonic representations in pop culture. At the end of the sitcom, Will Smith learned the normative way of Bel-Air and the Banks’ accepted Smith as their own.
Works Cited
Lull, James. “Hegemony.” Gender, Race, and Class in Media 2003: 61-65.
Johnson, Allan G. “Patriarchy, the System: An It, Not a He, a Them or an Us.” It’s Not Just about Gender: 91-98
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http://zeldalily.com/index.php/2009/06/time-magazine-publishes-gay-facebook-guide-for-the-clueless/ Title: Zelda Lily, Feminism in a bra Author: Maria Mercedes
