Miami University Exploring Gender & Gender Roles Through Advertisements Paper

First: Watch the commercial on being Like a Girl by Always.

Next, do some of your own research on current advertisements in the media:

Spend some time reviewing current advertisements and choose only one (what you present must be some form of commercial advertisement from the 21st century and please attempt to share current ads from 2010 and beyond). This can be done through various media outlets of your choosing such as online, TV, or print.  Also, make sure you have chosen a legitimate advertisement and not an artist’s rendition of an ad, propaganda, or a public service announcement–these do not count. Also, do not choose a video that is a compilation of advertisements–only choose one.

For this discussion, you will need to:

• Present one advertisement from your search by posting either a link (make sure it works so students can access it) or if it is a picture of an ad, please post the picture of your chosen advertisement within your post and not as an attachment.
• Next, you will need to discuss the message(s) conveyed from the advertisement and in what ways it communicates how men and women are expected to act, feel, and think within society.
• And finally, you must relate it back to what you learned in chapter 3 using direct connections: how do the cultural depictions of males and/or females in your advertisements relate to cultural scripts, gender roles, and expectations? DO NOT just state that they do. Explain HOW and WHY using information from the chapter.

?Chapter 3: Our Gendered Identities

• In this chapter, we will explore the complex and ever-evolving concepts of gender in America. We will make the distinction between sex and gender, how gender is not innate but something that is learned. Moreover, we will look at various perspectives regarding gender expectations, arguments for how gender roles are made (nature versus nurture), history’s impact, how attitudes and norms are socialized, social/political movements among men and women, and considering the future of gender in America. Lots of things to contemplate … you are encouraged as you read to reflect on your own learning experience and views about gender roles.