Tiffany Gamboa
Professor Doris Cacoilo
Media 384
28 March 2017

The Correlation between Gender and Advertising within the Media

Gender is a concept that is commonly seen in black and white terms, that one is either male or female and nothing more. This is done based on the genitals a baby is born with and the heavy influence the media has had in exploring and dictating gender normative that have passed onto our modern society. According to Judith Butler’s book called Gender Trouble, Butler mentions that gender is seen as a ‘factor’ or “mark’ of biological, linguistic, and/or cultural difference” (Butler 13).  People often interpret gender as a method of dividing and differentiating people. Butler questions if specific gendered acts/thoughts are "natural" and discusses that people are usually taught this demonstration of gendered behavior, thus coining the phrase gender is “constructed” (Butler 11).

Simone de Beauvoir, French writer and feminist, has expressed that this need to choose a gender is a ‘cultural compulsion,’ that does not derive from ‘sex.’ According to the Monash University, sex is associated with the biological characteristics one is born with, specifically the internal and external sexual organs. As mentioned before, the media is a huge component in what has helped shaped our society to believe in this ideology,

especially with ubiquitous advertising that has caused us to actualize these stereotypes and beliefs. According to Jean Kilbourne's Beauty and the Beast of Advertising, she writes that advertising makes over $130 billion a year and has a greater effect on our lives than we realized (Kilbourne 122). Advertising has allowed women to remain objectified and dismembered, causing their bodies to be divided in order to be altered or upgraded.

Example of dismemberment in advertising. A woman's leg is separated in order to sell a product of juice.

Women are continually shown as sex objects throughout most ads. This is especially dangerous to younger people see ads and learn about sexual attitudes from them. “Advertising’s approach to sex is pornographic: it reduces people to objects and de-emphasizes human contact and individuality” (Kilbourne 124). Adolescents are the most susceptible since they are new and don’t have much experience as consumers, therefore making the perfect target to these ads. In addition, these are artificial images that can only be accomplished through photoshop. Women are also affected by this, since it can cause them to become receptive to these unreasonable standards, which can cause them to develop eating disorders and body dysmorphia.  

According to Douglas Kellner, who wrote Reading Images Critically, popular culture is indeed found in advertising because we often look to cultural symbols, such as the Marlboro man, that were created by advertisements to generate a connection between the products and the “socially desirable and meaningful traits” in order to make a mark that if someone wants to be "masculine," then they must purchase Marlboro cigarettes (Kellner 127). Through this, people see the product as a way to obtain their identity, therefore advertising because a method of socialization.

"Marlboro Man," associated with masculinity, power and nature. An example of a "real man"

          As a heavy consumer of media, I find myself constantly logging onto YouTube, Facebook, New York 1 to watch shows such as RuPaul's Drag Race and news from Vice. Facebook, the largest social network in the world,  is owned by Mark Zuckerberg. Throughout Facebook's growth, a 1.6% share was bought by Microsoft in October 2007, for $240 million. In that same month, Facebook launched ads, which grants advertisers to appeal to specific users based on their online activities (Schmitt 1). Facebook made $305 million in advertising revenue in 2012, by continuously updating its tools for advertisers (O’Brien 1). It allows companies to target their page based on "key demographic and psychographic information such as “likes,” gender, relationship status, and more. This then helps to drive traffic to a company’s Web site by collecting user information on the Facebook domain based on the clicking of the “like” button” (O’Brien 1). Facebook also appeals to small business that allows them to create ads for mobile or desktop platforms. Facebook has added something called "Partner Categories" that follows user data across the internet and outside the web, meaning they have access to your purchase history, type of job, and lifestyle. Facebook attempt to show advertisements that will appeal to the user. The ads on the side that one sees on Facebook, is inescapable. You can scroll all the way down to the page and find an ad. Some claim that there is a method to opt out of ads on Facebook, but I doubt that it is proficient, since Facebook heavily relies on ads for their revenue. However, you can “monitor” what type of advertisements you see on Facebook if you tinker with your settings. Facebook may ask you “See ads based on my Facebook ad preferences on apps and websites off of the Facebook Companies.” You can chose yes or no.You'll still see ads, but they won't be as relevant to you.

Works Cited

Butler, Judith. "Subjects of Sex/Gender/Desire." Gender Trouble. N.p. pag. Print.

"Introduction to Judith Butler, Module on Gender and Sex." Introduction to Judith Butler,

Module on Gender and Sex. California Language Academy, n.d. Web. 28 Mar. 2017.

Kellner, Douglas. “Toward a Postmodern Pedagogy.” Reading Images Critcally.

Kilbourne, Jean. “Beauty and the Beast of Advertising.” Beauty and the Beast of Advertising.

Kilbourne, Jean. “The More You Subtract. The More You Add.” "The More You Subtract,
the More You Add": Cutting Girls down to Size., Free Press, New York, NY, 1999.

Schmitt, Jake. "Facebook." St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture, edited by Thomas Riggs, 2nd ed., vol. 2, St. James Press, 2013, pp. 256-257. Gale Virtual Reference Library,  Accessed 30 Mar. 2017.

Webmed. "What Is the Difference between Sex and Gender?" Monash University. N.p., n.d.

Web. 29 Mar. 2017.