The Codes of Gender (2010)
Arguing that advertising not only sells things, but also ideas about the world, media scholar Sut Jhally offers a blistering analysis of commercial culture's inability to let go of reactionary gender representations. Jhally's starting point is the breakthrough work of the late sociologist Erving Goffman, whose 1959 book The Presentation of the Self in Everyday Life prefigured the growing field of performance studies. Jhally applies Goffman's analysis of the body in print advertising to hundreds of print ads today, uncovering an astonishing pattern of regressive and destructive gender codes. By looking beyond advertising as a medium that simply sells products, and beyond analyses of gender that tend to focus on either biology or objectification, The Codes of Gender offers important insights into the social construction of masculinity and femininity, the relationship between gender and power, and the everyday performance of cultural norms.
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Purely Joyful Movie!
This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.
While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.
Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.
11/29/17. An interesting documentary about gender roles and how they are represented in media and advertising. It is amazing how what we watch constantly on any medium, whether in print or on the screen, insidiously display what roles we should be playing. This is especially true for women, in which they are constantly feminized to reduce the threat that men may feel when faced with women who come off as being masculine or too male-like. And, gay men are displayed in what are considered feminine positions because they share the same audience with women. Worth catching.