Gender Role Attitudes

Junyu Lin

Laura Fussell

ENG 1A

13 January 2018

Gender Role Attitudes

         In one of TOMMY's advertisements, photographers try to show readers the value and appeal of a new female dress. In order to highlight the charm of the new dress, the photographer choses to use men's reaction to foil the effect. In the advertisement, a football team just won the competition, and then five football players lifted the lady who is wearing TOMMY's new dress. Together they celebrate the victory. The lady is placed in the middle of the photo. By doing so, Her dress have become more appealing and noticeable to the audience. The camera records the smiles of the men, which indicates their attraction towards the lady, and gladly they lifts this beautiful lady up to show off their victory. TOMMY utilizes the psychological characteristics of women in order to attract men to market their products.  Most girls would get the same dress in the ad because the dress has successfully caught the attention of boys. In the ad, photographer clearly demonstrates  different behaviors and attitudes of people with usage of olor, clothing, and expression, illustrates the way gender role are depicted in North American culture.

         The color contrast between men and women is obvious in the ad. In North American cultures, the colors for men and women have been stereotyped from the day they were born. Parents buy blue toys and clothes for boys or other colors that are considered boys, while toys for girls are all pink. This is why most boy like blue, while most girl like pink. In order to set the clothes worn by the lady, the photographer have all the men in different clothes. However, even the colors of men and women wear the same, the girl's clothes are very conspicuous because she is in the middle of the photo and lifted by the men.Most people believe most girls like pink and boys like blue but not all of that is true. Whether they are boys or girls, they are born the same because they don't know anything at the beginning. Devor mentions that "As children develop concepts of themselves as individuals, they do so while observing themselves as reflected in the eyes of others" (474). In North American culture, most parents teach girls and boys what to do and what to wear. because of this, they begin to teach their children that men and women have different behaviors and attitudes. If people often see ads in gender differences in the tips, advertising will indirectly cause violence. As Kilbourne mentioned that "Ads don't directly cause violence, of course. But the violent image contributes to the state of terror"(499). Consequently, children grow up to explore the differences base on their own opinion and may follow stereotypical roles.

        Additionally, The style of dress for both men and women is also influenced by the typical American culture showing a different style. Men wear classic American football shirts, while women wear slim dresses. Generally, sportswear represents strength, while dresses represent beauty and elegance. From different clothes, readers can determine each person's role in the photo. The different styles of dress in the advertisement represent different roles of men and women in American culture. Occasionally people judge others’ personalities and habits from the clothes they wear because they believe that the cloth determine. When people wear casual clothes will be more relaxed due to the comfort. Everyone has different personality. However, If people dress the same clothes, people will assume that they all may behave similarly. In American culture, it is stereotype that women need to take care of children and housework, and thus they are expected to act carefully. Simultaneously, men are encouraged to show their abilities. Different expectations causes differences in dress between men and women and drove different behaviors.

        Furthermore, both genders would feel stressed when they are surrounded by the opposite sex. Specifically, this psychological pressure is born naturally, and this cannot be completely destroyed by time. Even an elderly or adult can feel frightened or shy when faced with this strangeness alone. This psychological pressure can cause different views of the same thing by different genders. Another reason why women are nervous may be due to the unfamiliarity she feels with the guys. In the picture, five men touch her body, Which causes her to feel strange. Usually, there is a strain between the opposite sexes. Therefore, People of different genders can easily contradict each others’ behaviors.  People have had gender education, so they will different with different gender. That's why people will feel uncomfortable if strangers touch their body especially for different gender people. This also caused them to have different behaviors and attitudes.