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Feminist Literary Criticism and the Deconstruction of Ads: A Postmodern View of Advertising and Consumer Responses

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Monday, June 9, 2014

Vol XCIII, No. 311

The Article

Connection to The Wars and Hamlet

Connection to "The Wars " and "Hamlet "

Connection to the literary works studied through the semester

Feminist Methodology and Gendered Text

Intro

FEMINIST METHODOLOGY

AND GENDERED TEXT

• In Hamlet the protagonist is shown to be a strong and dominate character comparing that to this article we see Marlboro Man ad is pictured dominate character and acknowledge as a symbol of being a men.
• The Wars- women and men perspective of things are different. Mrs.Ross has a fearful view on war whereas Robert has an enthusiastic view on war. Thereby, they portray two different perceptions

Connection to The Wars

• Taffler is seen as feminine because he wants to be dependent on the mute swede. This relates to the article because the article also depicts women to be dependent on a male figure.

Connection to Hamlet

• Laertes tries to hold back his tears when hearing the news of Ophelia's death because he wants to give up the woman inside him and portray himself to be more masculine just like the Marlboro Man does.

-By changing the sex of the hero/ heroine, the expectations of each sex is revealed which further exposes the fact that women are confined

-Language is a vehicle for conveying different messages

-The Marlboro man is shown as dominate character that is used to advertise cigarettes

-Dakota women is shown to be a dependent character that used to advertise

- Consumer research assumes:

1) language should be neutral

2) meaning should be the same for all recipients

3) this singular meaning should be comprehended correctly (without any meaning not intended by the source)

- Postmodern feminist literary criticism suggests that these assumptions should be reexamined.

- In the article they analyze these assumptions using two methods/ideas:

1) the concept of gendered text

2) deconstructive "reading" methodology

- The goal of the article is to illuminate the socially constructed meaning of "male" and "female" as binary opposites and to expose the privileging of maleness.

Research

"Why I Want A Wife" Essay

The article (continue)

Advertisement

A beauty of fashion

You, too, can be;

The last peak of passion, Quite easily.

An even complexion

Which lines dispels;

The eyes a reflection Of two black wells.

White teeth and pearly,

Thin nose and small;

A smile that so early

Reveals them all.

You, too, can be pretty,

Be you so dull,

The depth of all beauty— Behold a skull.

The section in the article about the Dakota Woman discusses the gender roles of woman.

This connects to the feminist essay, "Why I Want A Wife" by Judy Brady, because the essay conveys the expectations of a wife and the roles women must display in a household.

Short poem

GENDERED CONSUMERS: MALE

AND FEMALE READING STYLES

FEMINIST LITERARY CRITICISM AND CONSUMER RESEARCH

How men and women perceive information from a text differently.

Bleich and Flynn two feminist critics found differences in studies of men's and women's responses to narrative texts.

Also conveys how male and females respond differently to ads and literature.

The difference can be used to create ads.

Feminist theory is integrated into ongoing consumer research on attitude toward the ad, inferencing, and empathy.

The article emphasizes that incorporating feminist theory into the consumer research stream is viewed not as the subtraction of a masculine perspective but as the addition of a feminine one.

The study found men to be detached readers.

They tended to see, judge, evaluate or think about a story from the outside.

Women's response indicated strong participation within the story. They tended to see(experience, feel, empathize with) a story from the inside.

There are limitations to the experiment, as only a small group of subjects were tested.

Connection to Self

A point in the article states that men tend to judge literature after they finish reading the text and if they fail to comprehend it, they conclude that the story wasn't good. This relates to me because I also decide that a story wasn't good if I don't understand the story.

Thesis

This article thus proposes the postmodern feminist perspective as an addition to consumer research on gender,which to date has not drawn on feminist deconstructionist theory. the purpose of taking a postmodern approach is to illuminate the gender assumptions in advertising when it is read as one form of discourse characteristic of the patriarchal society.

Synthesize / Analyze

Still Image

Word Bank

• The article periodically highlights the differences between the two genders.
• As a society we should not obsess over these differences.
• The differences should not segregate our society but bring us together.
• We should embrace these differences instead and form a common humanity that would unify the genders.
• Lastly, the point of this article is not to take away the male perspective from consumer research but to add in the female perspective.

• Men and women perceive information differently.
• Ads are created with significant thought.
• Ads are probably created in such a way that each gender will perceive the message that is intended for them.
• Males express frustration quickly. If they don't understand a story they believe, " the story stank" as a self satisfaction for not being able to understand the story.
• Women endures the struggle of understanding and is less likely to express frustration.

• Impetus
• Coalesce
• Detriment
• Supposition

• Gender
• Sex
• Andocentric
• Gynocentric

Discussion

Connection to Self

Connection to Hamlet and The Wars

In high school I have taken many marketing courses and have learned much about ads. A main issue I noticed with the development of ads was the stereotypes and assumptions that were enforced in commercials. This article brings to light these issues and offers insight as to why these assumptions exist. As I further explore the world of advertising I can use these new insights to help better advertisements for everyone.

Connection to Wars - Robert Ross portrays feminine gender in the beginning of the story and changes to masculine by the end.

As Roberts gender changes his perspective changes as well.

Thereby, there is a strong relation between gender and perspective.

The Dakota woman in an ad is shown as one of six people - 4 women and 2 men.

She is the largest female figure.

However, she is depicted leaning on a taller male companion, whose arm is around her neck.

Connection to Hamlet - Similarly, Gertrude leans in on Claudius.

Shakespeare is emphasizing that women are weak and they need men in order to be stable.

Moving Image

How would the protagonists from both literary works Hamlet and The Wars (Robert Ross and Hamlet) be perceived through the method of sex reversal ? Does this impact the overall impression of the works?

The perspective of male and female towards this ad is different.

Akshana and Simran both believed that it was a very exaggerated commercial.

Zohair and I believed that the purpose of producing this commercial is to attract guys in buying axe.

Thereby, it is evident that gender does affect ones perspective.

Connection to Self

Reflection Prompt

In the article it emphasizes that men seek out the intentions of the author when reading.

Women on the other hand, seek out the meaning of the story

Connection: My sister and I finished reading the Hunger Games.

After we had a small discussion and we realized we both interpreted different messages.

I made connections to the world in response to the reason behind the author writing this novel.

My sister on the hand, never thought of that but as we discussed further her understanding of the story was far greater than mine.

This article suggests that males and females interpret things differently. Do you believe this applies to you? Explain why or why not using one of the texts we learned this year.