Representation and Identity In Advertising

Portfolio Reflection #1

Advertisements and Identity/Representation Summary

In this unit, we explored the two key concepts, representation and identity. Identity refers to “life imitating art,” while representation is “art imitating life,” wherein life can refer to gender, culture, age, etc. In both these concepts, we delved into these relationships between society and literature and how they exist in advertisements. First, we established that an advertisement’s purpose is to sell a product to a target audience through visual language. However, one must also consider what values, attitudes, or beliefs the advert displays, given the context. For example, the parodic advert aims to subvert female domesticity by adopting gender stereotypes to an extreme, shedding light on modern day sexism.

After analyzing several advertisements from the different decades (40s to the 90s), as well as Eli Rezkallah’ “In a Parallel Universe” parodic advert collection, we uncovered the difference in media representation of men and women, and what affects these can have on society, such as the creation of a climate of widespread violence towards women, whom of which are commonly dismembered in ads. In Eli Rezkallah’s work, he places a gender role reversal in retro ads, which not only subvert traditional gender norms, but also imply that these still exist in modern society, as the parodic advert still appears to be incongruous.

Analyzing an Explored Text

Eli Rezkallah’s recreation of a 1962 Mr. Leggs magazine advertisement undermines the male dominance in a decision-making relationship, professional responsibility, and the role of women as domestic creatures. The original image featuring a tiger skin mat, which served as a symbol of predatory masculinity and depicted the common ‘trophy wife’ trope, has been replaced by a cowskin mat.  Due to the domestic nature of the animal, it subverts traditional gender hierarchies, and reveals that, since this still appears to be incongruous, they still exist in modern society. This is also evident in the woman’s dismembered body, which is being stepped on by the man, objectifying and humiliating her by literally reducing her to an animal, helping to reinforce men as a predatory force and at the top of the hierarchy. The advert also utilizes a visual play on the saying “men wear the pants in the relationship.” The absurdity of this gender role reversal alludes to fact that in modern society, there is still an existing dated expectation of female domestication. In addition, the heels, a symbol which is sexually more suggestive, fetshizes women of power, revealing society’s double standard wherein women will continually be sexualized and demeaned even when performing the same roles as men. The infantilizing nouns in the caption, specifically the use ‘boy’ and ‘girl’ as opposed to ‘man’ and ‘woman,’ speaks to the common sexualization of young girls in advertisements in order to appeal the male audience. In this ad, the woman is made to appear more childlike, evident in her doe-eyed expression, implying that women are more dependent and incapable, fueling a man’s ego. In Rezkallah’s rendition, it sheds light on modern day sexism, as through the gender role reversal which adopts gender cliches to an extreme, are we then only able to realize that our societal constructs of gender remain unchanged, where a complete standard of gender equality has not been reached.