Advertising Assessment

David Gauntlett has argued against the idea that masculinity is 'in crisis’. To what extent do you believe masculinity is 'in crisis'?

In your response you should refer to your Advertising and Marketing Close Study Products: the Score hair cream advert (1967) and the Maybelline ‘That Boss Life’ YouTube advert (2017).

[20 marks]

1) Gauntlett argument that "masculinity is not in crisis" is because he acknowledges Gibbens theory of "late modernity" which states "we are transitioning from a society in which our identities are constructed". This means that traditional gender roles have been castigated by society's playbook. Gauntlett states that masculinity is not in crisis because of the "construction of our own identity". This means that we have control how we want to be perceived and actively changing the rules to fit our identities. 

2) The score hair cream advert printed in 1967 brings issue to toxic masculinity and the representation of women. This is shown as the protagonist for this advert is white male wearning hunting attire and holding a gun. This denotes that he has been on a trip or adventure in the jungle and is coming back from this trip. The connotations would be that the protagonists holds a sense if superiority and arrogance which is shown by his positioning and the fact that his being held up four women on a plank wearing the exact same attire but sexualised to reinforce the hetronormative standards. This would link to Mulvey's gender theory "Male gaze" as the objectification of the women bring positioned to look inferior and creating the narrative that the prize for his trip or adventure is those women. This means that the overall message this grooming advert is sending is of men being dominant whilst wearing the hair cream. The cultural understanding of the score hair cream would come from their reassuring tone of "this product is made by men for men" to showcase the fragility of masculinity back in 1967 this would due to this was the year that homosexuality was decriminalised and could imply society is becoming open to changes, Gauntlett writes this is seen as a "decline of tradition". 

3) Score hair cream mangers to reflect Britain's colonial history through the Mise-en-scene (props and costumes) as the protagonist is a white male holding a gun which could significantly be influenced by British colonisation of different countries such as India, Australia, Bangladesh, New Zealand etc. This can be seen a prideful notion which would've influenced the idea as the colonisation of these countries were done by men and was seen as a way to assert dominance and control all the traits of "real" masculinity at the time. 

4) Whereas, Maybelline's 2017 "that boss life" advert completely subverts gender stereotypes and Score hair cream advert. This is shown that the notion of masculinity being "in crisis" is exaggerated because some individuals can't adapt to change. The maybelline advert shows two protagonists (MannyMUA and MakeUpShayla) - very influential and have a huge social media presence - going to meet at a New York hotel room to try out the new Maybelline mascara it can be seen as innovative and impactful because you don't typically see men in mainstream makeup commercials. This was a huge step for the makeup industry as the advert got mainstream attention worldwide. This is because the confident, fierce and elegant advert showcased the boundaries of gender and race being pushed and reflected a spark of change which hadn't been shown before. 

5) These adverts show the change in societal attitudes to sexuality, ethnicity and body image. This is because they both present ideologies of their time. This shares Gauntlett's theory of the masculinity not being "in crisis" because people are becoming accepting to different cultures such the support of different identities such as gender and sexuality and it's is more "fluid" as Gauntlett states. This is highlighted through different views on homosexuality and masculinity from the older and younger generations as the older seemed to be stoic on their construction of gender roles whereas the younger generations are breaking and redefining them. Therefore, the contrast between Score hair cream and Maybelline 'mascara' advert would be that score is celebrating the normalised and believed notion of a patriarchal society whereas maybelline is subverting the those gender stereotypes to say that change is better. 

6) In my opinion, I would disagree with Gauntlett as masculinity is not in crisis because we are becoming more "fluid" with our identities and is "steady process of change and transformation" this means that we still have a long way and we can achieve more. My opinion would stem from Judith Butler gender theory of "our genders are culturally rather than naturally formed" this is because in order for masculinity to be in crisis their needs to be a form of masculinity we need to attain for. Therefore, the argument of masculinity being in crisis is not justified by a certain norm rather time and culture.