Valenzuela - Katz, Jackson. Advertising and the Construction of Violent White Masculinity

Joe Valenzuela
October 12, 2007
WGS 220-05
Katz, Jackson. Advertising and the Construction of Violent White Masculinity
Description
• The idea of masculinity is constructed by images of male white violence in the media, and it goes often without challenge, as it has been an accepted part of society due to masculine white hegemony. (350)
Analysis
• Violence is typically considered a masculine quality. When the media portrays women as violent, there is usually a shock involved with this representation. (350)
• White men connected with portrayals of violence in the media as a reaction to the deterioration of the hegemony of whites over other races, and men against women. (351)
• Advertisers use distinctions in gender to market their products to men by using strength, and violence as a marketing tool to attract men. (352)
• Marketing using the middle-class, white rebel- archetype persuade consumers that they are doing something rebellious, when in actuality they usually represent the traditional views of society. (353)
• Advertisers use claim that violence is genetically embedded into men, and show this through historical violence and misogyny in their advertising. (354)
• Use of violent military and sports imagery help peddle traditionally "feminine" products to men, as it is defined as masculine due to the violent context given by the advertising. (356)
• Movies and advertising often equate the idea of heroism with the idea of violence. (357)
Vision
• Implied: A reduction of violence among men through the understanding of media constructs of masculinity and violence. (357)
Strategy
• Examining cultural objects that promote a violent masculinity, and understanding its links to gender, and the perverseness of violence. (357)