The Gender Ads Project

Advertising, Education, Activism

Constructions
Background: This page features ads that blatantly focus on essentialized constructions of gender. The Ads: Image 3 offers a very useful and troubling understanding of gender through the realm of children's toys Image 14 is quite interesting as it illustrates the characteristics that are often applied to dichotomous understandings of gender. The woman's nails are associated with femininity and the state of being delicate, while the opposite, masculinity, is connected to the nail with its symbolism of power. Discussion Questions: (1) Using any of the ads on this page, create a list of the assumptions (or constructions of gender) that are associated with the sexes. (2) Some of the ads chosen for this page are historic ones. Do you believe that the assumptions about gender have become more progressive over the years? How have things changed, or not?
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