The Codes of Gender
The Codes of Gender
| 13 October 2010 (USA)
The Codes of Gender Trailers

Arguing that advertising not only sells things, but also ideas about the world, media scholar Sut Jhally offers a blistering analysis of commercial culture's inability to let go of reactionary gender representations. Jhally's starting point is the breakthrough work of the late sociologist Erving Goffman, whose 1959 book The Presentation of the Self in Everyday Life prefigured the growing field of performance studies. Jhally applies Goffman's analysis of the body in print advertising to hundreds of print ads today, uncovering an astonishing pattern of regressive and destructive gender codes. By looking beyond advertising as a medium that simply sells products, and beyond analyses of gender that tend to focus on either biology or objectification, The Codes of Gender offers important insights into the social construction of masculinity and femininity, the relationship between gender and power, and the everyday performance of cultural norms.

Reviews
CommentsXp

Best movie ever!

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InformationRap

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

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Quiet Muffin

This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

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Caryl

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties. It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

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bettycjung

11/29/17. An interesting documentary about gender roles and how they are represented in media and advertising. It is amazing how what we watch constantly on any medium, whether in print or on the screen, insidiously display what roles we should be playing. This is especially true for women, in which they are constantly feminized to reduce the threat that men may feel when faced with women who come off as being masculine or too male-like. And, gay men are displayed in what are considered feminine positions because they share the same audience with women. Worth catching.

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