Study Task 03 - Reading and Understanding a Text

Analysing 'David Gauntlett - Media, Gender & Identity'
20 / 10 / 15


I have decided I have chosen to focus my COP on the extent at which advertising constructs our ideas of gender. Upon reading the extract pages from the above book (in the title) we had to pick out certain things from the text...

1) Tone-of-voice: What can you deduce about the authors position in regard to the subject matter from their tone-of-voice.

The book has been described as being "an 'accessible' introduction to the relationship between media and gender identities today", this highlighting how the text isn't formally written and only provides a brief introduction to the topic. This is supported when Gauntlett refers to a "small-ish number of cases", again pointing towards this informal style of writing. I found this unusual due to the formalities of the referenced studies used in the text to trigger debates and support points.

2) 5 Key points that the text makes.    - Sexism in advertising - "Thats why mums go to Iceland"    - Stereotypical gender-assigned behaviour on tv - women seen doing housework/childcare
    - The developed status of women in adverts
    - Women today and there obsession with beauty, thus beauty products constantly been advertising
    - Magazines/ medias portrayal of perfection  

3) 5 Key quotes from the text.
   - "Sleeping with a supermodel would be about as pleasurable as shagging a bicycle"
   - "Make-up adverts are produced by capitalists who want to cultivate insecurities which they can then sell solutions to."
   - "The woman we expect to see in ads these days are busy, confident, successful, attractive, etc"
   - Women were twice as likely to be shown (in adverts) doing housework or childcare, whilst men were twice as likely to be shown doing work outside the home."
   - "Some advertising is unapologetically sexist... because the message works for the target audience, even if it might surprise and offend others."