Men and masculinities in a changing world: (de)legitimizing gender ideals in advertising

Abstract

Purpose Conversations surrounding gender are sweeping the globe as the voices and lived experiences of people are being heard and shared at unprecedented rates. Discourses about gender in advertising are embedded in cultural narratives and legitimatized by a broad system of institutional structures and actors, at both macro and micro/consumer levels. This study aims to explore how consumers (one type of institutional actor) engage in legitimizing/delegitimizing messages of gender in the marketplace. Design/methodology/approach This research draws on a qualitative approach, specifically the use of in-depth interviews with men across three global contexts. Findings This research identifies the ways in which men engage in (de)legitimizing messages of masculinity in advertising such as reiteration, reframing, ascribing to alternate logics and prioritizing personal norms. Research limitations/implications Across three contexts, this research theorizes the (de)legitimization of gender ideals in advertising and situates consumer narratives within broader institutional forces, providing a holistic understanding of the phenomenon. Practical implications Understanding the ways in which individuals either accept or reject gendered ideals in media aids advertising and marketing professionals in tailoring messages that resonate with audiences. Social implications Understanding how individuals negotiate their gender and the messages they deem as legitimate are crucial to understanding gender issues related to consumer welfare and public policy. Originality/value While research has examined advertising practitioners’ views regarding gender from an institutional perspective, research on how consumers construct and maintain the legitimacy of gendered messages in the marketplace is scarce. This research theorizes and illustrates the (de)legitimization of gender ideals across three contexts.

Institutional Logics, Gender, and Advertising Within a Culture in Transition: Examining Strategies of Advertising Professionals in Turkey for Managing Institutional Complexity

“…Despite the substantial influences on advertising of macro forces such as shifting discourses and politics of gender, much research on gender in marketing and advertising has examined micro-level issues of gender and identities, such as the influence of stereotypes on lived experiences. Less is understood about how gendered messages are constructed, disseminated, and reiterated by marketplace actors—particularly in times of transition and disruption (Zayer, McGrath, and Castro-González 2020). This is an important area of inquiry because, as noted in prior scholarship, advertising representations establish and reiterate gender stereotypes and hold broad societal implications for gender relations (e.g., Gurrieri, Brace-Govan, and Cherrier 2016; Schroeder and Borgerson 1998).…”

“…This is an important area of inquiry because, as noted in prior scholarship, advertising representations establish and reiterate gender stereotypes and hold broad societal implications for gender relations (e.g., Gurrieri, Brace-Govan, and Cherrier 2016; Schroeder and Borgerson 1998). Recently, scholars have used institutional theory to understand micro-macro relationships of advertising and gender (Zayer and Coleman 2015; Zayer, McGrath, and Castro-González 2020). Institutional theory is particularly relevant in this context because institutional logics inform and guide advertising professionals within the context of their agencies.…”

Problematizing the Postfeminist Gaze: A Critical Exploration of Young Women’s Readings of Gendered Power Relations in Advertising

“…… [B]ut she is sexy coz of her legs … I like her long legs. Zayer, McGrath, and Castro-González (2020) find that perceptions of inauthenticity contribute to the delegitimation of stereotypical ideals. For Chelsea, however, despite the ad's inauthenticity, gender stereotypes are not delegitimized.…”

“…Historically, advertisements portrayed a clear gender dichotomy, depicting women as passive, eroticized, and vulnerable objects and men as dominant, powerful, active subjects (Goffman 1976). In recent decades, however, advertising has shifted towards other representations of masculinity and femininity, some challenging traditional gender binaries (Stevens and Ostberg 2012; Zayer, McGrath, and Castro-González 2020). Beginning in the 1990s, advertisers began marketing female empowerment by portraying women as autonomous and empowered subjects, not constrained by inequalities or power imbalances, but as embodying active, confident, and autoerotic sexualities for themselves (Gill 2008).…”

“…Subsequent research has attended to the cultural discourses that interpellate readers as particular kinds of gendered subjects, highlighting how women may engage in oppositional readings of ads by shifting among multiple, diverse, and at times paradoxical interpretive positions informed by socio-historic discourses (Kates and Shaw-Garlock 1999). More recently, Zayer, McGrath, and Castro-González (2020) identified different strategies men use in legitimizing and delegitimizing gender ideals in advertising that both reiterate and challenge institutionalized gender norms produced within dominant power structures. Collectively, this research provides insight into how consumers – within the parameters of cultural and commercial discourses – act as arbitrators of meaning.…”