Chavez 1

Linnette Chavez
Honors English 115
Professor Lawson
21 November 2016
Project 3: Rough Draft
Word Count: 1781
Behind the Ads of a Thousand Words
How have gender roles of the fashion community not changed to represent the more
accepting gender roles between women or men that are currently displayed in America. In this
society, a womans role is to be caring, motherly, and most of all submissive to their counterpart.
While a mans role is being dominate, powerful, and independent in the eyes of the public.
Although, in the 21st century, the gender roles are changing sides, the modeling industry has yet
to acknowledge the change. Their ideals of gender roles from the 1950s, a time when there were
specific roles given to either sex, is still being use in the modern age. These agents have yet to
reform their views on the gender roles in the New World.
In the modeling world, especially the women models take a role as the less powerful, or
submissive role to showcase what a real female is in this Patriarchy in America. Female models
are exceptive to be role models to the female community. The ads from marketing a business
product with female models posing with the item the models posse is very submissive in the
photo. The ads with the female models have a weak image, which portray them being on the
ground and has her neck tilted to show her neck which is sign of weakness. The photos that are
token of the models they portray a sense of defenseless and in need of being be dominated.
Taking a second look on ads in marketing the selling of products has either a woman that is

Chavez 2
looking week because it a sign to being Feminine, which society want women to be or
surrounded with men because she needs to follow the men. (Jabeen) While for male models their
photos are of many of designer named brands like Calvin Klein and Michael Kors that have their
male models fit the ideal of what society wants the average men to be like tall, muscular, and
most of all seem very powerful. These are posess that male models take on making the
expectations high on social standards.
In the documentary, Codes of Gender, the researcher, Sut Jhally, discuss that the Ads
that models generally get their picture took from the big names companies asked them posse
there assign roles. He brings a valid example, such as the Guess brand, the creator of Guess,
Paul Marciano, is a big advocate of the reinforcement of gender roles in the American society
that women should be weak and man be the powerful over women. If you taking a closer look at
Guess advisements, you see that their photos are in black and white, you would essentially think
Oh, they created that purposely to be different from their competitors, but in actual fact it was
done purposely to have that 1950s look of the era of the black and white. In the 1950s, they were
where gender roles were at an all-time high in the United States of America, Guess creator Paul
Marciano, wanted the photo to have a double meaning to rereinforce the gender roles from the
1950s, even went to the trouble has having the women models act submissive roles, such as
images of showing how defenses they should be, while male model are seen with no shirts on to
show how dominate they are over women bodies. The ads of the female models vs. male models
in the advertisement industry, especially in the fashion they need to have a huge influence with
the produce of the ads to control their photo to have a meaning behind the photo. All high-end
brands, such as Guess, Michel Kors, Calvin Klein, the list can go on and on, but the main point is
that the high upper class believes that the gender rules should be kept with reinforcement. The

Chavez 3
photos of the models such as the male models got their shirts off to bring this ideal to male in the
public eyes, to think that the photo of the male models it the ideal body type to have and nothing
less. With the male bodies already having high standards place on top of them to have the nicer
body, women too have much more higher and much more pressure with they own bodies, based
off from the female models from advisements that have hourglass figures that makes women in
the general society to think that they would need to thrive to have the perfect body. (Codes of
Gender)
Gender roles that Patriarchy places upon us as human beings are there for a reason to tell
each other apart from one another being a Girl or a Boy. Plus, the roles placed upon us have
a meaning behind the reasoning, from an article of the Fatherhood organization, it clearly states
that biochemistry, physical appearance, brain size, and hormones are different from one
another base on gender. The importance of the roles is to maintain and held in place within
society to keep the order of peace within the government. Images of the models within many of
the magazines or ads, are harmless, or the saying goes It just a picture. The fashion models are
doing their profession of posing for the picture with to advertise the product they were hire for.
(Mears) They do have a point that model do their jobs of being a model, but they are modeling
for the picture with the item that are an object, why would they need to act defenseless with the
item and not powerful like man in the photos? In magazines, especially teenagers magazines
they would have photo of women hands holding the latest Cover Girl lip-stick with small
delicate hands with barely touch the lip-stick. The photo insinuate that women must have a
gentle touch similar to a meaning of having a female touch. In the earlier years of the life of
children they learn from the environment of being a Girl or a Boy. The toys that each gender
play with gowning up are made in mind to the traits of gender of each child in mind, for instance,

Chavez 4
Dads shows that their sons that cars are good and Barbies are bad. While for girls its cars
are bad and Barbies are good from there mothers. So if the gender roles are important to
teach the difference with ones bodies to the children to learn are different they are from the other
sex, while they learn they act the traits of the gender they need to follow or not they would be the
outcast in their community, which many would put a front to act what society wants in order to
have the bodies with other people even its not who they are as a person. Although in recent
years, as each generation grown up they dont really care for the fake bonds they have with the
people that are supposed to love them for themselves, but who they really are, while this mind
set of people were being develop from the millennials who shock the world with how opened
minded that they were to the change from the old world traditional to the making new traditional
into the New World. In today economy, in local news a young boy made headlines in the new
articles in the New York Times, with Cover Girl made a change to fit what ideals that the New
World were looking for, in this case the boy is the new cover of Cover Girl being first to wear
make-up and posse for the photo that was supposed to be a female model, instead of a male
model. The photo was proof to be stand against the assign gender roles in photos.
The issue of its questionable could be that a vary of people wouldnt be aware of a
problem of the images, and might look at it as being an average advertisements, but an image
or picture has many words behind the meaning. While it can lead to become problematic with
many social groups such as the Women Movement, or LGBT communities because the fashion
models act a role that is based on stereotypes, instead of real solid facts on the gender they are
misleading on the advertisements.
Gender roles have change from 1950s, with women and man are switching roles. In the
1950s, women were supposed to be very docile, but now women are taking on powerful roles in

Chavez 5
the country that were meant for man, while man who are supposed to be powerful, are now stay
at home dads managing house work. Gender roles shouldnt be place upon either gender because
if there are a Girl or Boy because the either gender can like something from the side of the
opposite side of Gender. (Eccles) Although society has a two-based gender role system that
based upon the sex that you were biologically were born of being a Girl or Boy, the
standards are either roles has change over time with each past generation after generation of
ideas of Gender roles. Why does gender play a huge role on who we are as person, must we
follow the roles that society assign us with or should we chose the roles that were like to follow
based of our own free will.
The roles arent change yet in society because there is an array of people that still
following the typical gender role from the old world, for instance the 1950s. Plus, there is
statements made from certain type of people that state that the roles of man and women should
be followed. Unfortunately, the individuals that dont follow the roles they would be negative
consequences for the individuals that dont go along with the gender roles. Roles are an
importance to get the balance within the society because without it the balance of the gender
roles there would be chaos without the government, such as determining who would get which
profession of traits. Keeping the gender roles is a necessary to maintain the order of being a
Girl or Boy.

Chavez 6
Works Cited
1. Eccles, Jacquelynne S. "Gender roles and women's achievement-related decisions."
Psychology of women Quarterly 11.2 (1987): 135-172.
2. Fatherhood Organization. 21 Reasons Why Gender Matters. PDF
3. Jabeen, s., & Ilyas, a. (2012). Gender Role Modelling In Textbooks: case study of urdu
textbooks of sindh province. pakistan journal of women's studies, 19(1), 75-93.
4. Mears, Ashley. "Discipline of the Catwalk: Gender, Power and Uncertainty in Fashion
Modeling." Ethnography, 9.4 (2008): 429-456.
5. Codes of Gender. Dir. Sut Jhally. Topdocumentaryfilms.com, 2009. Web.