Annotated Bibliography Essay

An Annotated Bibliography: Stereotypes in Advertising August, Eugene R. â€Å"Real Men Don’t: Anti-Male Bias in the English Language. † The University of Dayton Review Spring (1986): 336-347. Web. In † Real Men Don’t: Anti-Male Bias in the English Language,† Eugene August states that men have been victims of negative bias equally if not more than women through gender restrictive language, which limits the roles men have, gender exclusive language, which excludes men from any type of consideration, and negative male stereotypes. Throughout the article August gives examples of ways in which males ave been forced to fit a certain role and if deviated from, they would be criticized and ultimately excluded from that party they were formerly attached to as an example of gender restrictive language. I agree with August in his arguments, but I would be a little more generous when finding victims on this subject. Women have been made victims Just as long, if not longer than men have. I feel as if the male community is lashing out against the women, almost I a way on giving then a taste of their own medicine. Yet in reality I shouldn’t be structured as a war of the sexes, but ather an attempt on the part of all sexes, to acknowledge and condemn gender stereotypes. Berger, John. Ways of Seeing. 1972. London, Penguin, 1990. In the book, Ways of Seeing Ch. 7, John Berger tells us that the role of publicity has evolved from oil paintings. Publicity images draw on the visual language of oil paintings, but their purpose is to manufacture glamour. This is due to the fact that the spectator-buyer is always changing, publicity aims to sell us something, and in order to do this it must make the spectator-buyer appear incomplete to his or herself. It must make us think we are in need of something more. The more, is a dream that is created from the spectator-buyer, using the mystique and lure from what publicity has given them of how they can become more derisible, by imposing a false standard of what and what is not desirable. I have a similar opinion to that of Berger. I feel that publicity is not natural, but the product of a culture that defines an individual by what they possess. This idea of identity has been prostituted to a culture that tells an individual that they are no one if they do not buy the life publicized. The interesting point that Berger makes is that publicity never paints the full picture for the consumer. It only provides the tools and a canvas for which to paint. Publicity allows the spectator-buyer, to paint for his or herself of what he or she could be. It is not obscence to suggest that this has become the lifeblood of our publicity promise of transformation. Fowles, Jib. â€Å"Advertisings 15 Basic Appeals. † Mass Advertising as Social Forecast. Santa Barbara: Praeger, 1976. (16-27). Print. In the article, â€Å"advertisings 15 Basic Appeals† written by Jib Fowles, we learn that dvertisements make an attempt to reach out to one or more of our 15 basic emotions as outlined by Fowles. These are the fifteen basic emotional appeals that we as humans need, and if crafted correctly, might result in us engaging in the advertised product. As we learn of these essential needs, we learn that advertisements are not so thoughtless as we may have previously assumed. We learn that it is an art. The emotional appeals made in these advertisements act as the thin end on a wedge, when driven in to our conscious it then allows for the true message o flow in without almost any defense, thus accomplishing its purpose. I completely agree with the claim that Fowles made in his article. Advertisers seek to highlight and ultimately tap into our emotions to use them to persuade us into using the given product. One such emotion that is highlighted is the need for affiliation. Despite the fact that recent statistics have shown that people are doing things on their own more than ever before, the majority of advertisements are linked to this basic and fundamental emotion. This is because, Just as we as a people have an inner desire to chieve things on our own, we also need Just as much if not more than our independence, people to share in our achievements. Fowles does a great Job in highlighting this fact as well as many others in his article based on our 15 basic emotions. Kilbourne, Jean. â€Å"Bath Tissue Is Like Marriage: The Corruption of Relationships. † Cant Buy My Love: How Advertising Changes the Way We Think and Feel. New York: Touchstone, 1999. (76-94). Print. In the article, â€Å"Bath Tissue Is Like Marriage: The Corruption of Relationships†, Jean Kilbourne speaks out about how advertisements sink into our deepest needs for love and nurturing, and transfer them onto any given product. In order to accomplish this, advertisers must be able to capture our attention with something that the consumer yearns for, and then make the underlying message about how their product will achieve this goal. We learn that the roles of an advertiser not to care about the potential buyer, but to make the consumer feel as if they are loved. When an advertisement is able to lull us into a false sense of security, then it has ccomplished its Job. Kilbourne concludes with exposing that advertising has come to the point of promising that a product can deliver that which can only be given given by Kilbourne. In her article she sates that that advertisements exist to exploit or very real and inner human desires. As we look at advertisement in any medium, we find out that until we have associated ourselves with a certain product or brand, we are not enough. Whether it be ads replacing human relationships, men dominating women, or even that one cell phone is superior to another, all tug at the need to be n top, and without these products we are found wanting. But the hang up with the promise of accomplishment from a product is that it only last as long as the ads. Every time we turn on the television or the radio, we are exposed to hundreds of ads that dissect everything that is human about us and assigns a product to it. We shall ever be found wanting in the eyes in the world, the only escape is for us to search for what truly matters and stick to it. Wall, David. â€Å"It Is And It Isn’t: Stereotypes, Advertising And Narrative. † Journal Of Popular Culture 41. (2008): 1033-1050. Academic Search Premier. Web. 29 Sept. 2013. In the article, â€Å"It Is And It Isn’t: Stereotypes, Advertising And Narrative. † by David Wall, is claimed that stereotypes in advertising are still being used because they are still a viable way for advertisers to move a product because of familiarity. A point that Wall makes is that consumers see through the stereotype and the false climas made by advertisers, and the advertisers know this. So what the advertiser does is then play on manipulation of the mixed emotions of desire and anxiety. The product then ecomes, by the consumer’s own doing, the essence of happiness, freedom, and the channel to an altered paradisiacal reality. I agree with the claims made in this article. Interestingly enough Wall makes the accusation â€Å"stereotypes will tell us much more about those doing the representing than those being represented†(1037). This is interesting because in the rest of the article Wall discusses the fact of stereotyping and the reasons behind it, political, historical, cultural, and so on. But he never really comes back to his very strong comment. I would go a step further with this remark nd say that not only do stereotypes in advertisements reflect what the presenters think about different situation, but what the presenter believes the viewer-consumer believes about different situations. For the viewer not to be overly effected by the stereotypes they are exposed to, they need to learn, what Wall calls the language of analysis. Which is to allow those whom are targeted to see beyond smoke and mirrors of it all and understand stereotype as a form of cultural † ‘advertisement for the self that is inseparable from the wider cultural narratives that create it†(1049).