Captain Morgans Catch of the day portrays the benefits of taking beer from a sociological point of view. There are people on a tropical beach having a party and dancing while the captain is holding a beer possibly portraying that the young gentleman and the two beautiful women had a beer and is what has stimulated their fun. The main focus, however, is two women to one man with a tagline, catch of the day. The scene implies that when a person takes Captain Morgan they will subsequently be surrounded by beautiful women, and they have a high likelihood that they will catch one. The tagline on the ad, the captain was here states that the party is great because Captain Morgan must have been there. Therefore, it can be derived that when you drink Captain Morgan, you will have much fun. Even though the ad has a black and white backdrop, colors that have been shown, yellow and red, are fun or appealing to the eye.
B. Description of where I Found the Ad and Why I Chose it
I found the ad online. I chose to analyze it primarily because it was the perfect picture that shows how beer companies capitalize on sociological appeals of fun and partying to market their products. Also, it also portrays the society in the way gender roles are variant in the marketing field. In addition, it highlights how sociology, mainly through sexualizing women bodies, has been part and parcel of marketing.
C. Purpose of Paper
I will analyze the paper using the concepts of gender role, the culture of rape, and the beauty myth.
II. Gender Roles
Define gender roles
Gender roles refer to the set of behavioral and social norms that are considered to be appropriate based on social norms for individuals of a specific culture. They are based on the different expectations of individuals, societies, and groups have on people based on their sex, as well as the societys beliefs and values about gender. However, it should be noted that gender and sex are two different concepts. While sex is mainly a biological concept and determined by sex characteristics, gender refers to the meanings, characteristics, and values that individuals ascribe to the sexes.
Dominant Gender Roles in the U.S.
Difficulty in differentiating gender roles in the modern U.S. society is a perfect example of the negative social effects of using stereotypes. In essence, the division of the gender roles among the sexes is deeply rooted in the social archetypes. Patriarchy in the past was the dominant model used in families where men were considered as the financial providers, assertive, career-focused, and independent while women have been associated with low working positions, attending to the family by being mothers and wives, and given the responsibility to raise children and do housework (Allen, Swan & Raghavan, 2009). Currently, that has changed, and the model has turned into a partnership than patriarchy where women have more possibilities and rights from the labor market. For this reason, the differences in gender roles are not so different currently owing to the adoption of the feminist environment. Most gender roles that were performed by men in the past are currently being done by women, such as being financial providers, especially for single parents. However, in the advertising and marketing field, the dominant gender roles, especially for alcohol are women, who are mostly sexualized, just as in the catch of the day by Captain Morgan.
A Description of how the Ad is Depicting the Dominant Gender Roles
The ad is depicting the dominant gender roles in a sexualized manner. Women bodies are often sexualized compared to that of men. For this reason, the dominant gender role when it comes to aspects of sexual appeal is female. In fact, in modern society, no party or fun event can be undertaken without females. As such, the dominant gender role, in this case, is female. They are catalysts to fun activities. In most instance, the companies for beer, for example, Captain Morgan capitalizes on this aspect of marketing.
III. Culture of Rape
Description of how the U.S. is Considered a Culture of Rape.
Rape culture is mainly a sociological concept used in describing a setting in which rape is normalized and pervasive due to societal attitudes about sexuality and gender. The U.S. is associated with rape culture through the portrayal of certain behaviors, including sexual objectification, victim blaming, trivializing rape, denial of widespread rape instances, as well as refusing to acknowledge that there is harm caused by the various forms of sexual violence, or rather, a combination of these (Vance et al., 2015).
Discussion of How the Ad is Part of Our Culture of Rape
For instance, Captain Morgans advertisement highlights a behavior of sexual objectification of the female gender, and thus, it shows that the culture in the U.S. normalizes rape, hence considered as a culture of rape. It encourages rape by objectifying women bodies as sex objects. For this reason, it encourages the male gender to use women as sex objects, and thus, this is inclusive of rape. Essentially, the subconscious message being passed is that women can be used only for sex or other fun activities, thereby as Vance et al. (2015) highlight, encouraging the concept of rape from a sociological point of view.
C. Why Women have Difficulty Coming Forward After Being Raped.
According to Ringrose and Renold (2012), women have difficulty in coming forward once they have been raped because the rape culture discourages them from doing so through the perpetuation of certain behaviors, such as victim blaming. In essence, this is where the victim of rape is blamed for having caused the rape because the culture advocates that they could have done more to prevent the action if they did not want to get raped. For this reason, the perpetrator can use this against the victim by saying that the victim indeed acted in a suggestive manner, by doing something or acting in a certain manner, or wearing clothes that subsequently provoked the perpetrator, and thus the ensuing transgressions are solely her fault. Also, slut shaming is also a sociological explanation in that prevents women from coming forward after rape because it makes the woman feel inferior or guilty for certain sexual behaviors or desires that deviate from orthodox or traditional gender expectations (Ringrose & Renold, 2012). For this reason, victim blaming and slut shaming are the two main reasons why women do not come forward after instances of rape.
IV. The Beauty Myth
Description and Examples of the Beauty Myth
The basic principle of the beauty myth is that prominence of women and their social power have significantly increased. In effect, the social pressures they feel to adhere to unrealistic social standards of what is more of physical beauty has substantially grown stronger primarily due to the commercialization of the mass media. For instance, the ad portrays women to be sexy. Thus, their bodies can be used in mass media for advertising beauty products or in the fashion industry. Modeling also highlights aspects of the myth.
B. How this Ad Portrays and Encourages Beauty Myth
The social pressures that women should portray their physical beauty, mainly via advertising and marketing, have increased over the last couple of decades. The advertisement of Captain Morgan testifies to that. In essence, by using the beauty ideal, the ad will force other women to reconsider their view on using their bodies for marketing purposes, and from a sociological standpoint, it would be compelling to fall into the same trap of women objectification. It encourages them to use their bodies for sex objectification because that is how the society shapes women to do. For this reason, the ad encourages the ideal of beauty myth and sends a subconscious message to them that it is fine to expose their bodies.
V. Conclusion
A. The impact of the Advertisement on Us.
The advertisement sends a message that women are sex objects and are catalysts for fun. In addition, it also sends a message that beer and parties, when coupled with women are the perfect items or ingredients for having fun. For this reason, the next time a person is having fun, it is vital to consider the presence of women and beer, in this case, Captain Morgan.
Recap of Main Arguments
Gender roles have changed over the last few decades due to increasing in feminist sensitization, leading to change in gender roles from patriarchy to partnership in domestic relationships. Dominant gender roles have also changed in the advertising field as women are currently being objectified sexually, leading to a culture of rape in the U.S. For instance, the advertisements objectify women and encourage the culture of rape, which subsequently hinders women from coming forward once raped due to victim blaming and slut shaming. Besides, the ad uses the beauty myth, whereby women are forced to see themselves as objects of beauty, and it is okay for them to expose their bodies.
Personal Reflection on the Ad
The ad from my viewpoint encourages me to take the beer because Captain Morgan coupled with women will make it fun. From the ad, from a sociological standpoint makes me sometimes try in the future to have the beer so that pretty women can surround me. Even, this is just an illusion; I may not be necessarily true.
The Ad
References
Allen, C. T., Swan, S. C., & Raghavan, C. (2009). Gender symmetry, sexism, and intimate partner violence. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 24(11), 1816-1834.
Ringrose, J., & Renold, E. (2012). Slut-shaming, girl power and sexualisation: Thinking through the politics of the international SlutWalks with teen girls. Gender and Education, 24(3), 333-343.
Vance, K., Sutter, M., Perrin, P. B., & Heesacker, M. (2015). The medias sexual objectification of women, rape myth acceptance, and interpersonal violence. Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment & Trauma, 24(5), 569-587.
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