The Construction of Masculinity and Femininity in Alcohol Advertising

This study focuses on how masculinity and femininity
are constructed in alcohol advertisements in the
print form, specifically in For Him Magazine (FHM)
and Gentlemen s Quarterly (GQ). Alcohol
advertisements address the reader in a way that
sells the lifestyle that is associated with the
product. Within the lifestyle depicted in the
advertisement, there may also be an identity and a
specific gender identity that the reader may be
encouraged to incorporate in order to achieve the
lifestyle associated with the advertised product.
Advertising in general has often been implicated in
constructing masculinity, and in particular,
femininity in narrow or restricted ways. The mass
media and advertising extend upon existing
societal norms and discourses regarding the
construction of masculinity and femininity by
sending these discourses or constructions back into
society in the form of advertising. A discourse
analysis was employed to investigate to what extent
advertising has used gender based societal
discourses as well as what dominant structures or
portrayals of gender appear in South African alcohol
advertising.

Autorentext
Tessa Nowosenetz, MA: Research Psychology. University of Pretoria, South Africa.

Klappentext
This study focuses on how masculinity and femininity are constructed in alcohol advertisements in the print form, specifically in For Him Magazine (FHM) and Gentlemen's Quarterly (GQ). Alcohol advertisements address the reader in a way that sells the lifestyle that is associated with the product. Within the lifestyle depicted in the advertisement, there may also be an identity and a specific gender identity that the reader may be encouraged to incorporate in order to achieve the lifestyle associated with the advertised product. Advertising in general has often been implicated in constructing masculinity, and in particular, femininity in narrow or restricted ways. The mass media and advertising extend upon existing societal 'norms' and discourses regarding the construction of masculinity and femininity by sending these discourses or constructions back into society in the form of advertising. A discourse analysis was employed to investigate to what extent advertising has used gender based societal discourses as well as what dominant structures or portrayals of gender appear in South African alcohol advertising.