So I’ve shared and discussed the following video in other FAMS classes but in all honesty this is my first WGS class. Therefore I’m curious to hear a more varied reaction.
Video
original article
http://www.adweek.com/adfreak/construction-workers-yell-messages-empowerment-women-snickers-stunt-156541
I always found this commercial to be a little strange. I like what the construction workers say, but I kind of agree with the youtube commenter quoted in the article; the idea of the commercial- that “you’re not you when you’re hungry”- makes it seem like the workers shouldn’t be saying these things, and that the snickers bar is supposed to “correct” their behavior back to typical misogynistic catcalling. I’m don’t think that was what the creators had in mind, but that’s how it comes off to me.
That was an emotional roller coaster! The first time I watched it I missed the opening scene that clarified that the video would be about builders “not being themselves.” Then at the end of the video I realized this wasn’t some great social commentary or effort to change the perception of blue collar workers/street interactions. No, it was (supposed to be) a funny ad about these big, burly, “manly” men acting in respectable, empowering ways because they haven’t had their afternoon Snickers-fix. How disappointing!
Something we haven’t spent a ton of time about yet in class but which I’ve spent time on in my WGS classes is the fact that feminism is about issues affecting women AND men. The cultural prescriptions around masculinity are actually incredibly strict, and the penalties for men subverting gender roles are often worse than women subverting them (i.e., a woman being a leader = good for her, a man being emotional = what a pussy).
This kind of reminds me of the Kaplan article I presented on this week, in that recently male characters have been allowed to begin to take on more feminine characteristics (think Jude Law’s nurturing dad qualities we mentioned from The Holiday). It’ll be interesting moving forward to think about not just the ways women are represented in the films we watch, but also how the men are represented; and what that says about our culture’s ideas about being a woman or a man.