Revisiting Erving Goffman's sociological contributions

Gender and Ads

In "Gender Advertisements," Erving Goffman argues that gender is a pervasive theme in modern advertising. The theme of gender is critical to advertisements because of the universal nature of gender, and because personal identity is inextricably linked with gender. Consumer behavior will be motivated best by advertisers skillful in exploiting the gender construct. Goffman shows that advertisements both create and reflect gender norms. By constructing an exaggerated patriarchy through imagery and symbolism, advertisers proscribe consumer behavior. Consumer behavior in turn influences general social norms. The author ultimately points out the subtle and overt patterns that pervade advertisements, encouraging strong media literacy.

Feminine Touch

As Goffman points out, "women, more than men, are pictured using their fingers and hands to trace to outlines of an object or to cradle it or to caress its surface," (29). Goffman calls this type of touch "ritualistic," because it differs from the mundane utilitarian touching for object manipulation (29). In advertisements like the Estee Lauder makeup advertisement, the ritualized feminine touch is also sexually charged. The model brings her fingers, which are phallic surrogates, to her slightly open, pouty mouth. IN so doing, the feminine touch mimics fellatio.

Ritualization of Subordination

The ritual of subordination in advertisements plays on gender hierarchies and social stratifications. Advertisers capitalize on existing gender hierarchies by exaggerating the relationships between persons in power and subordinates. Props and staging in advertisements help to create the ritual of subordination. For example, "beds and floors provide places in social situations where incumbent persons will be lower than anyone sitting in a chair or standing," (41). Gender hierarchy in advertisements both confirms and creates gender hierarchies in reality. "In contrived scenes in advertisements, men tend to be located higher than women, thus allowing elevation to be exploited as a delineative resource," (43).

Licensed Withdrawal

The Hermes advertisement substantiates Goffman's analysis of licensed withdrawal. Goffman notes, "women more than men, it seems, are pictured engaged in involvements which remove them psychologically from the social situation at large, leaving them unoriented in it, and…dependent on the protectiveness…of others," (57). Licensed withdrawal is a visual phenomenon that reflects gender norms and social roles. Patriarchal societies present females as being not only subordinate, but also helpless. They are not active participants in the creation of political, social, and economic realities; they are withdrawn and passive recipients of the paternal generosity of men. This social construct is played out creatively and with hyperbole in advertisements.