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MEN CRY TOO, BUT… INTERPRETATION OF THE CRITIQUE OF HEGEMONIC MASCULINITY IN AXE ADVERTISEMENT

Year 2017, Volume: 5 Issue: 2, 62 - 80, 31.07.2017
https://doi.org/10.17680/erciyesakademia.312263

Abstract

The concept of hegemonic masculinity has been an important
point of debate in gender studies. Considering that masculinity is not a fixed
and homogeneous category, hegemonic masculinity points out the mechanisms of
cultural meaning attribution which idealize a particular formation of masculinity
among other possible masculinities. Studies on hegemonic masculinity assesses
the struggles between a masculine understanding that has been put in a dominant
position by social institutions, and other marginalized masculinities.
Investigating Axe’s “Men Cry too” advertising campaign in Turkey, this study
analyzes the ways in which the critical attitude of the advertising narrative
is countered by audiences. As opposed to the hegemonic masculine attempt that
equates the act of crying to femininity, Axe advertisement constructs a
language asserting that men should cry freely and encourages men to challenge
the taboos. Besides, the advertisement represents men other than the formations
of hegemonic masculinity to point out that a diversity of masculinities is
possible. With a content analysis of audience comments at the brand’s YouTube
channel, this study observes that the counter-hegemonic language of the
advertisement is approved by most users. However, this study further reckons
that the act of approval does not mean that hegemonic masculinity is fully
challenged. Contrarily, this study argues that the commentaries that seemingly
approve the advertising narrative, are equipped with discursive strategies that
normalize or legitimize hegemonic masculinity.

References

  • Beasley, C. (2008). Rethinking hegemonic masculinity in a globalizing world. Men and Masculinities, 11(1), 86–103.
  • Beauvoir, S. d. (2011). The Second Sex. (S. M.-C. Constance Borde, Çev.) New York: Vintage Books.
  • Beynon, J. (2002). Masculinities and Culture. Buckingham, Philadephia: Open University Press.
  • Buschmeyer, A., & Lengersdorf, D. (2016). The differentiation of masculinity as a challenge for the concept of hegemonic masculinity. NORMA, 11(3), 190-207.
  • Butler, J. (2007). Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity. New York: Routledge.
  • Cheng, C. (1999). Marginalized Masculinities and Hegemonic Masculinity: An Introduction. The Journal ofMen’s Studies, 7(3), 295-315.
  • Connell, R. (1987). Gender and power: Society, the person, and sexual politics. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
  • Connell, R. (2005). Masculinities (2nd ed.). Berkeley: University of California Press. Connell, R., & Messerschmidt, J. W. (2005). Hegemonic masculinity: Rethinking the concept. Gender & Society, 16(9), 829–859.
  • Demetriou, D. Z. (2001). Connell’s concept of hegemonic masculinity: A critique. Theory and Society, 30(3), 337–361.
  • Dunlap, R., & Johnson, C. W. (2013). Consuming contradiction: media, masculinity and (hetero) sexual identity. Leisure/Loisir, 37(1), 69-84.
  • Foucault, M. (1990). The History of Sexuality: Volume 1 An Introduction. New York: Vintage Books.
  • Goldman, R. (1992). Reading Ads Socially. London & New York: Routledge.
  • Gramsci, A. (1971). Prison Notebooks. International Publishers.
  • Haralson, E. (2002). Manly Tears: Men’s Elegies for Children in Nineteenth-Century American Culture. In J. T. Milette Shamir (Ed.), Boys Don’t Cry? Rethinking Narratives of Masculinity and Emotion in the U.S. içinde (ss. 88-105). New York: Columbia University Press.
  • Hearn, J. (2004). From hegemonic masculinity to the hegemony of Men. Feminist Theory, 5(1), 49–72.
  • Jackson, P. (1994). Black Male: advertising and the cultural politics of masculinity. Gender, Place & Culture: A Journal of Feminist Geography, 1(1), 49-59.
  • Jhally, S. (2006). Advertising, Gender and Sex: What’s Wrong with a Little Objectification? In S. Jhally, The Spectacle of Accumulation: Essays in Culture, Media, & Politics içinde (ss. 163-176). New York: Peter Lang.
  • Kervin, D. (1990). Advertising Masculinity: The Representation of Males in Esquire Advertisements . Journal of Communication Inquiry, 14(1), 51-70.
  • Kleiman, R. (2016, Şubat 4). AXE Drops the Bravado, Embraces a More Inclusive Masculinity. Retrieved from PSFK: https://www.psfk.com/2016/02/axe-campaign-inclusivemasculinity- find-your-magic.html
  • Kocasu, A. N. (2016, Ocak 15). Axe ile özbenliğe yolculuk: Marka mesajını yeniliyor. Retrieved from MediaCat: http://www.mediacatonline.com/axe-ile-ozbenlige-yolculuk/
  • Kocasu, A. N. (2017, Mart 29). Erkekler de ağlar: AXE ve Can Bonomo belletilen erkekliğe karşı . Retrieved from MediaCat: http://www.mediacatonline.com/axe-can-bonomoerkekler- de-aglar/
  • Kolster, T. (2012). Goodvertising: Creative Advertising That Cares. London: Thames & Hudson. Krippendorff, K. (1980). Content analysis. An Introduction to its Methodology. Beverly Hills: Sage.
  • Kuru, A. (2015, Nisan 28). Doğadan eleştirilere duyarsız kalmadı. Retrieved from MediaCat: http://www.mediacatonline.com/dogadan-elestirilere-duyarsiz-kalmadi/
  • Liddicoat, A. J. (2011). Feminist language planning. Current Issues in Language Planning, 12(1), 1-7.
  • Mayring, P. (2000). Qualitative Content Analysis. Forum: Qualitative Social Research, 1(2), 1-10.
  • Mukherjee, R., & Banet-Weiser, S. (Eds.). (2012). Commodity Activism: Cultural Resistance in Neoliberal Times. New York: New York University Press.
  • Murray, D. P. (2013). Branding “Real” Social Change in Dove’s Campaign for Real Beauty. Feminist Media Studies, 13(1), 83-101.
  • Nas, A. (2015). Kadına Yönelik Simgesel Şiddet Aracı Olarak Temizlik Ürünleri Reklamlarının Eleştirel Analizi. Akdeniz Üniversitesi İletişim Fakültesi Dergisi, 24, 11-30.
  • Nudd, T. (2016, Ocak 14). Ad of the Day: Axe Gets Inclusive in a Remarkable Ad That’s Really Pretty Magical . Retrieved from Adweek: http://www.adweek.com/brand-marketing/ ad-day-axe-gets-inclusive-remarkable-ad-thats-really-pretty-magical-168996/
  • Patterson, M., & Elliott, R. (2002). Negotiating Masculinities: Advertising and the Inversion of the Male Gaze. Consumption Markets & Culture, 5(3), 231-249.
  • Robinson, S. (2002). Men’s Liberation, Men’s Wounds: Emotion, Sexuality, and the Reconstruction of Masculinity in the 1970s. In J. T. Milette Shamir (Ed.), Boys Don’t Cry? Rethinking Narratives of Masculinity and Emotion in the U.S. (pp. 205-229). New York: Columbia University Press.
  • Sancar, S. (2011). Erkeklik: İmkansız İktidar, Ailede, Piyasada ve Sokakta Erkekler. İstanbul: Metis.
  • Schroeder, J. E., & Zwick, D. (2004). Mirrors of Masculinity: Representation and Identity in Advertising Images. Consumption Markets & Culture, 7:1, , 7(1), 21-52.
  • Scott, J. (1986). Gender: A Useful Category of Historical Analysis. The American Historical Review, 91(5), 1053-1075.
  • Williams, R. (1999). Advertising: The Magic System. In S. During (Ed.), The Cultural Studies Reader (pp. 410-423). London & New York: Routledge.
  • Williamson, J. (1978). Decoding Advertisements: Ideology and Meaning in Advertising. London: Marion Boyars.
  • Wong, C. M. (2016, Ocak 14). Axe’s New ‘Find Your Magic’ Ad Promotes A Different Type Of Masculinity. Retrieved from Huffington Post: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/ axe-commercial-vogue-queens_us_5697cf66e4b0778f46f85fc2

ERKEKLER DE AĞLAR, AMA… AXE REKLAMINDAKİ HEGEMONİK ERKEKLİK ELEŞTİRİSİNİN YORUMLANMA BİÇİMLERİ

Year 2017, Volume: 5 Issue: 2, 62 - 80, 31.07.2017
https://doi.org/10.17680/erciyesakademia.312263

Abstract











Hegemonik erkeklik, toplumsal cinsiyet çalışmalarında sıklıkla
başvurulan bir kavramdır. Erkekliğin homojen ve yekpare bir kategori olmadığını
öne süren hegemonik erkeklik olgusu; mümkün olan çeşitli erkeklikler arasından
belirli bir erkeklik formasyonunun idealize edilerek hegemonik hale getirildiği
kültürel anlamlandırma mekanizmalarına dikkat çekmektedir. Hegemonik erkeklik çalışmaları,
toplumsal kurumlar ve gündelik hayat pratikleri tarafından egemen hale
getirilen bir erkeklik anlayışı ile, ötekileştirilen ve dışlanan erkeklikler
arasında süregiden çatışma halini incelemektedir. Axe markasının Türkiye’de yayınlanan
“Erkekler de Ağlar” reklamını inceleyen bu çalışma, hegemonik erkekliğe karşı
eleştirel bir tutum geliştiren reklam anlatısının, izleyiciler tarafından karşılanma
biçimlerini çözümlemektedir. Ağlama eylemini kadınsılıkla özdeşleştiren
hegemonik erkeklik anlatısına karşı Axe reklamı, erkeklerin de özgürce ağlayabileceğini
belirttiği bir dil inşa etmiş ve erkekleri kalıpları yıkma noktasında
cesaretlendirmiştir. Ayrıca, hegemonik erkeklik halleri dışında kalan erkekleri
de temsil eden reklam, farklı erkekliklerin mümkün olduğunu göstermeyi amaçlamıştır.
Axe reklamının yayınlandığı YouTube kanalı üzerinden reklama getirilen izleyici
yorumlarını içerik analizi tekniğiyle analiz eden bu çalışma, hegemonik
erkeklik karşıtı anlatının izleyiciler tarafından büyük ölçüde onaylandığını gözlemlemektedir.
Buna rağmen, onaylama durumunun hegemonik erkekliği tam manasıyla eleştirme
anlamına gelmediğini vurgulayan bu çalışma; reklam anlatısını onaylıyor gibi görünen
yorumların aslında hegemonik erkekliği normalleştiren, görünmez kılan veya
yeniden üreten söylem stratejileriyle örülü olduğunu iddia etmektedir.

References

  • Beasley, C. (2008). Rethinking hegemonic masculinity in a globalizing world. Men and Masculinities, 11(1), 86–103.
  • Beauvoir, S. d. (2011). The Second Sex. (S. M.-C. Constance Borde, Çev.) New York: Vintage Books.
  • Beynon, J. (2002). Masculinities and Culture. Buckingham, Philadephia: Open University Press.
  • Buschmeyer, A., & Lengersdorf, D. (2016). The differentiation of masculinity as a challenge for the concept of hegemonic masculinity. NORMA, 11(3), 190-207.
  • Butler, J. (2007). Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity. New York: Routledge.
  • Cheng, C. (1999). Marginalized Masculinities and Hegemonic Masculinity: An Introduction. The Journal ofMen’s Studies, 7(3), 295-315.
  • Connell, R. (1987). Gender and power: Society, the person, and sexual politics. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
  • Connell, R. (2005). Masculinities (2nd ed.). Berkeley: University of California Press. Connell, R., & Messerschmidt, J. W. (2005). Hegemonic masculinity: Rethinking the concept. Gender & Society, 16(9), 829–859.
  • Demetriou, D. Z. (2001). Connell’s concept of hegemonic masculinity: A critique. Theory and Society, 30(3), 337–361.
  • Dunlap, R., & Johnson, C. W. (2013). Consuming contradiction: media, masculinity and (hetero) sexual identity. Leisure/Loisir, 37(1), 69-84.
  • Foucault, M. (1990). The History of Sexuality: Volume 1 An Introduction. New York: Vintage Books.
  • Goldman, R. (1992). Reading Ads Socially. London & New York: Routledge.
  • Gramsci, A. (1971). Prison Notebooks. International Publishers.
  • Haralson, E. (2002). Manly Tears: Men’s Elegies for Children in Nineteenth-Century American Culture. In J. T. Milette Shamir (Ed.), Boys Don’t Cry? Rethinking Narratives of Masculinity and Emotion in the U.S. içinde (ss. 88-105). New York: Columbia University Press.
  • Hearn, J. (2004). From hegemonic masculinity to the hegemony of Men. Feminist Theory, 5(1), 49–72.
  • Jackson, P. (1994). Black Male: advertising and the cultural politics of masculinity. Gender, Place & Culture: A Journal of Feminist Geography, 1(1), 49-59.
  • Jhally, S. (2006). Advertising, Gender and Sex: What’s Wrong with a Little Objectification? In S. Jhally, The Spectacle of Accumulation: Essays in Culture, Media, & Politics içinde (ss. 163-176). New York: Peter Lang.
  • Kervin, D. (1990). Advertising Masculinity: The Representation of Males in Esquire Advertisements . Journal of Communication Inquiry, 14(1), 51-70.
  • Kleiman, R. (2016, Şubat 4). AXE Drops the Bravado, Embraces a More Inclusive Masculinity. Retrieved from PSFK: https://www.psfk.com/2016/02/axe-campaign-inclusivemasculinity- find-your-magic.html
  • Kocasu, A. N. (2016, Ocak 15). Axe ile özbenliğe yolculuk: Marka mesajını yeniliyor. Retrieved from MediaCat: http://www.mediacatonline.com/axe-ile-ozbenlige-yolculuk/
  • Kocasu, A. N. (2017, Mart 29). Erkekler de ağlar: AXE ve Can Bonomo belletilen erkekliğe karşı . Retrieved from MediaCat: http://www.mediacatonline.com/axe-can-bonomoerkekler- de-aglar/
  • Kolster, T. (2012). Goodvertising: Creative Advertising That Cares. London: Thames & Hudson. Krippendorff, K. (1980). Content analysis. An Introduction to its Methodology. Beverly Hills: Sage.
  • Kuru, A. (2015, Nisan 28). Doğadan eleştirilere duyarsız kalmadı. Retrieved from MediaCat: http://www.mediacatonline.com/dogadan-elestirilere-duyarsiz-kalmadi/
  • Liddicoat, A. J. (2011). Feminist language planning. Current Issues in Language Planning, 12(1), 1-7.
  • Mayring, P. (2000). Qualitative Content Analysis. Forum: Qualitative Social Research, 1(2), 1-10.
  • Mukherjee, R., & Banet-Weiser, S. (Eds.). (2012). Commodity Activism: Cultural Resistance in Neoliberal Times. New York: New York University Press.
  • Murray, D. P. (2013). Branding “Real” Social Change in Dove’s Campaign for Real Beauty. Feminist Media Studies, 13(1), 83-101.
  • Nas, A. (2015). Kadına Yönelik Simgesel Şiddet Aracı Olarak Temizlik Ürünleri Reklamlarının Eleştirel Analizi. Akdeniz Üniversitesi İletişim Fakültesi Dergisi, 24, 11-30.
  • Nudd, T. (2016, Ocak 14). Ad of the Day: Axe Gets Inclusive in a Remarkable Ad That’s Really Pretty Magical . Retrieved from Adweek: http://www.adweek.com/brand-marketing/ ad-day-axe-gets-inclusive-remarkable-ad-thats-really-pretty-magical-168996/
  • Patterson, M., & Elliott, R. (2002). Negotiating Masculinities: Advertising and the Inversion of the Male Gaze. Consumption Markets & Culture, 5(3), 231-249.
  • Robinson, S. (2002). Men’s Liberation, Men’s Wounds: Emotion, Sexuality, and the Reconstruction of Masculinity in the 1970s. In J. T. Milette Shamir (Ed.), Boys Don’t Cry? Rethinking Narratives of Masculinity and Emotion in the U.S. (pp. 205-229). New York: Columbia University Press.
  • Sancar, S. (2011). Erkeklik: İmkansız İktidar, Ailede, Piyasada ve Sokakta Erkekler. İstanbul: Metis.
  • Schroeder, J. E., & Zwick, D. (2004). Mirrors of Masculinity: Representation and Identity in Advertising Images. Consumption Markets & Culture, 7:1, , 7(1), 21-52.
  • Scott, J. (1986). Gender: A Useful Category of Historical Analysis. The American Historical Review, 91(5), 1053-1075.
  • Williams, R. (1999). Advertising: The Magic System. In S. During (Ed.), The Cultural Studies Reader (pp. 410-423). London & New York: Routledge.
  • Williamson, J. (1978). Decoding Advertisements: Ideology and Meaning in Advertising. London: Marion Boyars.
  • Wong, C. M. (2016, Ocak 14). Axe’s New ‘Find Your Magic’ Ad Promotes A Different Type Of Masculinity. Retrieved from Huffington Post: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/ axe-commercial-vogue-queens_us_5697cf66e4b0778f46f85fc2
There are 37 citations in total.

Details

Journal Section Türkçe Araştırma Makaleleri
Authors

Alparslan Nas

Publication Date July 31, 2017
Submission Date May 14, 2017
Published in Issue Year 2017 Volume: 5 Issue: 2

Cite

APA Nas, A. (2017). ERKEKLER DE AĞLAR, AMA… AXE REKLAMINDAKİ HEGEMONİK ERKEKLİK ELEŞTİRİSİNİN YORUMLANMA BİÇİMLERİ. Erciyes İletişim Dergisi, 5(2), 62-80. https://doi.org/10.17680/erciyesakademia.312263