Gender Code is a documentary film that explores
the way the body is presented in the media through advertising. It looks beyond
the “norms” about masculinity and femininity that is communicated to society.
The film covers the importance of gender, power, and how it is reproduced and
reinforced by the culture. This film
takes modern advertisement mainly focusing on the poses of models.
Males and
females are governed by codes and rules that have been submerged into our
culture for many years, the way we walk, our body postures, our emotions, and
our sense of normal. The film enforces that the culture has entirely
constructed, assigned, and taught these gender roles. Because these codes are
reinforced it brings up the films arguments of, “There is nothing natural about
gender identity” (Goffman).
The film covers how society photography is
controlled. Men are placed in more powerful positions and women are placed in
more subjected positions. Using familiar model’s stances like the bent-knee or
contorted torso, to an array of different physical cues, and neck-bends. Also,
the film placed men in female poses which I found interesting because they
looked silly like it was a joke.
This film
relates to the course work in many ways. It challenges society’s social norms
and show us a new path. It helps broaden the spectrum in which masculinity and
femininity is formed. My friend found that the men in the more feminine poses
weren’t weird to him. He asked if he should be concerned about this as if he it
made him question his masculinity. He said that seeing these females and males
in the same poses isn’t weird because it’s art/ just a photo. I found that
interesting but I have always felt female models poses are weird and when
seeing a male in these poses it really through me off. This film really
broadened my views of advertisement within our culture.
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