Assignment Fifteen

Using the online commercials at The Commercial Closet categorise and illustrate key forms of gay representation in commercials.

Guidance

For general guidance about what is expected in your essays for this module, see the guidelines for writing essays and reports.

What Key Features Do I Look For? Familiarity with relevant texts Evidence - the stronger the better Argument - coherent and balanced Theoretical discussion - relation to relevant theories Understanding of relevant concepts Reflexivity - reflections on methodology Examples - insightfully analysed Style - readability and effective presentation

Please remember to avoid footnotes and to include an alphabetical list of 'References' which have been cited in the text (not a Bibliography of anything you have read for the essay). This list should include author's names, date, book titles (in italics), place of publication and publisher. Within the text always cite author's surname, date and page number. Double-space your text and number your pages.

Guidance for this assignment: The Commercial Closet archives are at: http://www.commercialcloset.org/. Note that website's (problematic) use of the categories 'positive', 'negative', 'neutral' and 'gay vague'. What are the various 'plot' options used? Look at a large selection and include examples of what you consider to be the main types (standard formulas). Limit yourself to those from a country you are familiar with. How often are gay angles played for laughs? Do you notice any change over time? How does this relate to particular kinds of products or particular target audiences? A good example to discuss is an (unbroadcast) 1995 ad called Mess for the Guinness campaign 'Not Everything in Black and White Makes Sense'. An investigation of audience responses (e.g. interviews) might be an advantage.

Note also that this is an assignment for which the inclusion of relevant pictorial illustrations is essential. Use these to illustrate particular points. Contrasting one with another can also be productive. Incorporate illustrations electronically into your text (e.g. by scanning or downloading from the Internet) rather than literally cutting and pasting. For guidance on capturing stills, click here.

Some suggested reading

• Basow, Susan A. (1992) Gender: Stereotypes and Roles. Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole
• Bhat, S., T. W. Leigh and D. L. Wardlow (1996) 'The Effects of Homosexual Imagery in Advertising on Attitude Toward the Ad', Journal of Homosexuality 31(1/2): 161-76
• Bhat, S., T. W. Leigh, T. W., & D. L. Wardlow (1998) 'The Effect of Consumer Prejudices on Ad Processing: Heterosexual Consumers' Responses to Homosexual Imagery in Ads', Journal of Advertising 27(4): 9-28
• Chandler, Daniel (1997) 'Media Representation' [WWW document] URL http://users.aber.ac.uk/dgc/Modules/FM34120/represent.html
  
• Cortese, Anthony J. (2004) Provocateur: Images of Women and Minorities in Advertising (2nd Edn). Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield
• Costa, Janeen Arnold (Ed) (1994) Gender Issues and Consumer Behavior. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage
• Courtney, Alice E. & Thomas W. Whipple (1983) Sex Stereotyping in Advertising. Lexington, MA: Lexington Books
  
• Craig, Steve (Ed.) (1992) Men, Masculinity and the Media. Newbury Park, CA: Sage
  
• Dines, G. & J. M. Humez (Eds.) (1995) Gender, Race and Class in Media: A Text-Reader. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage
  
• Easthope, Anthony (1986) What a Man's Gotta Do: The Masculine Myth in Popular Culture. Boston: Unwin Hyman
• Gulas, Charles S. & Marc G. Weinberger (2006) Humor in Advertising: A Comprehensive Analysis. New York: Sharpe
• Gunter, Barrie (1986) Television and Sex Role Stereotyping. London: John Libbey
• Hall, Stuart (Ed.) (1997) Representation: Cultural Representations and Signifying Practices. London: Sage/Open University
• Horrocks, Roger (1995) Male Myths and Icons: Masculinity in Popular Culture. London: Macmillan
• Lester, Paul Martin & Susan Dente Ross (Eds) (2003) Images that Injure: Pictorial Stereotypes in the Media (2nd Edn). Westport, CT: Praeger
• Macdonald, Myra (1995) Representing Women: Myths of Femininity in the Popular Media. London: Edward Arnold
• Mackinnon, Kenneth (2003) Representing Men: Maleness and Masculinity in the Media. London: Arnold
• Oakes, Penelope J., Alexander Haslam & John C. Turner (1994) Stereotyping and Social Reality. Oxford: Blackwell
• Perchuk, Andrew & Helaine Posner (Eds) (1995) The Masculine Masquerade: Masculinity and Representation. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press
• Reichert, Tom & Jacqueline Lambiase (Eds) (2003) Sex in Advertising: Perspectives on the Erotic Appeal. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum
• Scanlon, Jennifer (Ed) (2000) The Gender and Consumer Culture Reader. New York: New York University Press
• Swanson, G. (1991) 'Representation'. In David Lusted (Ed.) The Media Studies Book. London: Routledge
  
• Wardlow, Daniel L. (1996) Gays, Lesbians, and Consumer Behavior. New York: Harrington Park Press