The Codes of Gender (2010)
Identity and performance in popular culture
Arguing that advertising not only sells things, but also ideas about the world, media scholar Sut Jhally offers a blistering analysis of commercial culture's inability to let go of reactionary gender representations. Jhally's starting point is the breakthrough work of the late sociologist Erving Goffman, whose 1959 book The Presentation of the Self in Everyday Life prefigured the growing field of performance studies. Jhally applies Goffman's analysis of the body in print advertising to hundreds of print ads today, uncovering an astonishing pattern of regressive and destructive gender codes. By looking beyond advertising as a medium that simply sells products, and beyond analyses of gender that tend to focus on either biology or objectification, The Codes of Gender offers important insights into the social construction of masculinity and femininity, the relationship between gender and power, and the everyday performance of cultural norms.
Cast
- Sut Jhally - Himself
Screenplay
Keywords
pop culture, beauty, sociology, advertising, gender, gender roles, femininity, socialization, power relations, masculinity, hierarchy, western society, social structures, ervig goffman, analysis
Trailer
The Codes of Gender TrailerFrequently Asked Questions
- What is The Codes of Gender about?
- Arguing that advertising not only sells things, but also ideas about the world, media scholar Sut Jhally offers a blistering analysis of commercial culture's inability to let go of reactionary gender representations. Jhally's starting point is the breakthrough work of the late sociologist Erving Goffman, whose 1959 book The Presentation of the Self in Everyday Life prefigured the growing field of performance studies. Jhally applies Goffman's analysis of the body in print advertising to hundreds of print ads today, uncovering an astonishing pattern of regressive and destructive gender codes. By looking beyond advertising as a medium that simply sells products, and beyond analyses of gender that tend to focus on either biology or objectification, The Codes of Gender offers important insights into the social construction of masculinity and femininity, the relationship between gender and power, and the everyday performance of cultural norms.
- Who directed The Codes of Gender?
- The Codes of Gender was directed by Sut Jhally.
- Who stars in The Codes of Gender?
- The Codes of Gender stars Sut Jhally.
- How long is The Codes of Gender?
- The Codes of Gender has a runtime of 1h 13m (73 minutes).
- What genre is The Codes of Gender?
- The Codes of Gender is a Documentary film.
- Where was The Codes of Gender produced?
- The Codes of Gender was produced in United States of America.