Where's the Beef? Masculinity, Gender and Violence in Food Advertisin

Does art reflect reality or does art construct reality? This thesis explores the ways in which food advertising perpetuates culturally defined expectations of masculinity and normalizes violence against women. Cultivation theory argues that advertising is a form of education about the social world. While advertising may not directly influence audiences, viewers will learn about the social world and their environment through the messages offered in advertisements (Rubie-Davies, Lui, & Lee 2013). Food advertisements highlight behaviors that are deemed inappropriate or violent in society, but the continuous use of these themes explains how normalized violence against women is accepted in today's culture. Patriarchy is engrained into society and prevalent themes within food advertising perpetuates a male dominated world.;Using radical feminist theory and cultivation theory with the objectification of women this thesis identifies different forms of masculinity that are exploited throughout five categories of food advertising. The categories of advertisements include fast food, alcohol, snack food, meat, and diet food advertising. These categories were analyzed through culturally defined expectations of masculinity. These expectations include fragile masculinity, dominant masculinity, and violent masculinity. These types of masculinity include stereotypes expected in men. Fragile masculinity exploits men's insecurities, whether that focuses on control of their environment, women, or physical traits. Dominant masculinity exploits the idea that men want to control and dominate women in their lives. This can be seen through physical position of women in advertisements or a message that women are inferior. Violent masculinity exploits the idea that women are lifeless objects to use. Violent masculinity uses the stereotype that men must be violent and aggressive to be considered a man.;Thirty-five documents were collected and analyzed under this precedent. Nineteen of the documents collected were advertisements that used messages of fragile masculinity to sell products. Eleven of the documents collected were advertisements that used messages of dominant masculinity. Five of the documents collected were advertisements that used messages of violent masculinity. By marketing products through the exploitation of masculinity, food advertisements are habitually instilling cultural stereotypes of masculine behavior. These stereotypes limit men's emotional expression, as well as their interaction with others to aggression and dominance. These stereotypes of masculinity also place women in positions of subordination. Three positions of women identified in food advertisements were The Tease, The Piece of Meat, and The Conquered (Gurrieri, Brace-Govan, & Cherrier 2016). Each of these positions are physical, but they also contribute to how women are viewed and the opinion of women's places in society.;This thesis compares the type of masculinity used in food advertisements and the position that women are given. The advertisements that exploited themes of violent masculinity placed women in only one of the three positions, The Conquered. Women were placed in the position of the Conquered for five of the advertisements, all of which depicted direct forms of violence. These advertisements were playing into a stereotype that presents men as violent and sexually aggressive toward women, even without consent. Several advertisements were using aspects of rape culture to market and sell products. Bud Light used a message from rape culture to present their product as fun and free, explaining "The perfect beer for removing 'no' from your vocabulary for the night.";This research found that food advertisements are guilty of normalizing violence against women to promote and market products. This normalization is completed through the exploitation of masculine stereotypes that define men as violent, controlling predators. Food advertising does not directly influence viewers, but cultivates an idea of how women deserve to be objectified or treated in society.