Nike ad campaigns are always appealing to athlete “wanna be” hopefuls. The Make Yourself advertisements aimed at their female cliental, depicts famous female athletes in a very masculine stereotype. The techniques the ad creators used are strategically placed to help emphasize the desired image, that you can be a powerful female athlete. In the ad with professional dancer Sofia Boutella, Nike ad designers used details such as body language and positioning, facial expression, dress, camera angle, lighting and text to convince the viewer that she and many other women can be masculine female athletes if they purchase Nike clothing and gear. In “Gender Role Behaviors and Attitudes” Aaron Devor mentions many manners and conducts associated with being either feminine or masculine that can be seen in the ad. Social identities such as class, gender and sexual orientation are presented in the Nike ad as well.
Body language and image is the relevant aspect as to why this ad appears very masculine. As Devor explains masculinity can typically be shown with “…body postures tending to be expansive and aggressive. People who hold their arms and hands in positions away from their bodies, and who stand...thus maximizing the amount of space that they physically occupy, appear most physically masculine” (571). This holds a lot of truth with the picture, the woman’s arms here are placed away from her body. She is also making fists with her hands, as though she is about to punch someone. The position of her body as opposed to her surroundings also makes her look masculine. She takes up the whole page with her body, like Devor said this increases the amount of room she is taking up, making her look as though she is bigger than she really is. Making her look larger suggests that she is a threat, a common attribute to a male athlete. Boutella is also standing up straight, this relates to the idea that she is very authoritative, “Movements that are abrupt and stiff, communicating force and threat…make an actor look masculine” (571).
Facial expressions given by the female in this picture were made to appear masculine, which relates to strength. “…masculinity can also be conveyed by stern or serious facial expressions that suggest…the attainment and maintenance of egoistic dominance” (571). Sofia’s jaw is very strong and pointy. The absence of a smile also insinuates masculinity because Devor explained that smiling was a trait associated with femininity. There is also no make-up on her face either; clearly cosmetics are related to being very feminine and not wearing any has made this ad very mannish.
Dress is a classic indication of gender and sexual orientation. If this ad were to be womanly, the actress would be wearing a dress, heals, maybe carrying a purse and other “feminine styles of dress that likewise display subordinate status…” (570). However she is not, she is wearing Nike active wear. The choice of white also plays an imperative role because if they chose a color relating to girls like pink, the masculinity of the ad would fall through but if they chose a color like blue then the ad wouldn’t completely grab the attention of the female cliental because then it might be too masculine. White is a neutral color that helps define both males and females. Women look at the ad and think “I wanna be like her” and men look at the ad and think “I wanna be with her”. Devor said “exposer of bare skin” (570) is feminine and I believe they showed her stomach to help attract men to this ad because it plays on the idea of sexual orientation. She can appeal to a lesbian woman or a straight man and this extension of sexual orientation is indeed intentional. She also can relate not only to the athletic class but the ethnic/international class because she isn’t only white, it seems as though she can be Hispanic, Native American, black, white or Mediterranean just by the way she looks. This reaches out to the majority of all consumers because they too can know live the life she is because she might be ethnically diverse.
Camera angle was also taken into account when shooting this advertisement. The camera is purposefully placed a little bit below her to emphasize her strength and to show that she is independent and dominate, adjectives that Devor says relates to masculinity.
Text is shown in the ad as well, I believe that the words "Make Yourself Proud" are very powerful and attention grabbing. The want to tell the female consumers that they can and are able to accomplish anything that they want when it comes to athletic competions. The words are written in a large font, this helps emphasize their point.
The typical male stereotypes that Devor explains are clearly shown in the ad. I think it's really interesting to see a woman on the cover and not a man. This helps play on the fact that you don't have to be a man to be masculine and in this picture this woman athlete looks very masculine.
Body language and image is the relevant aspect as to why this ad appears very masculine. As Devor explains masculinity can typically be shown with “…body postures tending to be expansive and aggressive. People who hold their arms and hands in positions away from their bodies, and who stand...thus maximizing the amount of space that they physically occupy, appear most physically masculine” (571). This holds a lot of truth with the picture, the woman’s arms here are placed away from her body. She is also making fists with her hands, as though she is about to punch someone. The position of her body as opposed to her surroundings also makes her look masculine. She takes up the whole page with her body, like Devor said this increases the amount of room she is taking up, making her look as though she is bigger than she really is. Making her look larger suggests that she is a threat, a common attribute to a male athlete. Boutella is also standing up straight, this relates to the idea that she is very authoritative, “Movements that are abrupt and stiff, communicating force and threat…make an actor look masculine” (571).
Facial expressions given by the female in this picture were made to appear masculine, which relates to strength. “…masculinity can also be conveyed by stern or serious facial expressions that suggest…the attainment and maintenance of egoistic dominance” (571). Sofia’s jaw is very strong and pointy. The absence of a smile also insinuates masculinity because Devor explained that smiling was a trait associated with femininity. There is also no make-up on her face either; clearly cosmetics are related to being very feminine and not wearing any has made this ad very mannish.
Dress is a classic indication of gender and sexual orientation. If this ad were to be womanly, the actress would be wearing a dress, heals, maybe carrying a purse and other “feminine styles of dress that likewise display subordinate status…” (570). However she is not, she is wearing Nike active wear. The choice of white also plays an imperative role because if they chose a color relating to girls like pink, the masculinity of the ad would fall through but if they chose a color like blue then the ad wouldn’t completely grab the attention of the female cliental because then it might be too masculine. White is a neutral color that helps define both males and females. Women look at the ad and think “I wanna be like her” and men look at the ad and think “I wanna be with her”. Devor said “exposer of bare skin” (570) is feminine and I believe they showed her stomach to help attract men to this ad because it plays on the idea of sexual orientation. She can appeal to a lesbian woman or a straight man and this extension of sexual orientation is indeed intentional. She also can relate not only to the athletic class but the ethnic/international class because she isn’t only white, it seems as though she can be Hispanic, Native American, black, white or Mediterranean just by the way she looks. This reaches out to the majority of all consumers because they too can know live the life she is because she might be ethnically diverse.
Camera angle was also taken into account when shooting this advertisement. The camera is purposefully placed a little bit below her to emphasize her strength and to show that she is independent and dominate, adjectives that Devor says relates to masculinity.
Text is shown in the ad as well, I believe that the words "Make Yourself Proud" are very powerful and attention grabbing. The want to tell the female consumers that they can and are able to accomplish anything that they want when it comes to athletic competions. The words are written in a large font, this helps emphasize their point.
The typical male stereotypes that Devor explains are clearly shown in the ad. I think it's really interesting to see a woman on the cover and not a man. This helps play on the fact that you don't have to be a man to be masculine and in this picture this woman athlete looks very masculine.
