I chose to use this artifact because I think it shows the state of our popular culture and what kind of values and norms are being displayed in media. It was an interesting artifact because it focuses a lot on convincing a man that masculinity is found in his muscle strength and sex-drive/performance. I found through rhetorically analyzing this artifact that a lot of the rhetorical tools Ageless Male uses reflect and promote traditional views of masculinity and gender norms. As we discussed in class about how society is largely patriarchal, my eyes were opened to this reality through analyzing this artifact. In my analysis, I make that argument that Ageless Male's focus on a male's muscle strength and sex drive/performance reifies traditional gender norms and views of masculinity, and it diminishes the role of women and femininity by focusing on testosterone saying that the effects of high testosterone are desirable and useful for becoming the best you can be. I go on to argue that we need to be aware of the negative effects that Ageless Male's marketing techniques can have on our society. Its focus on muscle strength and sex drive/performance as the independent variable to the dependent variable of high quality of life encourages men to slip into traditional gender norms and expect traditional gender norms/roles from females as well.
Discussion Questions:
What does Ageless Male's use of Kairos as a rhetorical tool say about the views and values of our society?
How can buying into the views on masculinity portrayed in this video negatively effect our culture?
No comments:
Post a Comment