When asked to stop and look around you for an example of gender, it actually had me thinking for awhile what a great example was. There is so much around us that could show a great example of gender. The one example that I came up with is something that I am actually using for another class as well in a presentation about gender and I know we all have seen it! When you ask anyone around you, “Who is the parent that stays home to take care of the house?” Most people would answer that with stating that the mother is the one that stays home. With the mother staying home she is the one that has to get the lunches together for the kids to take to school. Within the Gogurt commercial, you can see that the dad is the one that prepares the lunches in the family. The boy though communicates with the father using Post-It notes to remind him to put the gogurt in the lunch box. It is possible too that this family could be a single parent family but we are not 100% sure because we do not see the mother at all. Even if it is a single parent family it is something that shows the men are starting to step up in our society and taking the roles of the women too. [youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KyHo63_IyY[/youtube]
Gender Watch
“When you know better you do better.” ― Maya Angelou
I think this commercial shows that although mothers are typically seen taking care of the children, fathers also play a great role in their lives. Women are stereotyped to be more nurturing and loving, while men are stereotyped to be hardworking and less compassionate. This clip really breaks through those gendered norms and stereotypes by showing the father as a good parent.
I think if you watch the commercial a little more carefully, you will see that the family is clearly not a single family home. The very first sticky note the dad picks up says, ” Hon – Remember the Gogurt!” so his spouse probably assumed to be his wife is reminding him. Along with the wife’s sticky not the son puts all kinds of arrows in the refrigerator so the dad would not forget. I think this goes a long way, because the commercial is supposed to be saying that dads get it to and can pack the healthy Gogurt in the lunch, but I believe it sends off a completely different message. All of the notes and reminders serve to show that the dad is incompetent and needs reminding of what he son likes and wants. This shows the societal assumption that dads are not as connected and communicated with their children, because he doesn’t know the important likes and dislikes of his own child. Regardless of all the notes, this commercial does build to anyone watching it and the little boy in the commercial that the development of masculine gender identity can include chores and roles related to domesticity for the man and is not a singularly womanly activity. This commercial has both a push and a pull for the black and white feminine and masculine gender identity. Both are probably represented intentionally to strike enough attention for people to watch, but not to much attention that people do not want to buy their product.