Date of Award

2012

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Social Sciences

First Advisor

Fairchild, Emily

Keywords

Super Bowl, Gender Studies, Sociology, Content Analysis, Media Studies

Area of Concentration

Sociology

Abstract

Developments throughout the past century illustrate an abundance of progressive changes regarding gender, leaving us in uncharted territory with new understandings. This thus presents a unique opportunity to explore current portrayals of gender in society. An analysis of Super Bowl commercials, some of the largest commercial campaigns in America (Tomkovick, Yelkur, Christians 2001; McAllister 1999), provides a look into gender presentations in American media. Advertisements in particular are arguably one of the most powerful societal influences, reflecting social norms and revealing what is regarded as most desirable. The Super Bowl itself also embodies many aspects of "American" values, based on ideals of hegemonic masculinity with a foundation of aggression, strength, and competition. Therefore, in this study I perform a content analysis of Super Bowl commercials from 2000 through 2010 to explore gender role presentations in American media at the turn of the 21st century. I find that Super Bowl commercials serve to perpetuate normative masculinity through images and messages, but also through the use of humor, which serves to police gender roles and reinforce traditional ideas of gender. I discuss the implications of this paradox, in which progressive ideas exist in larger society, though are not reflected in the media.

Rights

This bibliographic record is available under the Creative Commons CC0 public domain dedication. The New College of Florida, as creator of this bibliographic record, has waived all rights to it worldwide under copyright law, including all related and neighboring rights, to the extent allowed by law.

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