“Men Will Be Men”- As Long As Women Don’t Call Them Out On It
TYBA, 2020-21
In 1997, Seagram’s Imperial Blue brand of whiskey made its way into India, and in 1999 its iconic tagline, “Men will be Men” was launched by marketing geniuses, Ogilvy and Mather in the form of a television commercial. This tagline has stuck around for the last two decades and is still going strong (Sanil, 2019). Each ad has a simple premise, usually without dialogue, of men finding themselves in questionable scenarios after trying to catch the attention of women. Their ostentatious attempts make for humorous adverts, all ending with the witty catchphrase, “Men will be Men”. When the adverts first aired in the early 2000s, the conversation about gender roles and identities in media were rarely taken up outside the classroom space. Women were, and continue to be, objectified, sexualised, and introduced as nothing but a love interest. The reason that this ad campaign has continued to work is because it manages to stay relevant, but not overtly offensive. There is a greater focus on men fitting into the ideal “masculine” identity imposed onto them, than on women being nothing but objects of and for their pleasure. They play on the everyday lives and attention-seeking attempts of men, without crossing the line into being crass and laden with harassment. When first looking at the ads, nothing wrong pops out, although it does leave you wondering about something that leaves you slightly uncomfortable.
The advertisements are laden with strong assertions of gender roles. These assertions are what make them hilarious to most people. The roles have been exaggerated and emphasised in every single ad of the campaign. The men in these ads are seen either lusting after women, be it at the gym, the workplace, or even an elevator or are shown to be preoccupied with materialistic things like cars and shoes. These roles are adopted at an early stage, behaving the way society expects one’s sex to behave. This brings me to my first point. No matter where you study it, sex and gender are introduced as concepts separate from each other in sociological and anthropological theory. Sex, we are told, refers to the biological aspects of being male or female. Gender, on the other hand, is adopted by us, by referencing social status, surroundings and behaviour. It is inherently accepted by everyone, and pushing gender role boundaries often results in bullying and questioning a person’s sexual identity.
West and Zimmerman argue that gender is not achieved or ascribed, it is “done” (West and Zimmerman, 1987). Men are socialised to be more assertive of their masculinity. They are encouraged, from a young age, to adopt lifestyle patterns to maintain their status of ‘man’. This encouragement ranges from prescriptions of gender stereotypes to descriptions of them. In the advertisements, we see men of different ages, backgrounds and occupations engaging in the idea of “being men”. This assertion of gender is done by looking down a hallway at the sound of heels, or bulking up their weight loads at the gym when a woman is watching. Simultaneously, the portrayal of the women in these ads is also shown how women are supposed to act: smiling, calm and always unbothered by the male gaze. The microaggressions in the corporate workplace are brought to the foreground, but conveniently. It remains unceremonious because of the reality of the situation: the experience of being looked at by men is universal for most women. It has been discussed and debated to death, and yet, it has no solution. It is tricky to decipher and explain why the advertisements may have a negative impact because they are masked by the humour in the situation. However, this humour is apparent only to the aggressor. For women, this hyperreal “doing” of gender is uncomfortable, often for inexplicable reasons. In the corporeal world, microaggressions are real and unspoken, the hilarity, invisible. The disregard of actuality encourages the subordinate group, in this case, women, to accept the inequalities as the new norm, disregarding the adverse effect that it may have on them. The commonplace indignities are often hostile, and yet too small to point out. Most women may avoid doing this in order to avoid feeding into the gender stereotype of women being hysterical (Lips, 1988).
Inversely, the idea of “doing” gender is dysfunctional to the dominant group, here men, as well. Studies have found that men adhere more rigidly to gender based stereotypes, than women (Lips, 1988). Typically masculine traits like aggression and dominance are seen as a boon, instead of a bane. It allows for this behaviour to be classically glorified as “men will be men” or “boys will be boys”. The negative traits are seen as intrinsic and natural, acceptable because they are traits of dominance and power. These traits of dominance not only leave out the subordinate group of women, but also that of homosexual men. It has been reported that the idea of masculinity as being antagonistic has adversely affected those who do not abide by the heteronormative norms of society. Indian men’s ideals of being attracted to women and being overt about it are portrayed well in the Seagram’s ad campaign. This puts gay Indian men in danger of themselves. Being homosexual and being masculine is seen as being mutually exclusive, when that is not always the case. Gay men that are not effeminate and value traditional masculinity are excluded from this group because of their attraction not to women, but to other men. Furthermore, straight men too, are affected by this observable trait of being sexual. It adds to the pressure of being a “real man”, which adversely affects the mental health of young boys and men. The APA’s Guidelines for Psychological Practice with Boys and Men aims at recognising these problems, and suggesting clinical guidelines, by examining data of over 40 years of research (Altavas, 2019).
The same policy defines the term privilege as “refers to unearned sources of social status, power, and institutionalized advantage experienced by individuals by virtue of their culturally valued and dominant social identities'' (APA Guidelines for Psychological Practice with Boys and Men, 2018, p. 3). This brings me to my second point. The “unearned sources of social power” (APA Guidelines for Psychological Practice with Boys and Men, 2018, p. 3) are seen in our every day life, with the straight, cisgender man getting away with most things because their actions and behaviours are now the norms of society. In the making of Seagram’s advertisements, the scenarios that have been chosen are very subtle, careful not to cross the line into direct harassment. It is done in a way where if you don’t laugh along with it, you apparently just can not take a joke. The aggressions are minuscule, so why should they warrant a huge reaction? This systemic pushing aside of opinions differing from the norm lead, ultimately, to oppression of those trying to speak out. Taking Marx’s theory of societal conflict, the men here are the bourgeoisie, and the women, the proletariat. Applying this to pop culture, it is fairly obvious that the media portrays the norms of the ones in power, here, the hegemonic males. There is a prominent gap between the perception of the woman in the advertisements, and reality. The ads show women as being submissive, polite, and always mildly entertained by the antics of the man trying to impress her. This is what Raewyn Connell has labeled “emphasised femininities''. It conforms to what the ideal woman is like, according to the male gaze. Pop culture acts as a structure of society that helps sustain the norm of the proletariat female.
The role of pop culture is massive, when it comes to encouraging or projecting social norms. This brings me to my third point. What is seen in films and on the television is often taken as the new trend in mass culture. Durkheim suggested that adherence to social norms increases an individual’s sense of belonging to that society. This pressure to belong, results in pop culture being taken as the social norm, which when followed, brings praise and acceptance (Crossman, 2020). Dustin Kidd, in his Harry Potter and the Functions of Popular Culture (Kidd, 2007) talks about the trends in fashion being set by popular culture. He argues that we know what is “in fashion” when we see it on advertisements and billboards. Kidd also points out that the norms an individual in a society will internalise depend on the individual’s location and roles (Kidd, 2007).
The Seagram’s adverts are all set in urban, mostly workplace locations. Going by Kidd’s statements about social boundaries and popular culture, the Seagram’s campaign will most likely have an adverse effect on its audience. Social boundaries in the office space may become ill defined. Workplace microaggressions are normalised, even popularised because of their apparent amusement. It is also true that the emphasised femininity would not exist in real life scenarios. More often than not, workplace microaggressions escalate into workplace harassment. The “low-severity” behaviour of microaggressions give rise to “high-severity” sexual crimes frequently with youth perpetrators. These gender microaggressions often go unnoticed by both the target as well as the malefactor (Gartner and Sterzing, 2016). In order to address this adequately, it is imperative that behaviour is recognised and corrected at the grassroot level. However, advertisements like these make this difficult, by obliviously promoting misbehaviour.
Psychologists studying the looking glass self theory, went on to formulate the objectification theory, bringing me to my fourth point. It was found that women tend to put an emphasis on their physical attractiveness, when conceptualising their self concept. The objectification theory proposes the idea of the mental health issues and maladaptive behaviour (like eating disorders) that may arise because of being perceived as “just a body” It mentions the impact of the “sexualised gaze” and its potential for sexual objectification (Fredrickson & Roberts, 1997). Watching the commercials of the Seagram’s campaign, it can be noted that most clips have leading women who are saree-clad, madonna-faced, upper class females that are not seen outside their traditionally applauded bodies. There is nothing wrong with their bodies, of course, but they do not exist for the pleasure of the men around them. This objectification is something women face on a daily basis, by men who gaze, loiter, stare and leer.
The effects of observational learning with regards media and its portrayal of aggression, violence and harassment are not a secret. Bandura’s classic study of observational learning and modelling involved the use of a bobo doll, which was repeatedly and aggressively attacked by an adult, with preschoolers, the experimental group, observing this behaviour. The control group saw the adult interact with the doll in a non-aggressive manner. When the children from both groups were left alone with the doll, the experimental group interacted violently with said doll, but the control group showed no such signs. The children in the first group had learned and mimicked this behaviour after observing the model (Bandura et. al., 1961). In a 2013 empirical research study, it was found that men who had been exposed to objectifying media portrayed higher gender-harassment behaviour in later situations (Galdi et. al. 2014).
These research studies point to one thing: gender based aggressive behaviour can be modelled by not only children, but also unconsciously by adults. This brings me to my fifth point: Seagram’s ad campaign may have a greater negative impact on the minds of men, and ultimately the lived experiences of women than the ad makers may have anticipated. My first experience with it was when I was walking down the street as a 12 year old girl, when a man stopped me in my path, looked me up and down, smirked, and walked away. I was petrified. There was nothing I could do, because legally, he did nothing wrong. He had been socialised to believe that it was his right, as a male, to objectify women and girls. He was taught by everyone around him that his actions would have no consequences, that women would never react to him unfavourably. His lived reality was filled with movies, shows and ads like these, showing him that passive sexism is not something he should worry himself with. The impact of microaggressions as portrayed in these advertisements may not be so severe, but it contributes to the overarching theme of gender insensitivity in media.
Another thing that is important to note in the case of the Seagram’s advertisements is the potential conditioning of corporate culture and gender microaggressions. This is my final point. The fact that most of the advertisements are set in a working environment, makes it a possibility that people who have no experience of a corporate workplace will come to accept this misbehaviour as the norm. The locations of the advertisements and the audience that it is targeted at plays a large role in making this behaviour acceptable as well as encouraged.
Art reflects a society, and society reflects its art. If someone were to judge Indian society on the basis of these few advertisements, they’d draw some sour conclusions. The human need for societal acceptance is highly positively correlated to society’s perception of your ability to maintain your social roles. In one advertisement, a man presses several buttons in an elevator to spend more time with a young, beautiful, thin saree clad woman. His attraction to her is clear, but he completely ignores a middle aged woman, in a business suit, standing right next to him. The younger woman’s ability to “do” her gender clearly deems her as the more attractive choice.
All this, added to the fact that most advertisements have young, thin, conventionally beautiful women at the forefront. The impact of the lack of representation of any other body-type being portrayed as beautiful and attractive is severely detrimental to young girls’ self esteem. The ads also reflect that the Indian job-sector is filled with accepted micro-harassments. The commercials aired on TV, to a large audience of people who may or may not belong to this job sector, but certainly influencing a lot of young minds. Lastly, although the ads claim to be selling music CDs, this is done only for the legal adversities of selling alcohol on live television. Adults watching them are aware of the fact that they are for whiskey and the target demographic is clear: working class, middle-aged men. This means that the audience it caters to is more likely to adopt the behaviour depicted.
The campaign makes it evident that the implications of a male dominated society can be seen even beyond the usual discourse. The need for change is evident, but change will only take place when people listen to the arguments of those oppressed by their actions, instead of dismissing them for being “too sensitive”.
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