Something on Gendered Advertisements

Applebee’s commercial features a woman going about her average day: walking the dog, preparing school lunch, working out, lecturing, working as a nurse, and picking up her clothes from the dry cleaner. At the end of the day, her male partner asks her if she has any thoughts on what they should have for dinner. She orders from Applebee’s mobile app for a quick and easy pick-up order as this is a commercial for Applebee’s. The advertisement could have featured a male and receive about the same results, but they decided to feature a female. Women tend to be portrayed in a warm and amicable manner and perhaps that is why a female was chosen over a male. How women are generally viewed in our culture also lends itself as to why the woman in the advertisement worked as a nurse—a pink collared job. Nursing, teaching (high school and below), and social work are three examples of jobs that are dominated by women. It is almost stereotypical for a woman to work in any three of those fields because of how we presume women to be “warm, kind, nurturing…and polite” (Thébaud and Charles 2018). So, instead of having the woman in the advertisement work as something more commonly dominated by men, they chose to have her work a job that more women could possibly relate to and thus reinforce a sort of STEM stereotype that women are better fit for a job like nursing instead of, say, a doctor or engineer. Aside from the job choice, the advertisement highlights some actions that are commonly female-orientated such as packing her kids’ lunch boxes and taking care of dinner. There is also the heteronormative aspect as she has a male partner that she is seen kissing near the beginning. The male is not shown doing anything other than preparing for work and dancing with the kids as she brings the dinner into the house.

The company Always takes a different approach towards its advertisement. The advertisement highlights how the phrase “like a girl” is used with an insulting intent. It also highlights how the older participants in the commercial take the prompt “like a girl” differently than the younger participants. For example, when one of the younger participants is told to run like a girl, she runs like how one normally runs instead of the stereotypical or gendered action of running the older participants gave. The advertisement is not clear on what it is selling, but an advertisement does not have to offer a product in order to receive more support financially. This is one example of an advertisement advertising for the sake of brand awareness while providing a message to those watching. In that sense, the advertisement does its job well. The message that “like a girl” should not be an insult or a derogatory statement is given quite well. Girls and women do actions just like boy and men do actions. The negative comments in the comment section highlight the idea that women and men have inherent differences in their physical abilities and appearances, but these are easily dismissible as males and females are more likely “culture events” rather than some “collection of traits” or “physical attributions” (West and Zimmerman 1987). Likewise, “like a girl” is a gendered concept that supports the idea that females do actions or do perform their gender in an inferior manner than the default “like a boy” or “like a man”. As noted in the description of the video, the phrase “like a girl” can hurt the self-esteem of a girl in her adolescence and may prompt her to enact a script the gendered hierarchy suggests of her: to accept inferiority and subordination to males who are supposed to perform their gender in a more efficient and better manner compared to the female. In that sense, “like a girl” also supports the gendered divide in how actions are to be performed between males and females. If a male is told he “throws like a girl” then his masculinity is tarnished as this is suggestive that he is weak and feminine.  

First video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CxHEM3L5IA
Second video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjJQBjWYDTs

A Critique on Alcoholics Anonymous

The first Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meeting I attended was a rather solemn one. The first speaker mentioned that it was the six-month anniversary of his son’s death. His son was an active participant in the AA group I had attended. According to his father, he had been sober for nine months, but someone had offered him some sort of drug laced with three milligrams of fentanyl and died at the age of 19. The speaker noted that he was surprised that this did not cause him to drink but, rather, inspired him to not take another drink or drug. One thing that surprised me in both the meetings I attended was the religious themes, undertones and overtones of, namely, Christianity or vague spirituality. This is seen even in the twelve AA traditions and steps with mentions of a higher power.

            In the two meetings I attended, most speakers would mention how “no human power” can relieve them from their alcoholism. This was a common theme in the meetings along with being unable to fully control themselves after having one drink. In the first meeting, another theme was the concept of being flammable. One can try their best to not drink or do drugs but if they find themselves in a certain situation, then they are lit on fire. That is, they partake in a drink or drug like the first speaker’s son had done. However, there was no mention of attempting to remove themselves from such situations. Another theme in the stories people were telling were that they arrived at AA and or attempted to stop their alcohol addiction after reaching a low point in their lives. Although low points in someone’s life can be some minor occurrence, many of the people who spoke of their experiences had life-threatening occurrences happen to them. One woman attempted to end her life, another three or so said they were in comas a few times before reaching out for help. For some, it required the death of a loved one before coming to AA meetings. As for the demographic make-up of the meetings I attended, the majority of the attendees were white, male, and about 50 or older. For every four males, there was a female.

            The way AA meetings work is a lot less organized than I would have expected. The hour meetings are completely dependent on how many people want to talk about their alcohol or alcohol related experiences. In one case, one of the meetings ended 15 minutes early because not enough people were willing to share. On the bright side, AA does offer a sort of system for those truly willing to combat their alcoholism with the patron system and other resources. This is one positive aspect to AA. The voluntary nature of AA should lead towards more favorable outcomes as those who volunteer tend to be less pathological than those who do not volunteer for help (Grilly & Salamore, 2012). While this excludes people, who attend AA meetings involuntarily (as a part of a court or employer order), it seems, to me, better to allow those who want to achieve control over their alcoholism than those who do not. From what I could gather, some of the AA attendees in the meetings I attended were there both voluntarily and involuntarily, but one person from the involuntary group seemed quite willing to overcome her alcoholism. So, by having involuntary attendees, there can be a few among them that eventually voluntarily want to attend AA for the sake of their own health. The first negative aspect is its voluntary nature. Although I listed it as a positive aspect earlier, it is also a negative for those who attend the meeting voluntarily but are reluctant (for whatever reason) to participate in the meetings or what else AA offers.

            Not everyone is willing to participate in AA meetings whether they are there voluntarily or involuntarily. In the meetings I attended, there were a few people on their phones despite the head speaker stating that cell phones should be put away during the meeting. Another five or so I could see or hear sleeping during the meeting. Unlike in a more formal setting, the patrons and head speaker are not going to attempt to catch their attention. Or more pragmatically, in a formal setting that one would likely have to pay to partake in, one would likely be less willing to sleep through their session as they are the ones paying for the service and it would be money wasted. Further, for those who may be shyer than average, it seems difficult for them to reach out for additional aid in combatting their alcoholism in the AA setting. The meetings are more suitable for those extroverted enough to talk about their experiences. At best, one can listen to someone else’s story and empathize to where the story further encourages them to overcome their alcoholism. Further, the first step of the 12 steps of AA is the second negative aspect to AA. How effective AA is in treating alcoholism is difficult to determine due to its anonymous nature. Formal treatments, however, have a success rate of 33 to 66 per cent success (Grilly & Salamore, 2012). This leads to the second negative aspect of AA: its informality.

As alcoholism is perceived as a disease among the AA community, then it should be treated as one. Instead however, professionals are not involved with treating the alcoholics that attend AA. The eighth tradition of AA states that AA should remain unprofessional. The head speaker and patrons are all voluntary positions that do not require formal education in order to apply. The meetings revolve around talking about experiences that led attendees to presumably attempt sobriety at best. This serves as a foundation for one to gain encouragement to attempt sobriety but not much else. Formal treatments have so far established a good (33 to 66 per cent) success rate. AA does not have an established success rate. Formal treatment or medication may be a better method for reaching sobriety or controlled drinking for those who attend AA meetings and are struggling to reach their goal. Generally, in treating diseases, those trained in the medical profession are called to give aid, but this is not the case with alcoholism and AA.

Accepting complete powerlessness over alcohol is problematic and the third negative aspect. It would be easy to use what the first step says in order to give up on attaining sobriety or combatting alcoholism. One can reach out for help with their alcoholism at some point in their lives if they are aware enough and in a position in which they can access helpful resources. Unfortunately, many alcoholics do not realize that their alcoholism is at a point where it is problematic until they reach a low point in their lives or are required to attend an AA meeting. However, there are choices one can make to attempt to combat their alcoholism. Further, while the rest of the 12 steps are better than the first, most require a leap of faith into spirituality. Without getting into the arguments of theism and atheism, it seems clear that atheists (or non-believers in a higher or spiritual power) are barred from enacting the majority of the 12 steps. The fourth negative aspect is the attitude of AA aiming towards complete sobriety instead of controlled drinking.

Controlled drinking may be a viable option for those recovering from alcoholism to consider (Grilly & Salamore, 2012). While studies have not yet come to a success rate associated with controlled drinking treatments, alcoholics that eventually overcome their alcoholism tend to partake in what is considered moderate or controlled drinking. So, if sobriety is rarely practiced among recovering (or recovered) alcoholics, then should not controlled drinking be what is aimed for? For the alcoholics in areas where only sobriety is sought for, then there is possibility that they will not seek treatment because they would prefer to aim for controlled drinking instead of complete sobriety like AA aims for.   

While I personally enjoyed attending the AA meetings, I do not find it very objectively effective in its intentions. It was easier to find more flaws than positives in how the organization is structured. Anonymity is nice but with anonymity comes the trouble with identifying its success rate and that is a major issue. From an objective perspective, it becomes difficult to recommend an alcoholic to participate in AA when there is the chance that it does not have a moderate success rate. Given the research into success rates associated with medication and formal treatment, I would be more likely to recommend an alcoholic try both. Based on my experience at the meetings as well, it does not seem as if AA does much else but talk about their bad experiences with alcohol when they could instead teach the attendees how to control their drinking or how to manage lifestyle changes to where they are removed from the easy access of alcohol. There are many other strategies that could be taught to the attendees while still also keeping the current format of talking about experiences, the 12 steps, and 12 traditions. At the least, AA could incorporate some formality within their structure so trained professionals can attempt to aid in counseling and so forth.

 References used

Grilly, D. M., & Salamone, J. D. (2012). Drugs, brain, and behavior (6th ed.). Boston: Pearson.