on heteronormativity...

For my blog today, I was instructed to analyze advertisements for “heteronormativity.”  What exactly is heteronormativity? Well, let’s break down the word to see what we get.

First, we have “hetero.”  This part of the word tells us that heterosexuality is the default.  The idea that a man must be attracted to a woman is very evident in our society.  Next, we have “normativity.”  This is the idea that it is the norm.  When you put the two together we have our definition: the norm in society is heterosexuality.  Because of this, we have this idea that the norm triumphs over all, and anything else is not really a part of “real” society.

When looking for an advertisement, I went straight to the publication Maxim.  I figured that it would be this best available to illustrate heteronormativity.  Little did I know that when I found the advertisement I was looking for, I had also seen it in a recent issue of Playboy.  The ad I found was one by the smokeless tobacco manufacturer “Grizzly.”  The ad states very plainly: “YOU WILL NEVER DATE A GIRL IN THIS MAGAZINE.”

This simple statement clearly promoted the idea of heteronormativity.  It does this through the placement of the ad.  Advertisers are very smart.  They place there product into certain places in an attempt to reach their target audience.  Because these magazines target young, heterosexual males, this ad plays on the societal norm that a man is always attracted to a female.  By playing on the insecurities of young males searching for the approval of women, the ad also earns its tag line at the bottom: “Tellin’ it like it is.”  This statement insinuates that males are different than females based on how they receive and transmit information.  A normal man is straightforward and doesn’t beat around the bush when getting to the point.  A normal man is interested in women and purchases magazines and such that portray women in a certain light.  Just a simple reading of Maxim reiterates this fact. 

The only question that I have is: why?  Are advertisers simply going after their target audience?  Or, are they replicating societal standards that are needed when living in a capitalist nation?  Because you know what your job is in such a society: get married, make babies, and produce more consumers for the economy.