(Image Source:
https://commercial-song.net/2018/03/state-farm-commercial-she-shed/)
“When we use ‘gender’, we refer to socially constructed behaviors and identity tags, such as ‘feminine’ and ‘masculine’” (Silverman, Rader, 2012, p. 385). When thinking of the topic of gender, one ad that comes to mind is a State Farm commercial. In this commercial, A couple are standing outside in their backyard as their shed seems to be burning down. The woman, who is on the phone with State Farm, knows that someone (her husband) has set her shed on fire. The man claims that it was struck by lightning. The idea of the commercial is that the woman has created her “she shed” to be very feminine, as a girl version of a “man cave.” The husband is obviously not happy with this, as he planned to get rid of the she shed. To the woman’s delight, she is informed that her she shed was covered by insurance, and she will be able to replace it, with a whole new-more girly-shed.
(Video Source:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ffs4gSJjjV4)
One reason why this commercial works so well is because of how we understand gender stereotypes in the media. Understanding basic gender stereotypes can help us follow along with the plot of a movie, a television show, or even a commercial. “One influencing factor in defining and redefining gender and gender role stereotypes among individuals is the influence from media” (Krahn et al., 2015, p. 6). This means that we have an idea of common gender stereotypes based on what have seen through media in the past. We understand why the man is annoyed by the she-shed, and we understand why the woman is unphased and persistent in getting a new one. It is a whole new spin on women being annoyed with their husbands always being in the garage or basement.
References:
Krahn, K., Shen, T., Patrick, D., & Tew, M. (2015). Reel Women: Gender Stereotypes in Film (ProQuest Dissertations Publishing). Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1768254780/
Silverman, J., & Rader, D. (2012). The World is a Text: Writing, Reading, and Thinking About Visual and Popular Culture (4th ed.). Boston: Prentice Hall.
This is a great commercial, so long as we're only exploring the traditional male/female binary. There's absolutely nothing wrong with the commercial, but it exploring it through the lens of gender does make it apparent that things like this does unwittingly exclude a portion of our population.
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