Rare Finds

Brand/Product: Express Honor
Source: Rolling Stone
Publication Date: Feb. 3, 2011

Category: Ad that Shows codes of Ritual Subordination 
of Women applied to Men

One of the most popular and recognizable types of ads is the ritual subordination of women. From the documentary, "Codes of Gender" we learn that in this type of advertising, the woman is often in a recumbent, or submissive, position in a way that is hard for her to defend herself. She may also be positioned in a body cant by standing on one leg, therefor ungrounded. Again, this puts the woman in a defenseless position. There are two types of head positions: one is the tilted head bend position and puts the model off balance. Then there is a position in which the head is lifted up and means the woman is submissive to others. The model then appears to be in a spaced out mode. She appears oblivious or indifferent of her actions. Her head may be down and eyes adverted. She can also appear spaced out like  zombie or asleep or dead. These codes hold the make women overall submissive to men. 

It is rare, but it does happen occasionally, when the codes of ritual subordination of women are applied to men. In this ad from Express, a man is seen as the main focus of the ad. His body is slanted, with most of the support on his right leg. With one arm up around his head and the other tucked into his pocket, he is standing in a somewhat revealing stance which puts himself submissive to the viewer. His shirt exposes his chest, often like a woman would have part of her body exposed. His head is tilted down and gazing blankly. The man is alienated, again like most women in ads, from the others behind him. 

This alienation can suggest that he stands out from the others behind him because he uses the product: Express Honor. He shadows the others because he knows how to stand out among the crowd.