Sample Comparative Commentary - Gender

Text 1
Van Heusen Print Advertisement (1950s)
Text 2
I decided I was a feminist and this seemed uncomplicated to me. But my recent research has
shown me that feminism has become an unpopular word. Apparently I am among the ranks of women
whose expressions are seen as too strong, too aggressive, isolating, anti-men and, unattractive.
Why is the word such an uncomfortable one?
I am from Britain and think it is right that as a woman I am paid the same as my male
counterparts. I think it is right that I should be able to make decisions about my own body. I think it is
right that women be involved on my behalf in the policies and decision-making of my country. I think it is
right that socially I am afforded the same respect as men. But sadly I can say that there is no one country
in the world where all women can expect to receive these rights.
No country in the world can yet say they have achieved gender equality.
These rights I consider to be human rights but I am one of the lucky ones. My life is a sheer privilege
because my parents didn’t love me less because I was born a daughter. My school did not limit me
because I was a girl. My mentors didn’t assume I would go less far because I might give birth to a child
one day. These influencers were the gender equality ambassadors that made who I am today. They may
not know it, but they are the inadvertent feminists who are. And we need more of those. And if you still
hate the word—it is not the word that is important but the idea and the ambition behind it. Because not
all women have been afforded the same rights that I have. In fact, statistically, very few have been.
In 1997, Hilary Clinton made a famous speech in Beijing about women’s rights. Sadly many of the
things she wanted to change are still a reality today. But what stood out for me the most was that only 30
per cent of her audience were male. How can we affect change in the world when only half of it is invited
or feel welcome to participate in the conversation?
Men—I would like to take this opportunity to extend your formal invitation. Gender equality is
your issue too. Because to date, I’ve seen my father’s role as a parent being valued less by society despite
my needing his presence as a child as much as my mother’s. I’ve seen young men suffering from mental
illness unable to ask for help for fear it would make them look less “macho”—in fact in the UK suicide is
the biggest killer of men between 20-49; eclipsing road accidents, cancer and coronary heart disease. I’ve
seen men made fragile and insecure by a distorted sense of what constitutes male success. Men don’t
have the benefits of equality either. We don’t often talk about men being imprisoned by gender
stereotypes but I can see that they are, and that when they are free, things will change for women as a
natural consequence.
If men don’t have to be aggressive in order to be accepted women won’t feel compelled to be
submissive. If men don’t have to control, women won’t have to be controlled. Both men and women
should feel free to be sensitive. Both men and women should feel free to be strong… It is time that we all
perceive gender on a spectrum not as two opposing sets of ideals. If we stop defining each other by what
we are not and start defining ourselves by what we are—we can all be freer and this is what HeForShe is
about. It’s about freedom.
I want men to take up this mantle so their daughters, sisters and mothers can be free from
prejudice, but also so that their sons have permission to be vulnerable and human too—reclaim those
parts of themselves they abandoned and in doing so be a more true and complete version of themselves.
Watson, Emma. UN Women Goodwill Ambassador. Speech delivered to the UN.

20 September 2014
Sample Paper 1: Comparative Commentary

Stereotypical representations and expectations of gender are issues of relevance both
in the present and in the past. Text 1, a Van Heusen tie advertisement from the 1950s, uses
the image of a working class white man to target such an audience. Text 2, a speech
presented about a feminist campaign to not only the delegates present at the UN conference
but also to the entire world addresses the topic of feminism and how society’s view of men is
fueling the already existing gender inequality. Text 1 and 2 both juxtapose the social
expectations of men and women to highlight the ‘powerful male’ stereotype and, in
comparison, the submissive female in a male dominated world and the effects of this on both
men and women’s lives.
Both texts expose the expectations placed on men by society and the media to be the
powerful and dominating gender. In text 1, the ties being advertised are described with the
alliterative phrase, “power-packed patterns.” Masculinity is packaged with products, such as
the ties, encouraging the idea that even a piece of cloth hanging from one’s neck must
somehow emit power. Supporting this idea, the speaker in text 2 offers an anecdote, saying
she has “seen young men suffering…unable to ask for help for fear it would make them look
less ‘macho.’” The ridiculous images of “macho” that are thrust before men as an example,
like the “power-packed” tie patterns underline a severe issue with the representations of the
male role. Text 2 emphasizes that ideas advertised to men in the media, as is done in text 1,
are resulting in the suffering of both males and females. Text 1 has an image in which the
subject is dressed smartly in work clothes: a button up shirt and tie. With both hands behind
his head and a smirk on his face, the subject oozes authority. As text 1 is an advertisement, it
is clear that the editors have chosen an image of the type of man they want to sell to the
audience. In doing so, they are stating that the man the audience must want to become is one
who is dominant and one who works. The speaker in text 2 describes such advertising as
something causing men to be “imprisoned by gender stereotypes.” She states it as an issue
“we don’t often talk about,” which may be interpreted as a reference to the media, as many
people in the 21st century get their news and discussion topics from the media and internet. In
such ways, both texts highlight the idea of the “perfect man” and the effect this can have.
Both text 1 and 2 juxtapose this aforementioned male stereotype with the often
assumed incompetence of women in order to expose the socially inferior way in which
women are perceived. This perceived gender hierarchy is demonstrated in text 1 through the
positioning of the subordinate subject in the image. The female subject is kneeling before the
male subject, presenting him with breakfast in bed. She is looking up at the man, using eye
contact to establish the mode of address, and the main focus of the image. Her physical
positioning, done purposefully by the editors of this ad, place her lower than the man. As the
audience of this text is male, the ad is trying to create a collective consensus amongst men
that women are inferior to them. The fact that she is serving him breakfast in a bathrobe, in
comparison to the work attire the man is wearing, illustrates the belief that women are
supposed to stay at home, as she is not capable of earning money as the man is. Although text
2 also addresses this global paradigm of female inferiority, it is done by listing opportunities
the speaker was lucky to get. As a woman, she states that her life is a “sheer privilege” for
having grown up in a community and family that recognized her talents, regardless of gender.
Her privilege was that her “school didn’t limit [her] because [she] was a girl”, suggesting that
many women did not get this equality. Schools are to educate, and as many women do not get
this “privilege,” it is clear that women are viewed as intellectually inferior to men. Similarly,
the word “man” is repeated numerous times in text 1 to enforce the exclusiveness of the
product being sold, and limiting the target audience to only men. The product being
advertised is a tie, a symbol of the working class. The fact that the symbol of work is
specifically excluding women shows that the expectations of women were to stay at home
and not hold qualities needed in a professional business world, such as ambition or
perseverance. The noun “man” is often followed by an ellipsis, to further draw attention to
the importance of the product being only for men. Similarly, the qualities required in the
work space are outlined in text 2 as words contributing to the negative connotation of the
word feminism. The speaker in text 2 says that she is viewed as being “too strong, too
aggressive, isolating anti-men and unattractive” for being a feminist. Women are expected to
be dainty, submissive and quiet, and are often shunned for holding such “qualities of a man.”
By introducing the stereotypes of women, both text 1 and 2 are commenting on the way the
patriarchal society has sculpted women as a gender inferior to men, and in comparison
incapable of work.
Both texts describe the stereotypical and desirable traits society has placed upon men
and women, and juxtapose these qualities to expose gender inequality in society. Though
produced in different decades, text 1 in the 1950s and text 2 in 2014, both highlight an
ongoing issue. Text 2 seeks to criticize the expectations text such as text 1 introduce. Whilst
both texts have a different purpose, one to advertise and sell these stereotypical gender roles
and the other to criticize and destroy them, both ultimately succeed in showing both male and
female stereotypes and in juxtaposing the two to enlighten the audience about the ongoing
inequalities in society.

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Text 1

Van Heusen Print Advertisement (1950s)

Watson, Emma. UN Women Goodwill Ambassador. Speech delivered to the UN.

Sample Paper 1: Comparative Commentary

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