Hernandez 1

Joana Hernandez
Professor Ditch
English 114A
6 December 2014
Summer Eves Gender Mistake
Media in the western society has become majority of the peoples attention. The western
society has become a society where it revolves more on what going on in the media, from what
people is read to what people hear; media is everywhere! Yet, some people don't really
understand what media is doing. Many people just think they are selling a product or just
advertise news on celebrities but media is always sending a message. However, it is how people
view the message either they see the surface message or they see it in depth with critical lens.
Media has become very powerful that it is shaping what society learns and how they act or think.
In the commercial "Summer Eve's "manly mistake" shows traditional gender roles by
participating in the stereotypes of males being masculine and females being feminine, but some
people don't realize it until it's pointed out. The commercials goal was to sell a women's product
so the audience should be focus more on women. Eventually, it turned into a commercial of a
mans reaction and getting his masculinity back after using the Summer Eve's body cleanser.
Media still portrays males as superior and participates in doing gender which affects females and
males by making them conform to social norms, which could lead to limitations and
consequences by trying to fit in.
In the commercial a man is taking a shower with his wife talking about the Summer
Eves body cleanser. She said it was perfectly fit for a women and that he is using it. After, his
shocked reaction he quickly went to get his "masculinity back". The male getting his masculinity
back consisted of chopping wood, pulling a car with a rope attach to his teeth and mowing the

Hernandez 2

lawn. With all these various things he did, the commercial showed gender performance. This
commercial is offensive to women because in a way it's showing how being a women or using
womens products are disgusting and if a male uses it they must get there masculinity back or
they possibly can be judged and be called names like: weak, unworthy, or sissy and so much
more for having a female characteristics or not conforming. The female in the commercial also
mentions how it's gentle, technically referring to female gender performance. So if a man
would've used a Summer Eves body cleanser people would consider the man as being gentle,
having a traditional feminine characteristic. This commercial influences and shows gender
performance being done because it's possibly saying how man should be strong and hard
working. At the end of the commercial she says "that was close" in other words close of being
compared to a women or close as having a feminine quality in order to advertise that being
feminine isnt ideal.
This commercial could be problematic and could affect women and men. This could
affect women because it could limit them and make them feel inferior to men and have a mindset
of men being better. Media has often labeled women to seem not important or not seen as having
a masculinity personality to be normal. Also, saying that being a man is better than being a
woman. Judith Lorber said that In western society man is A and woman is not-A (Lorber
29). Making some women uncomfortable, if they are not what media is trying to advertise like
gentle, dependent, and inferior. This could be problematic because they might fall in depression
because they don't feel as worthy or valuable. It could also affect males because some don't meet
the social norm of masculinity like strong, brave, and athletic. Some are skinny and have some
feminine performance like gentle, soft, and sensitive skin that might require female products but
this commercial is emphasizing on a male getting his masculinity back as if being a man and not

Hernandez 3

having masculine characteristics is bad. Perhaps both men and women sometimes don't fit in the
social construction that society has created and media has taken upon to advertise and could end
up with consequences. For example, extensive work out for men to get the body of a perfect
male figure could possibly increasing the amount of steroids they take, that may have harmful
effects. If commercials like the Summer Eve don't stop and people don't realize they are
conforming to social norms, they will continue to have the mindset as a "macho man", a
domineering, controlling, aggressive type of male. This decreases the possibility of having a
future without prioritizing gender performance.
In the video Miss Representation, it emphasizes how media influences many people
in western society mostly teens and women. Jennifer Pozner an executive director and Women in
media and news author said "The facts that media are manipulative and so derogatory to the most
powerful women in the country then what does it say about medias ability to take any women in
America seriously. Usually, media isn't being direct and that's why people don't actually realize
what media is teaching and how we use it on our daily lives. In the Summer Eves commercial it
wasn't directly saying "man can't use females products if they do they must get there masculinity
back" but the commercial hid behind the humor of the males reactions. "A lot of advertising is
based on making people feel anxious and feel insecure, the effect is primarily subconscious and
its very harmful but for the most part people really aren't aware of that" says Jean Kilbourne an
author and senior scholar. In this commercial most western people especially women don't seem
to realize it was offensive. Many thought it was funny, how the man reacted and what he went
through.
Media had influence most people to perceive the world around us and help shape our
society. "Since the 1970's when the world has hijacked by sociologist, it has taken on wilder

Hernandez 4

meaning to indicate the socially determined characteristics of both women and men (Williams
578). In other words, that the gender performances have been indicated to organize people on
how they should be and act. Gender performance doesnt mean strictly men have to be masculine
nor females have to be feminine. Its hard not to become swayed by what the media perceived of
social norms because of how much American society are exposed to media. Our population is
always growing as well such as new born babies, or foreigners from other countries. "Without
knowing the meaning behind the messages being broadcast to them," then it could possibly be
easier to "become swayed by what they see (Goodhall160) and it could be taken as normal.
Most masculine people would respond to this commercial as a normal way to react. Jason Kats
from Tough Guise mentioned how men learn at an early age to be a "real man." By the time
they are ready for school; they have already learned to view the world in terms of a dichotomy
(Renzetti and Curran 84). Summer Eves is a great example because the way the man reacted
was media advertising "real man" stereotypes and is shown on television for anyone to see.
Similar to the funny cartoon show, Family Guy, about a family that consists of five
people and a dog. The Family Guy show also had something similar to the product "Summer
Eve." The Summer Eves product is a body cleanser for women douche which could make a
woman feel fresh down there. There was two episodes season on 1 and season 7, when they
had a scene where a girl asked her mom about "not feeling so fresh down there. Their mom
reaction was shocked and their answer was "No. There must be something wrong with you."
These episodes could possibly be making women insecure and if they are not so fresh down
there, there's a problem and it's not normal. This show could probably be making a joke so
people could laugh not directly attacking women but more laughing about the products actually
being used. If women wouldn't conforms or "distinguish the false messages about body image

Hernandez 5

and gender behaviors media wouldn't be so powerful to get American people to feel insecure and
let media in courage gender stereotypes (Goodhall 161). This show is a way where media
portrays males as superior and dominant because this show possible is sending a message on
how women could be abnormal.
There's other products like Summer Eve and there commercials are similar in some
ways and different on others. I compared RepHresh gel commercial from 2014 and Massengell
commercial from 1996. RepHresh didn't include any men or any masculine performance and it
briefly describe what the product does throughout the commercial. In the Messengell commercial
it also didn't include any masculine performance but the women in the commercial did asked if
man had the same problem and one responded "Yes, they give them a sporty name" participating
to the gender stereotypes of males having to be "sporty." In a way it was assuring that if a male
had a similar problem, they are able to give it a masculine name and it wouldnt be compared to
a women problem.
There have also been changes in media where women are places as equals like both
gender career. Yet, when I first saw the Summer Eves commercial I also thought it was funny
because I didn't realize what the video was actually trying to advertise and I was not looking at
the commercial with critical lens. Until I noticed that there were more messages behind this
commercial. According to Dr. Oz "women are self-cleaning oven" but in some occasions women
might require to use products like Summer Eve. I agree there should be product specifically for
women or specifically for men to benefit them because there is different type of situations, yet it
shouldn't be abnormal or disgusting for the other sex to mistakenly use it like shown in the
commercial. This commercial is less focused on explaining the product or advertising it and

Hernandez 6

more focused on making the man get his masculinity back, which causes the commercial to lose
its purpose.
American society shouldnt let media be so powerful and should start realizing how
media messages could affect women and men. Gender is such a familiar part of our daily life
that it usually takes a deliberate description of our expectations of how women and men are
supposed to act (Lorber 20). Summer Eves commercial is an example of how media portrays
males as being superior and better than women and its not right. In order to become a better
society we all need to know what is going on and how it affects us. If we dont, we will live in a
social construction where we are just based on our sex and be forced to be in a category of either
feminine or masculine. Yet, there are still mindsets about gender stereotypes that need to change
such as women being weak and dependent. Also, if men dont meet the specific masculinity
performance they are judged. American society could change if we learn to not judge based on a
person being feminine or masculine.

Hernandez 7

Work Cited
Goodall, Hannah. "Media influence on gender stereotypes" (2012).
Groner, Rachael, and John F. O'Hara. Composing Gender. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2014.
Print.
Katz Jason, Sut Jhally, Susan Ericsson, Sanjay Talreja, and Jeremy Earp. Tough Guise:
Violence, Media, and the Crisis in Masculinity. Northampton, MA: Media Education
Foundation, 1999.
Kilbourne, Jennifer L. Pozner, Katie Couric, Lisa Ling, Meenakshi G. Durham, Margaret Cho,
Martha M. Lauzen, Nancy Pelosi, Pat Mitchell, Rachel Maddow, and Rosario Dawson.
Miss Representation. Sausalito, Films Educational, 2011.
Williams, Trish. Gender, media and democracy". Round table.357 (2000):577-83.proquest.
Lorber, Judith. Night to His Day: The social construction of Gender. Composing Gender.
Boston New York: Bedford/St. Martins, 2014. 19-33. Print.
Renzetti, Claire and Daniel Curran. From Women, Men and Society. Composing Gender.
Boston New York: Bedford/ St. Martins, 2014. 76-85. Print.