Just buy it: Nike advertising aimed at Glamour readers: A critical feminist analysis

Tamara: Journal of Critical Postmodern Organization Science, 2001 by Arsenault, Darin J, Fawzy, Tamer

Feminist Critical Analysis and Storytelling

Feminist critical analysis is based on a bifurcation of postmodern feminist theory and Derrida's deconstructionist approach (Foss, 1989; Stern, 1993). Derrida's approach offers a method to find meaning in artifacts by conceptualizing meaning as comprised of a spectrum or continuum in which the act of making sense of a message is anchored by the text at one pole and by the reader at the other. Feminist theory offers a further step in deconstructionism, in which the reader-text relation is further distinguished by the inclusion of gender as an interpretive criterion. In essence, feminist theory notes that (1) male patriarchy has permeated much of written and spoken discourse to the effect that it subordinates the experiences of women; (2) women's experiences are different than men's, not only in terms of their biological experiences, but also in terms of their sex-role socialization; and (3) women's experiences are not reflected adequately in culture, in that the voices and experiences of women are traditionally suppressed.

Feminist criticism offers a particular methodology for distinguishing meaning in artifacts. Its utility, as noted by Foss (1989), requires the following by investigators who attempt to make sense of rhetorical artifacts: (1) the analysis of the construction of gender in the artifact being studied, and (2) the assessment of either how patriarchy is created and managed, or how it can be challenged and altered. The critic is interested in determining how gender is being portrayed in the artifact and examining how the roles of men and women may be cast into dimensions of powerful and powerless.

There have been several studies examining artifacts from this perspective, including that of Trujillo (1991 ) and that of Stern (1993). Trujillo found that the media tended to present Nolan Ryan as an image of masculinity. The creation and maintenance of this iconization was one that reinforced the marginalization and subordination of women. Stern (1993) notes that personification of the Marlboro Man and the Dakota Woman were stereotypic in that traditional sex roles were presented and those that were not acceptable were cast as disparate. Both of these studies offer evidence that texts can be examined and deconstructed to determine the intent of the rhetor, particularly in terms of the message that is provided for the audience. In terms of the current study, Nike advertisements aimed at women in a popular women's magazine are assessed to understand what consistent images of women are portrayed and how they can be interpreted along the continuum of power. To this end, the prescriptions of both Foss (1989) and Stern (1993) were utilized. Although Foss is mentioned above, Stern has not yet been delineated. Stern advocates the use of sex reversal, in which the traits and values as deigned as masculine and feminine can be unearthed and interpreted. Stern offers an example in which Captain Ahab of Melville's Moby Dick is sex reversed to be read as a woman who is obsessed in tracking down a white whale, which Stern interprets as ridiculous in that it is disconnected from women's experiences. Stern (p. 557) notes that by imaginatively transforming a hero/ heroine into a member of the opposite sex, the behavior evaluated as appropriate to and desirable for each sex is exposed not only as a set of expectations determined by cultural conditioning but also as one that confines women more than it does men.