Blog 2

 

Prompt 1- The cultural artifact I chose was this image of a man running and the caption says, "One more thing for men to rule." and at the bottom in smaller letters it says, "Join the men vs. women challenge at nikeplus.com". This message is used to sponsor Nike by trying to get men and women to join their challenge that is obviously putting them against each other as it does say "men vs. women". I chose this particular example because it is showing gender representation in fitness by belittling women. The message shows this man running which leads us to understand that the challenge is a race and that men will win because they always rule and that would just be one more thing for them to rule. As if they are saying that women are not capable in ever winning a man in anything because they cannot be more powerful than them. They are not taking into consideration that what if women were more conditioned in running then men or they've trained for longer? They automatically say that just because they are men they will win and just because they are women they will lose and that is where gender representation comes in. 

Prompt 2- 1. Who created this message?

The creators of this message are Nike and their employees who make the ads. Nike is trying to sponsor their challenge with this message.

2. What creative techniques are used to attract my attention?

The creative techniques this message used to attract my attention was the captions that were saying "One more thing for men to rule." and in smaller letters it said "Join the men vs. women challenge at nikeplus.com". It gave me this desire to want to do the challenge and prove these people wrong, that not because I'm a girl automatically means I can't beat a man at a race.

3. How might different people understand this message differently than me?

Different people might understand this message differently than me because they might not read too much into it. They might think, "Oh this message is just directed at men to motivate them to run more and buy Nike attire." which if you don't pay too much attention that's what it might seem like but to me this is making women less than men just by reading the caption on it.

4. What values, lifestyles, and points of view are represented in, or omitted from, this message?

The values this message shows is staying healthy and exercising by showing the man running. There can be two points of view in this message which is mine, that I think this message is totally putting women against men and making women seem less than men, and that they are not capable of winning a man at anything. The other point of view can be that it is just a simple ad to get women and men into fitness and buying Nike attire. 

5. Why is this message being sent?

This message is being sent to sponsor Nike and get men and women into the men vs. women challenge. Although they are putting a whole other message on it by the caption they put that is putting men as if they are incapable of ever losing to a women and that women can do the same activities as men just never win them.

Resources: https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=gender+representation+in+sports+or+fitness&go=Search&qs=ds&form=QBIR