Response #1-William Sea

Question #2

William Sea is obviously fed up with the way men and women (particularly men in this article) are portrayed in advertising. In his example from a series of Milwalkee’s Best Light commercials, men are shown as acting “unmanly” –at least from the stereotypical view of Miller Beer-and paying the price by having a giant can of beer falling onto the effeminate man for what is deemed feminine actions. Dabbing the grease off a piece of pizza is apparently something only a woman would do. The commercial goes on to state that “men should act like men,…” Gender policing? Definitely. Stereotyping of the male gender? Definitely. Manly men eat greasy pizza and drink beer. Commercials such as this series keep the stereotypical roles of men going; in other words this is how society expects men to act.

One only has to look at the television series “The Simpsons” to find ethnic group policing. All people of Indian heritage own quickie marts and talk with a bad accent. The tragedy of September 11, 2001 has brought suspicion and distrust to those of Muslim beliefs. All Muslims are taught to be terrorists. A person doesn’t even have to be a Muslim from the Middle East to have a suspicious eye cast on them. A white American woman, who by marriage has a “foreign sounding” last name is met with suspicion, and this suspicion is only increased if she is a Muslim. The emotions brought on by the September 11th tragedy are understandable, and the stereotyping forgivable. However, mankind needs to accept that there are bad people in the world who are yes, Muslim, but mankind also needs to accept that there are good and upstanding people who are Muslims. Until we do, the world will continue to fester and destroy itself.

There is a purpose that gender and group policing can serve-it can give a person or a group something to identify themselves with and help others understand where they are coming from. But this of course perpetuates stereotyping, which can lead to unfair associations and expectations.