The Codes of Gender​ is a documentary produced in 2010 that explains the

gender ideals in American culture. The narrator of the documentary, Sut Jhally, points

out the differences between men and women portrayed in modern advertisements. I

chose ​The Codes of Gender​ because I wanted to learn more about why society has

such strong stereotypical understandings toward masculinity and femininity. The

documentary explained that Americans have the idea that if we want to fit in and

function normally, we have to learn both how to send out the right gender signals and

how to read the signals that are being sent out by others. Another idea presented in the

documentary was that American advertisements shape society’s normative ideas of

femininity and masculinity through the media. Additionally, ​The Codes of Gender

factually elucidates that sex refers to our different biological charachteristics at birth that

define us as male or female while gender refers to the social construct that defines the

gender of someone based on physical and biological characteristics such as being

feminine or masculine.

There are three rhetorical appeals used in literature: logos, pathos, and ethos.

Logos is a logical appeal with the use of statistics, facts, and experts. Pathos is an

emotional appeal with visuals or emotional language that create empathy, humor, and

other reactions from the audience. Ethos is an ethical appeal that consists of credibility

of the speaker’s authority and/or personal experience. An example of a logistical appeal

in ​The Codes of Gender ​was Professor Jhalley telling the audience that he gained

information from ​Gender Advertisements​ by Erving Goffman, which explains how the

communication of gender codes take place in advertisements. Furthermore, the

documentary notes John Berger’s book ​Ways of Seeing​ which brings attention to

classic European oil paintings featuring women and how these paintings influence the

presentation of women in modern commercials. In the beginning of the documentary, a

snippet of the film “The L Word” displays an emotional appeal by showing an

androgynous girl being physically attacked and called a deragatory slur because the

people at her school didn’t know if she was a boy or girl. This causes the audience to

feel sympathetic for the girl. Lastly, an ethical appeal is shown in the documentary when

Sut Jhally tells the audience that he is a professor at the University of Massachusetts

and has been teaching and studying the issues of media and gender for over 25 years.

The Codes of Gender ​is a very informative documentary that has the ability to

open the eyes of society. Jhally goes in depth of the different poses and expressions

used by models based on their gender and explains how these visuals affect people’s

norm of gender expression. Many people can use this film as a source of education on

the issue of gender roles in the media as well as inspiration to break gender roles.

Anyone who watches this documentary will take away a sense of astonishment and

understanding that an individual’s choice to represent themselves as adrogynous,

masculine, or feminine is valid regardless of their gender and sex.