Queer Imagery and Codes of Masculinity in 1980s American Beer Advertising
Document Type
Oral Presentation
Campus where you would like to present
Ellensburg
Event Website
https://digitalcommons.cwu.edu/source
Start Date
15-5-2019
End Date
15-5-2019
Abstract
This paper examines the ways that 1980s beer advertisements portrayed men and masculinity, and the expectations for men that these ads communicated through their imagery. In the 1980s, beer advertisements began to focus more on groups of men and their activities rather than individual men simply consuming beer, as was more common in the period between the end of prohibition in 1933 and the late 1970s. Women are also not present in many of these 1980s advertisements, which instead opt to show men enjoying each other’s company in various, often competitive, settings. These advertisements also depict men engaging in nonsexual physical contact, putting forth guidelines for when and how men may touch each other and still maintain their masculinity. Existing scholarship focuses on depictions of masculinity in the beer advertising of other countries, like Canada and New Zealand. I apply historical, sociological, and queer scholarship to American beer advertisements. By applying these types of scholarship to beer advertisements, I will examine the queer undertones present in advertising targeted specifically at men. I utilize advertisements from the period to argue that 1980s beer advertisements communicated a strict code to American men for the ways that they should interact with other men.
Recommended Citation
Jennings, Henry, "Queer Imagery and Codes of Masculinity in 1980s American Beer Advertising" (2019). Symposium Of University Research and Creative Expression (SOURCE). 42.
https://digitalcommons.cwu.edu/source/2019/Oralpres/42
Department/Program
History
Slides for SOURCE 2019 presentation Jennings
Additional Files
Henry Jennings CWU_UG Presentation (1).pptx (2713 kB)Slides for SOURCE 2019 presentation Jennings
Queer Imagery and Codes of Masculinity in 1980s American Beer Advertising
Ellensburg
This paper examines the ways that 1980s beer advertisements portrayed men and masculinity, and the expectations for men that these ads communicated through their imagery. In the 1980s, beer advertisements began to focus more on groups of men and their activities rather than individual men simply consuming beer, as was more common in the period between the end of prohibition in 1933 and the late 1970s. Women are also not present in many of these 1980s advertisements, which instead opt to show men enjoying each other’s company in various, often competitive, settings. These advertisements also depict men engaging in nonsexual physical contact, putting forth guidelines for when and how men may touch each other and still maintain their masculinity. Existing scholarship focuses on depictions of masculinity in the beer advertising of other countries, like Canada and New Zealand. I apply historical, sociological, and queer scholarship to American beer advertisements. By applying these types of scholarship to beer advertisements, I will examine the queer undertones present in advertising targeted specifically at men. I utilize advertisements from the period to argue that 1980s beer advertisements communicated a strict code to American men for the ways that they should interact with other men.
https://digitalcommons.cwu.edu/source/2019/Oralpres/42
Faculty Mentor(s)
Geraldine O'Mahony