The Subversion Of Stereotyped Female Gender Roles In Under Armour's “I Will What I Want” Campaign

Advertising is closely related to culture.Advertisement is not only the carrier of commodity information,but also a cultural form.Advertising can reflect culture,spread culture,and shape culture.Compared with the product itself,advertising has increasingly focused marketing on customers.Showing culture idea to customers has become a new strategy to attract customers to purchase goods.As a result,advertisements began to focus on reflecting women's rights,in an attempt to subvert the stereotyped female gender roles to attract customers and promote consumption.So far,six English video ads named “I Will What I Want” have been published on the official websites of Under Armour.These six video ads are the best examples.Judith Butler's theory of gender performativity and Laura Mulvey's theory of male gaze provide theoretical support for exploring how current advertisements subvert the stereotyped gender roles of women.From the perspectives of Judith Butler's theory of gender performativity and Laura Mulvey's theory of male gaze,this thesis argues that the female characters in Under Armour's “I Will What I Want” campaign,which is consisting of six English videos,subvert the stereotyped female gender roles from the perspectives of male gaze,the condition being voiceless,and the sport-related subordination position.This thesis is divided into three chapters in addition to the introduction and conclusion.The first chapter analyses that the female characters in Under Armour's“I Will What I Want” campaign subvert the male gaze from the perspectives of their own poses,facial expressions,and dressing.The second chapter analyses that the female characters in Under Armour's “I Will What I Want” campaign subvert the condition being voiceless from the perspectives of female protagonist's voices,female voice-over,and female yelling.The third chapter analyses that the female characters in Under Armour's “I Will What I Want” campaign subvert the sport-related subordination position from the perspectives of strength sports,physical training sports,and competitive sports.