Seeking Love: Patterns in Ads 1-8

Ad 8; looking for a white partner preferably average to medium sized. She should have long hair, be faithful and affectionate, loving, mentally stable, understanding and fun.

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Review the attributes you chose for the eight ads. Describe the patterns or similarities you found for ads 1-4. Describe the patterns or similarities you found for ads 5-8.

Patterns or similarities for Group 1 (Ads 1-4):

The ads 1-4 are typically women seeking men. From the article Men as Successful objects and Women as sex objects, it easy to associate the characters in these ads to the truth being presented in that article. For instance, in this case, all the women in ad 1-4 are looking for men who are successful and who are motivated. That means hardworking men who can take care of their needs financially.

Additionally, most of the women are in search of men who can mentor them and who is faithful. Strength is an attribute of concern in this category. The women need strong men who can protect them in case of danger or whenever they find themselves in compromising situations. This is illustrated when one of the women mentions that she seeks to find a man who is physically fit.

Patterns or similarities for Group 2 (Ads 1-4):

In this group, there are no similarities and every person seems to be looking for something different in their partners. There are those that are after women with many qualities while some are looking for just a single attribute. For instance, ad 6 and seven are each looking for a woman with a single attribute. That is; Ad 6 is looking for a woman who is exciting and that is all. On the other hand, Ad 7 is looking for a woman who is a reader. The ad is quite demanding and requires a lady with so many attributes, i.e. long hair, faithful, affectionate, loving and understanding.

Discuss your reaction to this new information and your initial assumptions of the advertisements PRIOR to finding out the gender of the individual seeking a partner. What implications does this have for gender role expectations?

My initial assumptions for the advertisements were that Ad 1-4 were women seeking men while Ad 5-8 were men looking for women. On the contrary, however, according to the information provided, ad 5-8 are women looking for women.

On most occasions within our societies today, women tend to look for more masculine characters in their male partners. This includes attributes such as financial stability, employment or a stable source of income, and high intellectual status. At the same time, women tend to value commitment from men more as compared to men (Davis, 1990).

There various gender stereotypes in our society today, all with different expectations. In terms of personal traits, women are expected to be emotional and accommodating, while men are expected to be aggressive and self-confident (Davis, 1990).The second kind of gender stereotypes focuses on physical appearance. Women for one, are expected to be graceful and thin for most people, while men are expected to be muscular and tall.

In the case study Ad 5-4, this seems to be entirely the case. This is because women in this scenario are more focused on the ideal physical traits that women are supposed to have despite being in the LGBT category. Still for the Ads 1-4, what women want from men is exactly what the society has for decades embraced. The women still want financial stable and masculine men who are motivated and success drive. More of less the same gender role expectations present in the society today.

The issue of women looking for women is a lot common these days than it was a decade ago, as more and more women are coming out of the closets. Characteristics or attributes of the partner being sort in this situation may vary from one woman to another, and as such there are not particularly defined expectations from the society for this group (Davis, 1990).

Nonetheless, there exist extreme gender stereotypes that are hyper-masculinity. This presents an exaggerated masculine behavior. People of this nature tend to overstress their masculine characters (Davis, 1990).They believe in part that they are supposed to compete with their male counters to dominate women by being insensitive, aggressive demanding and physically imposing.

These type of overstressed gender stereotypes tend to make relationships much difficult. On the other hand, hyper-feminine women tend to quietly endure emotional and physical abuse from their partners. It is therefore important for partners to maintain positive gender roles expectations from the society

References

Davis, S. (1990). Men as success objects and women as sex objects: A study of personal advertisements. Sex Roles, 23(1-2), 43-50.