Discourse, in linguistic terms, is defined as “a connected series of utterances; a text or conversation” (Oxford), however, this simple definition does not fully encompass the true meaning of speech. Discourse is a complex concept that allows us to talk about language in use and seeks to explain how language and its meaning do not exist explicitly or generally, but rather are created within a society. By questioning specific discursive approaches, I will analyze the 2014 Always #LikeAGirl campaign. I will show how this advertisement exploits the discourse around gender stereotypes, in order to push women to reappropriate the pejorative expression "like a girl" by change the expression from an insult to a positive and inspiring statement. I will use the concepts of subject positioning, recourse to socially created and persistent stereotypes and synthetic personalization to show how the texts construct the issue of gender stereotypes and the effect they have on young girls that the discourse surrounding the phrase “like a girl” is ultimately responsible for holding women back in society and perpetuating hurtful stereotypes. Say no to plagiarism. Get a Custom Essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get the Original EssaySpeech refers to the rules and practices created by society that allow certain words and statements to have meaning. It is constituted by the social relations without which it cannot exist, that is to say, if the social relations were different or non-existent, the discourse would exist in a completely different way or would cease to exist. Therefore, discourse does not simply create meaning, but rather is a process that constantly shapes meaning over time. The linguistic choices made by an author can reveal and, in some ways, dissociate the socially constructed versions of a discourse's reality and shed light on how discourses are put into practice at that particular moment in history. This method will allow us to observe the social effects of the discourse a reader is pushed toward and positioned within the text, and how these techniques essentially change the function of the text. Through this, we can analyze how these techniques can play a major role in a reader's subject positioning when studying a specific text. “An advertisement is never the program they watch, never the letter they wait for, never the part of the newspaper they read” (Cook, 1992: 13). As Freita’s text states, advertisements have “intruder status.” As advertising, the first hurdle to overcome is getting someone to actually want to see it. Therefore, advertisements are usually condensed or broken down so that they are understood at first glance. I will analyze the #LikeAGirl campaign from the feminine care brand Always. I first saw this ad on Youtube, but it caught my attention because I had no idea what it was advertising, so instead of skipping after five seconds, I watched the ad in its entirety. The central point of the advert is the phrase “like a girl”. In the ad, a filmmaker, Lauren Greenfield, presents several older people (teenagers and adults) and asks them to do several activities "like a girl" for example, "throw like a girl" and "run like a girl". The video shows these elderly people imitating what they think "like a girl" means, and they do these activities weakly, waving their arms and legs and making silly facial expressions.However, a separate group of young girls are then asked to do the same, and they throw and run fiercely, doing their best. The advert essentially shows the negative association people develop with the phrase "like a girl" as they grow up. As a company specializing in menstrual products for women, the target audience is young girls and women. It is important to note that Always is a women's skincare brand owned by Procter and Gamble, an American multinational consumer goods company. This ad is a big contrast to their previous ads and is a departure from the brand and company's typical method of doing simple product ads. The advertisement helps to see the company in a different light, which shows that it cares about its consumers, society and women, and not just sales. The purpose of the ad seems pretty positive though, if we go back to the idea that it's an ad for Always, a feminine care brand, Proctor and Gamble, a Fortune 500 company, the true purpose of advertising. was in effect to increase sales. Many people often feel confused and have a sense of skepticism when faced with advertisements that show an apparent social conscience (Freita). This is because advertisements always have the ulterior motive of driving sales and consumers are generally aware of this. However, this ad managed to overcome skepticism towards text ads. The ad was a huge success not only in terms of sales, but also in social terms, as it increased awareness and created a new dialogue about gender stereotypes. The global response to the advert was very positive, but it attracted some criticism, mainly from men. However, as previously stated, Always being a feminine care brand, the ad targets women and aims to increase its sales to women, not men. Advertising plays heavily on gender stereotypes and social constructs created in society about boys and girls. Discrimination against women has been a widespread social problem throughout history. Even today, women are considered inferior to men in many ways. Young girls are particularly vulnerable during puberty and being exposed to these stereotypes and derogatory expressions, however harmless they may seem, causes significant harm. Learning that acting like a girl isn't a good thing when you're a girl is a troubling thing. However, this ongoing problem in our society has created a need for a video like this, which has led to this video still being released. Always strives to challenge these structures and positions by showing how women are held back by these damaging social constructs and demonstrating how capable women can be. He fights to show the public and make them understand to what extent he has been unknowingly constructed by society's discourse around gender and how this can have a negative impact on his own self-esteem, on that of his sister. , his mother or his friends. This shows that women can choose to have low self-esteem or change their views and attitudes and rise above it. I will use Fairclough's approach to CDA drawn from critical analysis of Locke's discourse. Fairclough focuses on the idea that no language can ever be completely neutral and that it always contains a controlling point of view. His research shows how texts, particularly inmedia and advertising, can be persuasive because they rely on stereotypes - socially accepted beliefs or ideas considered normal - which allow them to be effective. Fairclough's three-dimensional framework includes discourse as text, discourse as practice, and discourse as sociocultural practice. One of the specific tools I will use to analyze the text will be synthetic personalization (Fairclough). Synthetic personalization is the process of addressing audiences as individuals to create a false relationship. A common way to establish this type of relationship is to use inclusive language, for example personal pronouns such as “you”. Using second-person pronouns and possessive pronouns such as “you” and “your” allows you to address audience members directly. When people are approached individually, apart from the crowd, rather than as simply part of a mass audience, they feel more valued. Another technique the ad uses is its structure itself (this is something I need to explore further). The commercial begins with several elderly people being asked to do something "like a girl." Next, the advert is aimed at a younger group of girls. The structure aims to show the marked difference between the meanings of expressions among people of different age groups, due to exposure to stereotypes. The juxtaposition further highlights the idea that young girls are not born with biases, but rather learn these negative biases. This also gives importance to this advert because it is essentially saying that sending this message to young girls will allow them to gain confidence from a young age, thus setting them up for success as adults. This advertisement also aims to engage the audience. it’s trying to find common ground. One way advertising attempts to find common ground with the audience is by using "average" or "real" people in the ad, much like the ad's target audience. In addition to this, the responses given by the subjects appear to be spontaneous, conversational and natural. This allows the advertisement to gain authenticity or credibility, which advertisements typically lack, and allows the company to gain public trust. The video is strategically structured: from the start of the video, the audience immediately sees a clip of the video being filmed. The audience is essentially placed behind the scenes, which allows for a more transparent, or seemingly transparent, message to be conveyed. The video is presented in a simple question and answer format between the director and the individuals featured, who essentially represent the audience. In the video, there are parts where individuals indicate their name and age. For example: “My name is Dakota and I am ten years old.” Whether it's their real name and age or not, this information and introduction helps create a more personal connection between individuals and the audience. The format of the video, along with the individuals' personal responses, creates a more candid and honest video that allows the company to establish a sense of trust between the company and future consumers. The feeling of trust built through this advertising technique essentially allows the company's menstrual products to be more appealing to the public. Another technique used by advertising is its platform. This ad was posted on Youtube.com and also aired at the Super Bowl. By publishing on a popular and free platform such as Youtube, Always is able to ensureexposure to a wide range of viewers, as online videos can be viewed by a wider audience. It is also significant that Always chose to produce a video ad rather than a print ad. Video ads enable more engagement as they have other factors such as visual and audio elements, which attract the audience. However, throughout the first half of the video, there is no background music, as the video transitions to a more uplifting moment. Young girls are likely their target audience, choosing to run the ad at the SuperBowl, a widely watched sporting event. by a majority of men, this shows that advertising also targets the male audience. This could allow the public to have good faith in the company's intentions, as it appears to be more focused on delivering the social message to everyone, rather than just the people who might affect its sales. This allows boys and even men to realize how a seemingly funny insult can have a lasting effect on a girl's confidence and, in turn, have a negative effect on her place in society. He always seems to realize that making everyone, men and women, understand that there is a problem is the first step to solving it as a whole. An important text to unpack is the hashtag slogan #LikeAGirl. I would like to approach this as someone who is not familiar with the speeches that these three words imply. These three words completely out of context, without knowledge of the discourse surrounding them, have so little meaning. This demonstrates the importance of social discourse for understanding language. It should be understood that the words themselves are not negative in nature, but at some point in our society, doing something like a girl means doing something bad or at least less good than a boy. In our society today, the expression “like a girl” is still commonly associated with weakness. The phrase has been structured by society to have a negative connotation and, as a result, young girls and women are positioned to be seen in this negative light and believe that being a girl and doing something "like a girl" is a negative thing, something to be ashamed of. Questions are another technique that ads, like this one, typically rely on. For example, “What does it mean to you to do things #LikeAGirl?” » This question asks something of the audience and refers to them as "you", as an individual. In ads, questions are asked of readers to create synthetic personalization by simulating an informal conversation with the audience. By not simply conveying information, but rather asking questions, it engages the audience in a conversation through advertising. It is also evident that the ad plays on the audience's emotions, appealing to pathos. The ad, while seemingly light-hearted, becomes poignant as older women realize how much they have been conditioned and held back by society and its debilitating and discouraging ideas about women. This advert aims to make the audience realize something about themselves and society: it aims to show the negative association people develop with the phrase "like a girl" as they grow up. The structure of the questions and the order in which they are asked also play an important role in conveying the company's message. At the beginning of the video, subjects are asked: "What does it mean to you to do something 'like a girl'?" , then they are later asked: "When does doing something 'like a girl'.