Masculinities in advertising discourse

The purpose of this work is to examine the models of masculinity found in the national advertising of products from brands that target the corporal/aesthetic care of men (Nivea, Gillette, AXE, Rexona and Dove). It takes into consideration the advertisements placed on social networks (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter) of each brand, from January of 2014 up to December of 2016. It aims to present a global, semiotic analysis of the advertisements, in an effort to help people recognize them as a technology of gender, because they condense a social ideal for men and women. While there is a diversity of options for males among advertisements, all of them maintain the model of hegemonic masculinity, which is achieved not only with advertisements that promote the valued traits of it, but with others that ridicule, deny or criticize alternative ways of being male, generally linked to homosexuality. There are, also, hints of a complementarity between the sexes, defending a supposed differentiated nature, while men are offered products to reaffirm their masculinity.