Goffman: The Presentation of Self in Everday Life

     Goffman's ideas from The Codes Of Gender are supported several ways by his ideas from The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life.  Every advertisement acts as an "actor" and everyone who views advertisements are like the "audience". The advertisements put on a show for the viewers and the way they are received is changed by manipulating the different concepts from The Presentation of Self.

     The models in advertisements can act in what Goffman refers to as Front Stage, Back Stage and Off Stage.  They have separate identities away from the advertisement.  The way they are portrayed doesn't necessarily represent the model as they act Back Stage or Off Stage.  This can be especially true when young girls are sexualized in advertisements.  They obviously don't go about their everyday lives dressed in slutty outfits.  This also sends wrong messages about body image to young girls.  Since the models are only "acting" the audience shouldn't receive the play as something to be imitated, but they turn that portrayal given by the models into their Off Stage performance.

     Another example of manipulating a concept from The Presentation of Self could be the Setting and Appearance.  The setting of an advertisement can affect the response it receives.  Since different settings will have different audiences, it can directly affect whether an ad will work or not.  An ad for Dolce & Gabbana wouldn't be very effective in a Field & Stream magazine.  Appearance ties into this as it can relate to where an ad is placed.  The models in advertisements may not always operate in the same classes they represent in an ad.  As well, ads that appeal to a higher social class may only be found in certain settings.  So the Dolce & Gabbana ad would probably feel more at home in Vogue.

     All of Goffman's concepts from The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life can be supported to advertisements and the concepts found in The Codes Of Gender. They help to explain the relationship between advertisements and the viewers of advertisements.  The concepts relate in order to help explain the effects advertisements have on viewers as well.