Through collecting a representative variety of women’s and men’s magazines and finding ads for both “feminine hygiene products” and “masculine hygiene products,” I am able to uncover many messages regarding gender. Just looking at these two sets of ads, it is obvious that they differ in terms of the body image presented. Women in feminine hygiene ads tend to appear reserved, and sometimes even insecure or embarrassed. The women’s ad that I found most representative of “feminine hygiene products” is an ad for U by Kotex pads that is promoting their 3D Capture Core to protect women from leaks. There is a woman with her back to us, who can only been seen from her shoulders to her butt. This closed off body language in addition to the fact that we do not see her face reveals a sense of insecurity surrounding her that we can assume results from her period. She is wearing underwear with the words “save the undies” on them. There is also a caption that says, “Your period is between you and your pad. Not you and your panties.” What this caption is really saying is that your period is for you and you only to know about. It is not only obviously uncomfortable to experience a leak, but more importantly, it is embarrassing to have a leak that someone else notices, especially a male. The woman in this ad represents the notion of “body shame” that females experience from menstruation. Despite the fact that half of the world population consists of females, all of whom most likely have, do, or will menstruate for a decent portion of their lives, “body shaming” in regard to menstruation is still a typical thing for females to experience. Of course no female wants to have an embarrassing leak, but we can at least expect a leak to be less embarrassing if it is noticed by another female rather than a male. Therefore, such “body shaming” in regard to menstruation is logically a result of male judgment toward it. This ad overall is playing on women’s insecurities surrounding menstruation and the “body shaming” that men impose regarding it. It emphasizes the main body image message that females receive from hygienic ads, which says that they should be hygienic and beautiful yet discreet and even secretive about how they stay that way. On the other hand, the masculine hygiene ads that we see present a much different body image. The men in these ads appear to be cool and confident, often flaunting their hygiene. The men’s ad that I found most representative of “masculine hygiene products” is an ad for American Crew shampoos, conditioners, and styling products. There is a man in focus who is driving a convertible with a smile on his face. He is calm, cool, and collected. Based on his composed body language we can tell that he is quite confident. There is also a woman in the background staring at him with an admiring gaze. Clearly she is attracted to such confidence. The slogan of this ad is “Groom to Win.” It is accompanied by a caption that says, “Wherever your victories take you American Crew offers a complete range of shampoos, conditioners and hair styling products that allow men to look their best. Because your victory doesn’t stop on the inside.” It can be inferred that the man in this ad is “winning” and “victorious” due to the fact that he uses American Crew products. Even in ads for products that may seem to be more on the “embarrassing” side for males to buy, such as hair loss products and male thongs, the men are presented as confident and completely secure with themselves. They do not experience any “body shaming.” Other men who buy these same products are not likely to impose “body shaming” on them, and unlike the “body shaming” that men impose on women in regard to menstruation, women do not impose such “body shaming” on men. This allows them to be confident on the inside as well as the outside, unlike women who are insecure in both regards involving menstruation. These differences in feminine and masculine hygiene ads imply that “gender ranking” exists in our culture, which “ranks” or values the male/masculine sex/gender over the female/feminine sex/gender. As mentioned, these ads exhibit female “body shaming” imposed by males, yet not male “body shaming” imposed by females, but rather admiration toward males instead. I believe that because males have a higher gender “rank” or value over females in our culture, women allow men to control how they feel about themselves. Men, knowing that they are of a higher gender “rank,” do not submit themselves to “body shaming” by females as they feel that their “superiority” dismisses any “body shaming” that may be imposed upon them. Instead, the females in these ads who are seen as looking up to the males in admiration seem to portray the idea that women yearn for the confidence that men possess, which results from their higher gender “rank” and frees them from the burden of “body shaming.”