Nabeel Solehdin

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Professor Corri Ditch

English 114A
9 December 2014
Do You Smell Like a Man?
In an Old Spice commercial, it advertises deodorant specified for men but behind the
product is a man attempting to conform to male gender roles. The Old Spice commercial starts
off with an actor named Isaiah Mustafa speaking out to the ladies of the world attempting to tell
them that men should not use their current deodorant but instead Old Spice. Mustafa then ends
up on a fancy boat with diamonds and tickets that symbolize wealth. According to Mustafa, if a
man is not smelling like he does, then he is not a man. Mustafa believes that he is a perfect
example of how a man is supposed to perform a masculine gender by being strong and rich.
Although the Old Spice commercials intent is to sell mens deodorant, it could possibly tell the
men of society to conform to Mustafas idea of masculine performance, which can lead to
depression, steroid usage, and unrealistic expectations to teenagers because they view media as a
key component on how to act.
Isaiah Mustafa is the main figure that represents the message of gender conformity. The
commercial first starts as Mustafa speaking to both gender audiences. Throughout the
commercial his shirt is off and he is showing a muscular body with a six pack. He states that old
spice is a mens deodorant and any other type of deodorant is considered to be lady scented. The
scene then transitions on Mustafas boat which shows his wealth. Then he holds up the deodorant
and concert tickets and diamonds spout out of his hands until the Old Spice deodorant is there.

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He also states that any man could be a man instead of a lady if he smells like Old Spice. Finally
the commercial ends with him on a horse showing his power just like Napoleon Bonaparte from
France. Napoleon was a very powerful leader of France and the purpose of Mustafa on a horse
shows that he is comparing his masculine power to Napoleons. This shows a key aspect of how
Mustafa is showing his masculine performance as powerful to a dictator of France.
The traditional gender performance of a male is considered to be strong, independent,
dominant, and powerful in a societal view which causes men to try and conform to fit into
society. (Lorber) In the Old Spice commercial, the traditional gender roles are being highly
enforced by Mustafa because he asserts his dominance with the boat and the diamonds because it
shows that he is rich. Rich people tend to be very powerful in society and Mustafa having,
luxurious items, shows that he is powerful. Mustafas body type is represented to teenage boys as
an inspiration to get muscles like him and become an ideal male of society.
Teenagers are heavily influenced by media because it portrays an ideal look for
acceptance in society. For example, teenage boys can look at this old spice commercial and think
that they have to look like Mustafa. Mustafa portrays an immense amount of masculine
performance in the commercial because of his muscular and lean body, emphasizing his
manhood, and his. A teenage boy can look at this and change his perspective on how he looks at
himself. Teenage boys that compare their looks to the Mustafa looks could create a negative
mind sets in their heads because their masculine performance is being questioned. If a teenage
boy were to look at how society portrays men, it could possibly lead to low self-esteem and
depression because they could possible be intimidated on Mustafas masculine performance.

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Teenage boys have their self-esteem lowered because the media could show men as
muscular and dominant. For example, the ideal body image is represented in the Old Spice
commercial with Mustafa as the prime individual to represent societys gender performance.
Mustafa is a muscular man so a teenage boys can look at Mustafa and get inspired to be him
because he depicts the ideal man. This could cause the teenage boys to take into steroids and
drugs which can then cause them to feel isolated from society. (Mazur) Steroids are used for
athletes who endure intense training and a teenage boy who spends most of their time not doing
intense training are only being harmed by the effects of steroids. Some side effects to steroids are
weakened bones and ligaments, internal bleeding, and rage, which is over excessive anger. The
negative effects on the steroids can lower the self-esteem of a teenage boy but also harm him. He
may see all the athletes change in size but the important aspect of steroids is intense training
which the teenage boy isnt doing. The teenage boys results are being shown because the
masculine performance of Mustafa is unrealistic in a way that it takes time to process a body
shape as refined as Mustafa.
Body image is too played out in society because media, such as Mustafa, portrays
unrealistic body types that not everyone can have. Every person in the world is different and no
one is identically alike because of genes, but teenage boys try to recreate the image that are being
shown in media. The usage of steroids are a major part of changing a body type from being
skinny to muscular and lean. In an article from Pharmacy Times, 2.4% of teenage boys use
steroids as a way to coup with their lack of traditional masculine performance. (Pharmacy
Times) That means 2.4% of teenage boys are abusing their bodies because the media has a type
of body image and they expect everyone to recreate it.

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In a way, the character of Mustafa can possibly be looked at as a criminal because his
gender performance is creating a base for everyone to follow which then leads into abuse in
teenage boys. Teenage boys look at Mustafas body image and have their self-esteem lowered
because they dont have the same body type as him which led to eating disorders. In the article,
Mens Health: teen boys worry about body image, too, it shows that 31% of teenage boys have
eating disorders. Eating disorders are a major part of teenage abuse because their bodies are
being abused by the lack of food and vitamins. The body image that Mustafa creates is based on
traditional gender performances of male which have been outplayed for centuries.

Mustafas ideal body image and masculine performance cannot simply be recreated by a
teenage boy because it has unrealistic expectations of strength and wealth. In an article, Dying
to Be Strong, a boy by the name of Taylor Hooton committed suicide because he could not
handle the expectations of societies view on a correct gender performance. He took anabolic
steroids because he wanted the Mustafa look but eventually did not achieve his goal. The
Mustafa look is seen to be a strong male who has muscles in every corner of his body which
can only be achieved if steroids were put into place in the case of no physical work.
Although the Old Spice commercial uses Mustafa as a spokesperson for men to buy
deodorant and it is important to stay hygienic in a way that people smell good, the way the ad
was revealed shows unrealistic examples of how a man should be in order to use the deodorant..
The media could possibly use an average man instead of an unrealistic muscular man such as
Mustafa. The message of selling deodorant could be expressed to society with an average man

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using the product just as effectively without an unrealistic man. An average man could possibly
reassure teenage boys that not every can look like each other because an average man does not
emphasis his masculinity to the audience but instead has realistic expectations. Instead of the
commercial being all about masculinity and dominance of a male, it could simply be about an
average man using deodorant to smell good a long with putting himself in the same situations of
other males in the world.

Works Cited
Groner, Rachel, and John O'Hara. Composing Gender. Boston/New York: Bedford/ St.
Martin, 2014. Print.
Larsen, Elizabeth Foy. "Dying to Be Strong."Scholastic Scope, 62.2 (2013): 4.
Lorber, Judith. ""Night to His Day": The Social Construction of Gender." Composing
Gender. 19-33. Print.
"Men's health: teen boys worry about body image, too." Pharmacy Times Jan. 2014:
78.Health Reference Center Academic. Web. 6 Nov. 2014.
"Men's Health: Teen Boys Worry About Body Image, Too." Pharmacy Times, 80.1
(2014): 78.