Gender Problematics in the Translation of US Advertising: Exploring Hegemonic and Toxic Masculinity in Translated Commercials in German and Greek

Abstract

: Within the context of equality-oriented translation and transnational communication, this study explores hegemonic and toxic masculinity in US advertising as well as ways of sustaining or challenging these problematic types of masculinity through translation. As the field of feminist translation, formed by pioneering scholars including Barbara Godard, Luise von Flotow, and Sherry Simon, has traditionally focused on the translation of literary texts, it is interesting to concentrate on gender problematics in the translation of non-literary texts, such as audiovisual advertisements. Although feminist translation— in the traditional sense of the term—may not seem to be generally compatible with the realm of mainstream advertising, since both advertising and its translation have been predominantly oriented around profit rather than equality, specific translation techniques can reduce sexism in the translation of advertising. In this study, I analyze how different translation techniques used in the German and Greek translations of a US commercial either retain or reduce the sexist manifestations of hegemonic and toxic masculinity found in the original. Specifically, the data analyzed consists of a famous US Old Spice commercial from 2010 along with its 2014 and 2019 translations into German (dubbed and subtitled respectively) and its 2017 translation into Greek (subtitled). Based on these findings, I discuss how translators of commercials can use equality-oriented techniques to benefit both societies and companies in the prominent global sociocultural context of gender equality today.