Group Task - Our Hero Text

In our group, we have chosen to discuss a text that contains two different texts which both contrast, in terms in gender. For example, one text we discussed had contained persuasion, by influencing 'strong' men to donate blood. What we found highly interesting within this is that the text is indirectly implying that, women are not as strong? And this is evident by the title containing 'weakened' which, pragmatically is directing women to be somewhat weak. Whereas the other contrasting text is mainly aimed at women as well as using the conventions of a movie poster.

One of the most interesting things we discussed in our group is the type of audience that the text is trying to appeal to. In the first text, the title immediately captivated us and allowed us to generalise and as a result we came to a conclusion that the first text was aimed at mainly males because of the title, which had been ''Strong men help those who are weakened''. The use of 'weakened' also intrigued us, as we were all discussing that the text may imply that those who are potentially weakened are 'female' and may be dependent on men to 'come to the rescue' and treat them. What also intrigued us is the particular 'entry requirements' that are needed to access the blood donation. For example, one requirement was that they had to be 'male' and 'strong' therefore this clearly gives away that the text targets men and portrays men having masculinity and strength and ability. 
Initially, for the other text our group thought that the text was mainly aimed at men too due to the conventions of a film poster, which allowed the man to feel like he was the 'hero' and trying to 'get her back' and this further implies that, if he can get 1/3rd off his railcard, he can 'get' her back too? this almost makes the woman feel like an object, according to our discussion in class.

We also found that there were a couple of theories that linked closely to certain aspects of this text, such as the gender theory, as well as the power theory. within the first text, our group discussed that the text was slightly influential due to its direct address, persuading to give blood, this will further allow the reader to 'give in' and try to prove their 'masculinity' therefore the use of 'strength' will help reinforce this. In terms of gender, is also evident, for example, the use of 'strong' will help the reader define their status, therefore the pairings 'Status vs Support by Tannen is significant in this text, and in terms of support, it is almost seen that the women who are possibly portrayed as 'weakened' are those who are in need of support, so the man therefore needs to show this strength and build his status.