gender role in advertisement

Gender-role in Advertisement

Introduction

This explores gender-role in modern advertisement . Sample modern-day advertisements will be analyzed in relation to gender-roles Gender-role refers to a person 's way of actions and thinking that is identified as either related to male or female characteristics (Haig 2004 . It is a set of expectations on how females or males should think , behave , and feel . It is in the adolescence stage that male and females start to define their roles while their gender is intensified by conformity to transitional gender-roles in during puberty (Hill Lynch

1983 , which indirectly signals that they begin to act in ways that resemble the stereotypic female or male of their culture (Huston Alvarez , 1990

In addition to the demands of work and changing trends in the society and the increased number of employed mothers in the mid twentieth century , adolescents exposure to the media is considered to have a possible impact on their attitudes and perceptions about gender relationships , identity formation , and gender-roles (O 'Donnell O 'Donnell , 1978 Durkin , 1986 Lovdal , 1989 Richards Duckett , 1994 Dietz , 1998 Hovland et al , 2005

The effects of advertisements to the perpetuation of gender-role stereotypes have received considerable importance in research and it has been debated whether it stereotyped advertisements have long term or short term impact on people ' own gender-role and whether advertisements with stereotypic portrayals gain more profit or does not have significant influence in people 's buying behavior at all

Effects of media in gender-role

There are many factors that that affect gender-role development and the media is considered to be one (Golombok Fivush , 1994 Durkin , 1995 Dietz (1998 ) asserted that the media , in addition to environmental or social factors , affects people 's perception of gender-roles . The impact of advertising on audiences is often explained by social learning theory or by theories that are based on it . The argument is that , as people are repeatedly exposed to advertising images , they tend to internalize the advertisers ' views of themselves and others . The more ubiquitous the images are in advertisements , and the more frequently they see the advertisements , the deeper the audience identifies with the images

In addition to social learning theory (Bandura , 1977 , framing research or frame analysis , introduced Goffman (1974 , was used to obtain empirical evidence regarding the effects of media portrayals in people 's thoughts and consciousness . Framing assumes that the media frame reality is used to explain how people perceive and think about gender-roles because of the things they see and experience . Framing is used as a remedy sort in selecting a particular aspect of a perceived reality in to emphasize , convey , or interpret something . However , framing may directly or indirectly influence people 's judgments on recognizing ideas presented in advertisements (Entman , 1993

Another issue on the effects of media is identified by Mead (1962 ) in his theory , arguing that individuals ' characterizations in the media affect children 's attitudes , relationships with other people , and behavior expectations . When traditional feminine or masculine roles become distinctive and children starts to identify with a particular gender-role , they are likely to expect specific characteristics and behaviors from females and males

Gender-role stereotyping negatively affects young individuals ' attitudes towards males and females since traditional portrayals of women are usually portrayed as dependent , obtaining approval from family and males , weak , victims , supportive of men 's roles , sex objects , and adornment rather than individuals (Hall , Iijima Crum 1994 Artz Munger Purdy , 1999 . As a result , these negative or substandard characteristics of women adversely affect children 's perception that women may ever find it difficult to attain gender equality and function as effective as men do in the society . This female portrayal restricts young females to think of achieving beyond their potential because many attributes , activities and traits are being designated as inappropriate for their gender (Dietz , 1998

Traditional stereotyped gender-role portrayals in advertisements

Most advertisements portrayed both males and females stereotypically Since 1950s , significant changes in gender-roles have occurred as the division of labor has become less distinctive and the entry of increased number of women into the workforce where professional positions , which were used to be exclusively for men , have opened opportunity for them to progress . Images of men and women in advertising in the early times have been heavily stereotyped . Men were depicted as independent , active assertive , work-oriented while women were portrayed as dependent passive , and domestic

Advertisements in the 1970s to 1980s continued to portray gender-stereotyping due to the difficulty of presenting people without specific gender-roles , especially when advertising specific products of particular gender . The strategies of advertisers in attracting people 's intentions and behaviors were more likely to favor gender-stereotyped representation since the public was more familiar and comfortable with gender-stereotyped advertisements (Morrison Shaffer , 2003 . Gender portrayals in the context of advertisements were found to be predominantly stereotypic with dominant males and nurturing females in the mass media , music , film , as well as the print media

Although changes in the society and culture have been apparent advertisements still rely upon women 's roles as subordinate . Women 's subordination was a useful tool in selling a wide variety of products such as alcohol , medicine , cigarettes , perfume , and vehicles . Constant exposure to derogatory portrayals of females in advertisements may result to socially induced depression and lowered levels of aspirations in achieving ones goals . Women portrayal as subordinates has been consistently practiced and presented in advertising until today although some changes and reversions have been observed (Mclaughlin Goulet 1999

Advertisements usually portray men as being strong who are expected to have jobs that require much physical strength . They are portrayed as being the authority , dominant , having higher intelligence , becoming public figures , belonging to upper-middle class , being able to take medicine , law or business courses , aggressive , and sometimes gentlemen or bad guys . At home , men are portrayed to use car wax , auto parts carpentry tools , motor oil , and lawn mowers . Women are rarely depicted as professionals in advertisements (Dietz , 1998 . When women in advertisements are presented as professionals or experts in the products they advertise , they are often backed up by male figure or an authoritative male voice-over to strengthen the efficiency of convincing the audience since males were viewed as the authority (Lovdal , 1989

In traditional male magazines (e .g , Esquire and Field Stream gender-role stereotyped advertisements that portrayed men with masculine or manly activities have not decreased as much as the traditional female and general interest magazines . Although there have been some trends toward less stereotypic portrayals of masculine images in some print media advertisements , the traditional stereotype of the male gender still provides cultural representation (Furnham Thomson , 1999

Women are stereotypicly depicted in relation to beauty , physical attraction , family , domestic responsibilities , parenting , occupations such as teacher , waitress , masseur , bride , actress , secretary , vendor household cleaners , maid , model , guest relations officer , and the like as well as negative representation like evil , witch , possessions of men passive , deferent , object for men 's pleasure . At home , women are portrayed to take care of every member , do all the chores , and maintaining relationships . They are often portrayed as supportive wives mothers , sex objects , dependents , lack exploration , skills , knowledge credibility , self-expression , and sense of mastery . Advertisers market products in magazines , like in television , using young , professional women as a product of beauty techniques and methods in to attract and keep handsome , lucrative , and sophisticated men . Comic strips and children 's books also continued to adopt and support traditional portrayals of women in the society . For instance , illustrations show traditional female activities or a situation in which there is a dutiful wife in the bathroom or kitchen wearing an apron to model cleaning products , kitchen wares and appliances or food (Dietz , 1998 Peirce 2001

Reversed gender-roles in today 's rapidly changing world of technology and globalization

Gender-role stereotypes have shifted rather than significantly declined in the world of advertising . At the end of the twentieth century studies in magazine advertisements found men being featured as gradually moving away from gender-role stereotyping . Similarly , women identity has been constantly changing from domestic scenes to the professional and corporate world . Today , many women work outside home and earn more significant amounts of money than before . They also have become important market segments in advertising automobiles , apparels technological gadgets , and real estates , which used to be typically advertised for men . There has been an issue regarding traditionally gendered portrayal in advertisements for products which were commonly associated with one sex but have now become significant and useful for both men and women (Morrison Shaffer , 2003

It has become impractical and detrimental to create traditional advertisements when selling products which can be used by both sexes Beauty products are no longer exclusive for females since metropolitan men have been recognized in the society as adopting feminine practices while maintaining their heterosexual orientation machine tools are no longer exclusively advertised for men since women could use them in their daily activities like fixing some furniture or automobiles in and outside the house . Gender-stereotyped advertisements have gained considerable criticisms foe the time has come to reexamine people 's activities . There are overlaps in the use of some products while there remain exclusive products for particular gender . Thus , advertisements have been trying to reduce or avoid stereotyped portrayals of either sex to expand market segments and increase sales

Despite the changes of gender-role depictions in advertisements individual differences still remain a significant factor in identifying what acceptable for men or for women . Thus , people 's perceptions and buying behaviors are not always dependent on advertisements or the message they convey . People who have the tendency to cling to the traditional gender identity are likely to appreciate stereotyped advertisements or endorse more restricted types of products compared to those who are not very particular about gender-roles (Morrison Shaffer , 2003

Stereotypes in advertising appear resilient in when it comes to gender equity . Although some studies have found slight reduction of traditional stereotyping (e .g , Reep Dambrot , 1987 Bretl Cantor , 1988 , others found that it remained constant and strong (Davis , 1990 Lovdal , 1990 Sexist images still appear frequently in American magazines , but stereotypic portrayal of female gender has become less prevalent since American women have been recognized in their ability to contribute to economic development and attained higher social status as a result of their determination for change and attainment of gender equality in the society (Hovland et al , 2005

Implications of negative portrayals of the society in advertising

Traditionally , men are portrayed as more dominating and have the tendency to have a sexist reaction toward women . While gender-role stereotypes are still evident in today 's advertisements , the attitudes of people do not merely depend on the things they see or experience According to Garst Bodenhausen (1997 , male gender-role attitudes are complex . It is , therefore , impossible to difficult to change people 's attitudes by merely portraying gender stereotypes through mass media . In addition , studies (Jaffe Berger , 1994 Callcott Phillips , 1996 revealed that the use of stereotypes in advertising do not actually increase consumers interest in buying products . Stereotypes may be used to reflect the existing beliefs of gender-roles but the culture is complex and dynamic with diverse values and beliefs of people and all values cannot actually be represented in advertisements

There are also instances that advertising adds irrelevant values or meanings that do not exist in the society . In effect , advertisements that represent stereotyping become selective reinforcement because they target specific audience for specific products or services (Pollay 1986 . Innovating , enhancing , and presenting unique and seemingly interesting ideas are employed to attract consumers but they do not mean to change people on how to think , act , or feel . Advertising only provides but it does not dictate people to change , stick to or revert from gender-roles

Analyzing the advertisements in relation to gender-roles

SKYY (Appendix 1 ) and Tangueray (Appendix 2 ) are examples of alcohol advertisements which portray female character as something , instead of individual , that brings pleasure to men . These advertisements show that the products are as interesting and pleasurable as women . SKYY and Tangueray portray gender-role stereotypes since the male character in these advertisements is shown as someone who is more authoritative superior , richer , and acing as if they own the woman /women while female character is someone who is dependent , subordinate , and men 's object

AAA - Help on the Road and Beyond (Appendix 3 ) is a company that provides services for drivers or car owners . It portrays the woman as someone who can do things which were believed to be exclusively for men Driving and repairing automobile has become possible for women to do since they can be learned and tools have been developed and simplified for women to use them easily . Similarly , KGS Bikes (Appendix 4 ) show that women can also engage in sports activities , look athletic , and keep their body physical fit while maintaining their sexy and feminine look It can also be interpreted as women , being the model for bikes , are being associated with the attractive appearance of the bikes . Credit Unions (Appendix 5 ) also depicts women as having the ability to manage financial aspects , work in the professional environment , improve their communication skills , enhance knowledge , and work as effectively as men in the corporate world

DoctorV (Appendix 6 ) and Chandanadi cream (Appendix 7 ) affirms that men too , can have the opportunity to make themselves look better by using beauty products or availing cosmetic services . Males who adopt women 's way of taking care of their body are not necessarily homosexuals Beautifying or taking care of one 's appearance can increase self-confidence and it also helps release stress

Modern advertisements have evolved from gender-role stereotyping to androgynous approach in marketing . Research does not claim that sales or profitability depends on males since women have also the power to attract audiences . Products are usually tested before consumers keep their support and brand loyalty . Consumers are not usually persuaded by stereotyped advertisement but it somehow affects young minds while they are starting to identify with particular gender-role

Conclusion

Mass media may somehow affect people 's perception about gender-roles but it has a very little impact when changing people 's attitude toward buying or living their life based on gender-roles . While some claim that media or advertisements affect people 's way of thinking , actions , and emotions , I believe that it is also a personal choice when a person prefers to conform to the with traditional norms of society and gender-role stereotypes . Some people 's gender-role may be influenced or affected by sociological factors but others simply act according to how they think is more effective for them to function well , fit , and become productive in their chosen career or lifestyle

Dramatic changes have been evident in different media channels due to the changing nature of people 's environment . The reversed gender-roles in the advertising did not eradicate stereotyping but created another challenge for advertisers to be more flexible and creative in presenting their products through media

Although reverse gender-roles or shift in the roles of women and men in today 's society are shown in advertisements , stereotyping is still prevalent , especially when the products being advertised are particularly for men . The examples provided in this shows contrasting views on gender-roles . Some still portray traditional male and female characteristics while others depict men and women to have the right or ability to do or use things that were used to be perceived as inappropriate for either gender

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1 SKYY

2 Tangueray

3 AAA - Help on the Road and Beyond

4 Credit Unions

5 KGS Bikes

6 DoctorV

7 Chandanadi cream ...