ADVERTISEMENT AND THE MORDERN GENDER ROLE BABU | 1

RinlaBabu

Sr,Karunya

B.A Communicative English

28 September 2019

Advertisement and the Modern Gender Role

Advertising as a part of the content of television often create stereotypes in the

consciousness of people. The part of these stereotypes is about gender role in society. These

advertising negatively affects on the idea of socially acceptable gender representation and it can

also have negative effect on the society. Under the influence of commercials with stereotyped

gender image, it may be difficult for people to understand men and women in those areas where

they perform non-traditional gender role.

Gender portrayals in advertising have been examined extensively in the last few decades.

Changing role in family structure and in labor force has brought significant variation in both

male and female roles and it has subsequently reflected in advertising. It has been noted there is a

cultural lag. Sexes for a long period of time were depicted in advertising in the traditional way.

Women were presented in an inferior manner relative to their potential and capabilities, while

men are depicted in advertising softer and more egalitarian roles.

Stereotypes are believes about a social category especially those that differentiate

genders. Stereotypes become problematic when they lead to expectations or restrict opportunities
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about one social category over another. Women are generally presented in more decorative, in

more family oriented, in fewer professional roles and in more demure roles while men are

typically as more independent, authoritarian and professional with little regard to age and

physical appearances.

The raise of feminism in the 1960’s challenged equal opportunity for men and women

and initiated a gradual change in occupational opportunities and domestic structures especially

for women. Change in the labor force and family structure has created a significant variation in

the female role and most recently the male role. The literature of the past has proposed that

advertising contribute to gender inequalities by promoting ‘sexism’. Since then the role of

women in advertising has undergone dramatic change and there have been changes in portrayal

as well.

Advertisers and sociologists debate about the role and social nature of advertising,

especially when it comes to stereotypes within advertising. There are two opposing point of view

that has been developed- the ‘mirror’ versus the ‘mold’ argument. The mirror point of view

reflects advertising, the value that exist and are dominant in society. This view suggests that the

best way that advertising can succeed to do is to act as a magnified lens, which offers an

exported picture of a social phenomenon. In the contemporary socioeconomic and political

environment which influence the value system of the society multiple factors are interfaced and

interrelated. The impact of advertising is not valued as being significant. Hence the way women
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and men are presented in advertising would follow the dominant concept held regarding gender

roles.

In contrast to this the mold point of views, advertising as a reflection of society and its

prevailing values. Cultivation theory suggests that people’s perception of social reality is shaped

by the media. They incorporate stereotypes presented by the media into their own system of

values, ideas and believes. They create a concept of reality, which tends to match the advertising

images. Advertising’s impact is a crucial factor, which contributes to the development of

‘hybrid’. It is accepted that the gender representations are socially constructed. According to this

view point, advertising campaign create gender identity based on their image, the stereotyped

iconography of masculinity and femininity.

Accepting advertising as a system of visual representation, which creates meaning within

the framework of culture, it seems that reflects and contributes to culture. To grasp theseideas in

an integrated manner, this long-lasting debate between the ‘mirror’ and the‘mold’ argument

should reflectJ Kilbourne’s (1999, 57_58) statement:

‘Advertising is ourenvironment. We swim in it as fish swim in the water. Wecannot

escape it… advertisingmessages are inside our intimate relationships, our home, our

hearts, our heads.’

In general, gender stereotyping in advertising still exists and is prevalent in many

countries around the world. Martin Eisend set out to explore the degree of gender stereotyping.
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He found that some stereotyping still persists particularly for women. Occupation status still

showed the highest degree of stereotyping, depicts the education, occupation and status changes

earned by women over the past several years. Eisend interestingly also found that the degree of

stereotyping has decreased over the years mainly due to improvements in high masculinity

societies like Japan.

Advertising professionals are often considered ‘cultural intermediaries’who develop

messages and yet their decision making process about gender portrayals inadvertising campaigns

is barely considered. Despite little has been done on the ‘gendered voice of advertising’ until the

past twoyears.

Zayer and Coleman (2015) examined advertising professionals’ perceptions

ofhowgender portrayals impact men and women and how these perceptions influence

theirstrategic and creative decisions. Using institutional theory as a foundation, it provided a

more holistic viewpoint of advertising ethics. The interview respondentsclaimed they also mirror

the dominant viewpoints of society regarding gender stereotypes but point out that men are not

immune to the gender stereotypes and callfor more research on the negative impact of gender

stereotypes of men in advertisingas well.

Few studies have examined advertising that is viewed as unfriendly towards men

orwomen by other stakeholders. Van Hellemont and Van de Bulck (2012) examinedtheviews of
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advertising professionals in Belgium about 10 ads that were identifiedas potentially offensive

due to their stereotypical depictions of both men and women.

Advertising professionals and consumers did not differ in their perceptions ofadvertising

deemed potentially unfriendly to women and men. Furthermore, the study

finds that advertising professionals were more tolerant of these messages than consumers.These

insights can prove useful in understanding their role as culturalintermediaries andtheir

responsibility to promote more gender equality in advertising.

There are certain contexts where gender stereotypes play an enhanced role.

Lee(2014)examined the role of gender stereotypes in political advertising, a unique context

becauseof the larger implications beyond consumerism. Recently, political

communicationresearchers have paid more attention to gender differences in political advertising

andLee’s (2014) study examined the effects of gender in a fictitious Taiwanese election.

Theresults showed that emphasizing gender stereotypes in politics is a double edged sword.Lee

found that important traits and issues in campaigns are not static so candidates should emphasize

or deemphasize gender based stereotypes based on positive or negativecampaigning.

The changing role of men is perhaps the area that has seen the greatest interest in the

pastfew years. Recently, advertising from Dove Men Care showingmen in much ‘softer’ roles

while interacting with their children and was well received.Yet there is a lack of research about
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the stereotypes associated with men in advertising. As such, sixty years of advertising portrayals

of men in the role as a fatherdoes little to challenge traditional models of paternalmasculinity.

They seem to reinforce traditional gender roles.

According to Fowler and Thomas (2015) analysis of television advertising in primetime

from 2003 to 2008 which was oneof the few studies to focus exclusively on men and provides a

baseline. Fowler and Thomas found that there were changes in the fiveyear timeframe. First,

they found fewer men in the lead and some suggest that male characters arebeing portrayed to

reflect society’s changing view of men and women’s roles. Second,they found an increased

portrayal of men as fathers.

In order to get a full picture of gender stereotypes it becomes apparent that research in

masculinity theories are also appropriate.Gentry and Harrison (2010) argue that

‘if scholars are to effectively challenge issues ofgender roles in advertising, it is

important to critically examine the discursive frameworksthat shape our understanding of such

topics'.

Men and women are portrayed in advertisements according to the constructed definition

of femininity and masculinity. To be a woman is to be feminine and to be a man is to be

masculine. Bravery, adventurousness, being able to think rationally, being strong and effective,

for example, are all "manly" traits that are usually encouraged. So also are the ability to think
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independently and take the initiative. Media images supporting these behaviors include the

strong, silent Marlboro man and military ads telling young men to be 'all you can be'.

Gender roles in media and advertising is impacted by humor. Advertising frequently uses

gender roles to promote products. There are various stereotypes in regards to humorous

advertising with both males and females. Stereotypes can product oversimplified conceptions

and misapplied knowledge evaluations. Humor occurs when it seems that things are normal,

while at the same time something goes wrong that breaks our expectations. Men could be

depicted in domestic roles doing chores, whereas women would be presented in independent

roles. This would break our expectation and society norms that revolve around the gender roles.

Exaggerating these gender norms would have a potential to be humorous.

Difficulties in differentiating gender roles in the modern societies can be a perfect

example of the negative social effects of using stereotypes. A division of gender roles is deeply

rooted in today's society. Through the ages men have been considered to be financial providers,

career-focused, assertive and independent, whereas women have been shown as low-position

workers, loving wives and mothers, responsible for raising children and doing housework.

Nowadays a family model is based rather on a partnership than on patriarchy and women have

more rights and possibilities on the labor market. Feminist environment had a significant impact

on the change in this situation. Women's liberation movement fought for the rights of women

and for redefining traditional gender roles. Although females and males are still not equal, the
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differences between gender are not so vast anymore. Nevertheless, many social media, still use

gender stereotypes, based on the assumption that they are well known to everyone and help the

receivers to understand the content of the message.

GermaineGreer,Australian-

bornauthorofTheFemaleEunuch[84](1970),offeredasystematicdeconstructionofideassuchaswoma

nhoodandfemininity,arguingthatwomenareforcedtoassumesubmissiverolesinsocietytofulfillmalef

antasiesofwhatbeingawomanentails.Greerwrotethatwomenwereperceivedasmereconsumersbenefi

tingfromthepurchasingpoweroftheirhusband.Womenbecometargetsformarketing,shesaid,andtheir

imageisusedinadvertisingtosellproducts.

There are a number of steps that can be taken toimprove the way advertising address the

issue of gender.Stereotypes are often not just the product of lazy thinking but also cultural

conditioning. By having diverse teams – both internally and externally – working on, sterotypes

are more likely to be challenged during the development process and hopefully unconscious bias

reduced. The end result should be a more powerful message based on a deep insight that

resonates more effectively with the target audience.

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