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For the past five decades, gender stereotypes in advertising have been attracting the interest of scholars by making them inquisitive about the techniques used by an advertiser to depict men and women in society. They were also keen to learn about the motives behind this stereotype as well as how it influenced the mindsets of society. Stereotypes are defined as classifications of gender based on the beliefs of society. It was a cause of concern in society when people’s beliefs started to intrude on the functioning of society. Many opportunities were limited to the respective genders depending on the perspectives of people. Research from the past demonstrates that society viewed women as beauty objects as well as homemakers, whereas, men were viewed as bread earners and head of their family (Zotos, Grau & Taylor, 2018, p. 761). The purpose of this paper is to identify if gender stereotyping in advertising is more prevalent for women than men. This paper enlightens the readers on how gender stereotyping has evolved over the years in advertisements and the factors influencing it.
In this article, the authors cover how a social problem is being displayed through media for the last 50 years. The social problem he addresses in this chapter is gender stereotyping and he concentrates on how this issue is still consistent in advertisements and print media. Public and private media portrays stereotyping based on gender differently as shown in this article. It consists of research conducted in the past and literature reviews based on the research. The research methods chosen to conduct the study included polls, interviews, and surveys that gathered information on how gender stereotyping in advertisements influences society. It is found in this article that gender stereotyping is more prevalent for women than men. It is also mentioned that laws and regulations play an important role in controlling stereotyping in advertisements (Zotos, Grau & Taylor, 2018, pp. 761-770).
An unending argument amongst marketers and sociologists has been going on, regarding the use of gender stereotyping in marketing. This argument has led to develop two views regarding this matter, one is known to be a mirror side and another one is the mold side. The mirror side represents the advertisements that display the existing morals and principles that mold society and dominates it. These advertisements demonstrate the viewpoints of people in society and the defined gender roles in the dominant culture. The latter side refers to the types of advertisements that reinforce the mindsets, values, norms, and beliefs of society. These advertisements have the power to shape and change the existing viewpoints regarding an identity of gender and the factors that lead to gender stereotyping that is femininity and masculinity. This argument between the mirror and mold side is never ending and it depends on factors such as products and values that are being advertised, which lead to gender stereotypes. Advertising not only represents products and values but also reflects and reproduces culture (Zotos, Grau & Taylor, 2018, pp. 762-763).
Gender stereotyping has been a major issue for many decades, and has been targeted by researchers to analyze this topic. Studies conducted in recent years have been of great value to the literature addressing this issue. After conducting research, it can be clearly stated that this issue exists in society and is more prevalent for women than men. A study conducted by Eisend led to the above-stated conclusion that this issue is faced by women usually when they are pursuing an occupation, where masculinity plays an important role. He also stated in his paper that this issue has decreased in very few societies from the past but still continues to exist in many societies. Knoll et al. found that gender stereotyping varies between public and private stereotyping. He concluded that in public media, women were demonstrated to be based at home, and men were deemed to have authority over their families. This behavior led mainly influenced occupations pursued by men and women. On the other hand, private media caused stereotyping by differentiating between men and women based on their physical appearances and the roles played by them. Addition to the literature was made by Eisend, Plagemann, and Sollewedel, who supported the prior research and concluded that this stereotyping does not influence the consumer’s point of view as we expect it to. They further added, that the addition of humor in advertisements, is a factor that influences how advertisements with gender stereotyping are perceived (Zotos, Grau & Taylor, 2018, pp. 764-767).
Professionals in the advertising industry are considered to be the people who shape the culture of societies, as they are responsible for what is being demonstrated through their platform and what message is being conveyed. Decisions regarding the portrayal of genders in advertisements from experts are not given importance. Advertisements are made in every country to demonstrate a product but there are similarities and dissimilarities between the advertisements in different countries. For example, advertisements in China portray women to be related to beauty objects and are known to have an ornamental image, whereas, advertisements in the United States show women with tough images playing stronger roles in society. Chinese culture aims to show the reality of their society through the roles played by men and women in advertisements (Zotos, Grau & Taylor, 2018, pp. 767- 768).
In an interview conducted by Zayer and Coleman during their research, it was found that advertising professionals aim to demonstrate the image of society by copying it into their advertisements. They highlight another concern by stating that gender stereotyping is prevalent for men in advertisements and more research must be conducted addressing this issue. Another research conducted was conducted in Belgium to address this issue and gather perspectives of viewers of the offensive advertisement as well as advertisement professionals. It is concluded from their interview that advertisement professionals did not care much about depictions of their advertisements in society and therefore, did not fulfill their responsibilities to support gender equality in advertising (Zotos, Grau & Taylor, 2018, p. 768).
Gender stereotyping started being addressed in European countries by creating guidelines on the depiction of gender roles in advertisements after many viewers filed complaints. They established laws based on anti-discrimination in several European countries. This step taken by European Advertising Standard Alliance led to positive advertising campaigns that reduced gender stereotyping due to increased rules and regulations in that sector. For the last few years, there have been changes in men’s role played in society. Advertisers for Dove Men Care demonstrated men with soft skin that broke the stereotypes for men who were shown to be tough in the past. This advertisement broke gender stereotypical assumptions, which led to other companies following Dove’s path for marketing their product. Gender stereotyping focusing on men has gained more importance in recent years (Zotos, Grau & Taylor, 2018, pp. 768-769).
Marshall et al. analyzed the roles of men in advertisements as a father for 60 years and found that Good Housekeeping, a well-known magazine, portrays men as masculine fathers who followed traditional gender roles. He also stated that there has been progress made in recent advertisements that view men as more than bread earners of the family. Many types of research were also conducted to determine the perspectives of viewers after viewing advertisements depicting new roles of men. Further research was conducted by reviewing reaction of customers to advertisements that did not represent stereotypical gender roles in their act. Customers found those kinds of advertisements to be positive and researchers found that advertisements without specified roles have more impact on the market as it gains more attention and interest of people, which leads to higher sales. Chu, Lee, and Kim from their research stated above, mentioned that this kind of advertisement can bring change in society and their perspectives. Advertisements showing men as caregivers in families gained positive reviews from the public showing that consumer reactions depend if they are traditionalists, traditionalists, or egalitarians (Zotos, Grau & Taylor, 2018, p. 769).
The research conducted in the past fifty years has enlightened society on how people are portrayed in advertisements. As our society is becoming technologically advanced, there are more areas of concern that should be put to light. To start with, the research conducted in the past has reviewed gender stereotyping in print media and television advertising. The audience of these media has gradually decreased since the advent of the internet. People spend hours surfing on the internet, using social media platforms, and there is minimal research conducted on advertisements broadcasted on such platforms. The author of this article even recommends further research focusing on the LGBT community and their portrayal in advertisements. There have been advertisements demonstrating their products using same-sex couples, which broadens society’s mental horizons about homosexuality. Therefore, the author suggests conducting further research covering the above-stated topic. Thirdly, he suggests directing research on the demonstration of empowered women in the media. In a poll conducted in the past, the results showed that 91% of participants stated that a girl’s self-esteem is influenced by the role women played in advertisements, while 51% of participants stated that advertisements have the power to influence stereotypes based on gender. The author concludes the article by hinting to the readers about further research that is to be conducted on gender stereotyping in advertisements displayed on the medium (Zotos, Grau & Taylor, 2018, p. 770).
To conclude, the readers of this article could view different perspectives of sociologists and advertising professionals regarding gender stereotyping. According to the research conducted in this article, it is found that private media shows more stereotyping than public media. Gender stereotyping is far less in countries where there are laws and regulations that prevent stereotyping in advertisements. The authors found that gender stereotyping has been less hyped for men than women, as it is more prevalent for the latter one, and more research must be conducted on the issue concentrating on roles played by men. Further research must also be done on how advertisements are displayed on the internet and if they discriminate between roles played between men and women (Zotos, Grau & Taylor, 2018, pp, 762-768).
References
- Zotos, Y., Grau, S., & Taylor, C. (2018). Current Research on Gender Issues in Advertising (pp. 761-770). New York: Routledge.
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