University of Botswana
Department of Media Studies
BMS 226 ETHICS FOR MEDIA PROFESSIONALS
HANDOUT 26: STEREOTYPING IN ADVERTISING
Definitions
Stereotypes are assumptions we make about people based on generalisations about groups of people.
Gender refers to the attributes, behaviors, personality characteristics, and expectancies associated with a person's biological sex in a given culture; may be based on biology, may be learned, or may represent a combination of biological and cultural determinant.
Gender Identity refers to the sex with which individuals associate themselves.
Gender Stereotype Identification refers to the extent to which an individual identifies with the culture's gender stereotypes: masculinity and femininity.
Gender Roles
These beliefs are so ingrained in our consciousness that many of us think that gender roles are natural, so we don't question them. Even if we don't consciously subscribe to them as part of our own belief system, our culture bombards us with messages about what it means to be men and women today.
Gender stereotypes occur when you apply generic attributes, opinions or roles toward either gender. Gender stereotypes are apparent everywhere in our society, especially in the media. Companies display ads and commercials to gear toward the common belief of gender stereotypes. They portray women in housecleaning and child rearing roles to sell cleaners and baby products. They sell beer and cars to men by showing women in revealing outfits, or a sweating man working hard. These gender stereotypes are used to sell the products to the people they believe would use them most, showing them in the "situations" they would most likely be in.
There is a distinction between stereotypes and generalizations. Generalizing is a natural human behavior and is an attempt to simplify and categorize experiences. We naturally compare what we don't know to what we do know -- or think we know. For example, generalizations bring together a series of observations or experiences relating to an area or group in a simplified way. It's a generalization, therefore, to say that most men like professional sports, but this does not imply that all men do. Stereotypes, on the other hand, ascribe certain characteristics invariably to an entire group.
Stereotypes in advertising on children's television programs have been a special problem because of their potential impact on gender socialization and, subsequently, children's views of themselves and other people. In the United States, where children may view more than 20,000 commercials a year, the opportunity for influence is substantial. The possibility that children might acquire negative stereotypes through television viewing, therefore, has aroused concern among parents, educators, and members of the advertising industry.
Emotional Harm
When we unconsciously try to live up to the unattainable standards of the stereotype we can do physical and emotional harm to ourselves. Often, we don't notice this because we tend to mould ourselves to fit these stereotypes as a matter of course. This can be damaging. A boy with a very slight build who wants to be muscle-bound is fighting against himself if he tries to change his physique to match that of the stereotypical male. A girl who has an angular nose can fall into the same trap if she listens to her friends and/or relatives who are trying to convince her she needs a nose job.
Women's preoccupation with the beauty myth is evident in most cultures that consume television and other media influences. Sadly, more and more women want to be the stereotypical ideal, and they are preoccupied with either getting thin or staying thin.
Sexual Imagery in Advertising
The media, in whatever form, is a business that sells information and reaches millions of people. Advertisers have developed a multi-billion dollar industry to convince consumers that we need to buy their products. The Pepsi/Coke wars are a recent example of how marketers rally for the buying public's attention and loyalty. One thing is for sure: ads do influence our choices when we go to buy something. But the influence of advertisements is tricky to deal with because they affect us subliminally.
We often see ads that feature superficially beautiful or "desirable" models, so it comes as no surprise that sexual imagery is used to sell products. But depicting people this way can also contribute to gender stereotypes.
The pressures on girls are exacerbated by the media's increasing tendency to portray very young girls in sexual ways. Over the past decade, the fashion industry has begun to use younger and younger models, and now commonly presents 12- and 13-year-old girls as if they were women. Camera angles (where the model is often looking up, presumably at a taller man), averted eyes, wounded facial expressions, and vulnerable poses mimic the visual images common in pornographic media.
The most cursory examination of media confirms that young girls are being bombarded with images of sexuality, often dominated by stereotypical portrayals of women and girls as powerless, passive victims.
Images of Women
Advertisements not only sell products, but sell ideas about romance, sex, success, beauty, and power. Advertisements will have you believe that women in the real world are all aged under 40; that no one is disabled and everyone is heterosexual; that a woman's body is in constant need of improvement; that women need to look young, 'beautiful,' made-up, sprayed up, very thin, and perfectly groomed.
How the Media Define Masculinity
For several decades now, media critics and feminists alike have been examining the role of the media in creating and reinforcing stereotypical representations of women and femininity. But only recently have they expanded the research to consider how the media also construct, inform and reinforce prevalent ideas about men and masculinity.
Families, friends, teachers, and community leaders all play a role in helping boys define what it means to be a man. Mainstream media representations also play a role in reinforcing ideas about what it means to be a "real" man in our society. In most media portrayals, male characters are rewarded for self-control and the control of others, aggression and violence, financial independence, and physical desirability.
The media’s portrayal of men tends to reinforce men’s social dominance. The majority of male characters in media are heterosexual; male characters are more often associated with the public sphere of work, rather than the private sphere of the home, and issues and problems related to work are more significant than personal issues.
Masculinity and Advertising
In its study of masculinity and sports media, the research group Children Now found that most commercials directed to male viewers tend to air during sports programming. Women rarely appear in these commercials, and when they do, they’re generally portrayed in stereotypical ways.
In fact, in his analysis of gender in advertising, author and University of North Texas professor Steve Craig argues that women tend to be presented as "rewards" for men who choose the right product. He describes such commercials as "narratives of playful escapades away from home and family." They operate, he says, at the level of fantasy—presenting idealized portrayals of men and women. When he focused specifically on beer commercials, Craig found that the men were invariably "virile, slim and white"—and the women always "eager for male companionship."
Author and academic Susan Bordo (University of Kentucky) has also analyzed gender in advertising, and agrees that men are usually portrayed as virile, muscular and powerful. Their powerful bodies dominate space in the ads. For women, the focus is on slenderness, dieting, and attaining a feminine ideal; women are always presented as not just thin, but also weak and vulnerable.
These critics and others suggest that just as traditional advertising has for decades sexually objectified women and their bodies, today’s marketing campaigns are objectifying men in the same way.
FURTHER READING
Morna, C L and Ndlovu Sikhonzile S 2007, Mirror on the Mirror, Gender and Advertising in Southern Africa, Gender Links, Johannesburg.
Media Awareness Network, www.media-awareness.ca
