Gender Portrayal In Advertising

This is probably not related to gender and communication, but I find this trend in advertising pretty interesting.



I have always felt that advertising has subconsciously become a platform in reinforcing gendered stereotypes and this could be seen evidently through the purposeful usage of the traditional society’s gender roles being emplaced on the males and females through the advertisements.

In the above compilation video, it is obvious that pre-conceived notions have already been formed - that girls like toys that are in pastel colours and could show their nurturing ability, while boys on the other hand are interested in toys that show their masculinity, through power and strength.

I noticed a trend that for advertisements with regards to the domestic realm, females are often used to portray the image as a subservient wife, thus appearing in products with relation to household consumption. On the other hand, males are often being portrayed as the bread winner of the family, with the impression that he is in control. This is evident in advertisements whereby it is always the males who are driving the cars and the females are always at passenger’s seat.

I suppose the sole purpose of attaching males and females to their expected roles in society is to make things easier for the general public who are viewing the advertisements. This is because they may find it easier to relate and identify what the advertisement is trying to bring across. I also feel that advertisements serve the purpose of not only selling the product, but also an ideology with relation to the brand. Thus, there is really no point in blurring the focus of what they are selling as it is only rational for advertisers to target the right group for their products in order to maximise sales.

However, I am rather curious to know whether the whole portrayal of gender in advertisements is really due to the fact that the advertisers do not want to take the risk by changing the norms that the society attributes to each gender or is it because there is a control over the type of advertisements made by the media authorities? Many of the gendered roles have been taken for granted because this is how we are shaped socially and culturally by institutions such as schools, the media and undeniably the government. Thus it would really be interesting to know whether advertising is being controlled by the state or not since we are being exposed to advertisements everywhere.

Gender Differences With Regards To Talking

I am actually no big lover of American sitcoms, so when Martin mentioned briefly in class that such sitcoms usually revolve around the themes of gender, family and friends, it sort of caught my attention.

I have been randomly watching videos since morning and I guess this short clip from ‘Friends’ is probably the most direct example in explaining the difference between men and women when they describe the same thing.



If you can't view this video, you can watch it here!

It was really interesting to note how Rachel and Ross depicted the kiss to their friends. For Rachel, it was really dramatic, full of emotions and down to the slightest detail, but for Ross, it was simple and straight to the point.

I have always felt that the way men and women communicate is different. For men, the rationale as to why they are even talking is just to bring across an idea, thus the words they use are often direct, short and sweet. But for women, talking is an exchange of ideas, emotions and feelings. Therefore, they often include examples and additional details whenever they could. As a result, when men and women communicate, miscommunication will/may occur, because their definition of talking is ultimately different.

Of course, this is just an over generalization of all men and women, but one have to agree that this is probably the most common reason as to why miscommunication often occur.

A Little About Me! ^^

Hello everyone! This is Germaine, a Year 3 ARTS student majoring in Sociology. I’m known to be totally random and 4-Dimensional, thus totally unpredictable and unfathomable. I guess this is probably just a nicer way of saying that I actually do not know what I really want and my thoughts sway rather easily since I usually have no specific stand. But one thing for sure is the fact that I absolutely love laughter and smiles and being alone is just pure torture for me. This is me, Germaine! ^^