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.