Stereotypes in Advertisements

Ali Davis

Blog #2

     Many commercial advertisements portray certain gender stereotypes. These advertisements tend to place a strong stereotype on many women when it comes to their role in society. They portray women in certain roles such as cooks; maids, babysitters and even sex objects in order to sell whatever the product might be, to consumers. More specifically, the advertisement for Bounty paper towels shows different stereotypes between men and women. Through these advertisements, it has an affect on society when it comes to men and women’s roles. This Bounty paper towel advertisement shows women in casual clothing, cleaning up after their children. While the men are shown wearing suits, this represents that many of the women stay home and take care of the house and kids, while the men work all day and support their family. Whenever one of the children would spill something, the mother is always shown cleaning it up, never the father. This portrays a women’s role in our society which to stay home and clean rather than going to work.

     An article states, “The distribution of occupational and nonworking roles in the ads reinforces the feminists’ impression that women are rarely shown engaged in important activities outside the home. (Courtney, 94). Men are seen as the decision makers and money in the household. Men were always the ones who went to work and brought home a paycheck, while the women stayed at home and took care of the house. As shown in the Bounty commercial, there are only women shown in the advertisement. There are no men around seen cleaning, where the mother’s are shown in various scenes, cleaning up after there children. This is an example of stereotyping women in advertisements and portraying that women have the role of cleaning and taking care of the house.

     These advertisements have a huge affect on our society as a culture and stereotypes of women. According to an article, “Mass media not only gives people information and entertainment, but, according to a Canadian communication theorist Marshall McLuhan, it also affects people’s lives by shaping their opinions, attitudes and beliefs (Wolska, 3). When people view these ads, it creates an image in their heads that women are the ones who are supposed to stay home and take care of their children while the men go to work. This may not be the same in our generation today. Seeing how many parents both work. But this has been a stereotype in our society today, a few generations back.  

     This Bounty advertisement shows how gender roles were for men and women in the past. Nowadays, the differences between male and females roles are smaller, however the media still portrays the traditional gender stereotypes. I believe that these advertisements should not only portray women’s roles because these gender roles are starting to change. Many more women are out in the work world just as much as men are. I believe that it is important that women are rewarded for their hard work and accomplishments in the work force just as men are. I think advertisement such as the Bounty commercial should have males cleaning and doing housework as well. Many men are stay at home fathers and do housework while their wives are out working in our generation today. I think advertisements should break off from this stereotype of women and display both genders doing certain roles.

   These types of advertisements reinforce cultural stereotypes because they shape the way our society will view gender roles. An article states that, “According classic measurements, “masculine” cultures are those that emphasize achievement, assertiveness, and material rewards; “feminine” cultures are instead those that emphasize cooperation, modesty, and caring for the weak.” (Culture and Gender Stereotyping in Advertisements). Due to commercials source of stereotyping genders, it creates a powerful way to shape our societies opinions. These stereotypes are often used in the mass media commercials because it is a very common way to get consumers to buy their product. They want to grab a large audience in order to help get their product popular. I hope that our society becomes aware of these stereotypes being shown through advertisements and become informed viewers about this issue of gender stereotypes instead of being manipulated consumers. This is an important issue that needs to be addressed in our society because male or female, both gender is capable of whatever the role might be. Females can go to work and make money for their family, as well as do yard work outside, just as much as men can. While men can also do the cooking and cleaning in their homes just like women. Our society needs to break away from these gender stereotypes that they see in advertisements of men and women and how their roles are portrayed, because many of these roles can be fulfilled by either gender. 

   

Works Cited

Courtney, Lockeretz S. A Woman's Place: An Analysis of the Roles Portrayed by Women in Magazine Advertisements. Journal of Marketing Research.Vol. 8, No. 1 (Feb., 1971), pp. 92-95 Web. 11 Apr. 2016.

Wolska, Malgorzata. Gender Stereotpyes in Mass Media. Analyisis of the Gender Stereotyping Phenomenon in TV Commericials. 2011. Web. 11 Apr. 2016

Culture and Gender Stereotyping in Advertising. Social Psych Online. Web. 11 Apr. 2016