Gender Stereotyping in Media Advertisements Essay

The tremendous influence of the media as an serious cultural vehicle on the preservation and reinforcement of existing societal norms, beliefs, and behaviors has been under increasing exam from academics, scholars, and feminists in an attempt to understand the code and language within which the media operates and its impacts on various audiences.(Dines, Humez, Hoynes, & Croteau, 2003 Silverstein, Perdue, & Kelly, 1986 gamble 1997) Lately, thither has been a growing concern over the role of the media in helping to maintain the long-standing inequality amid sexes in the way that it continues to exploit sexuality stereotypes overtly as in the case of television programming, to the subliminal messages conveyed by product advertisements, music videos, and other forms of visual entertainment which now include fashion spreads and magazines.(Dines, Humez, Hoynes, & Croteau 336 Gamble 272) This concern comes amidst allegations that the media, specifically product advertisements, is some how responsible for the proliferation and reinforcement of unhealthy attitudes and biases against women and womens bodies, for instance, in deflection the definition of physical attractiveness to that of thinness(Silverstein, Perdue, & Kelly 519 Gamble 272) and of self-worth to being pretty or desired by the male (Dines, Humez, Hoynes, & Croteau 247).In its many forms, product advertisements, with graphic, in-text, and non-graphic representation, atomic number 18 guilty of exploiting the prevailing societal concepts of femininity and maleness in their sole objective of increasing demand for the products which translates to increased profit margins. (Wiles, Wiles, & Tjerlund 35) Product advertisements ar also a cause for special concern in that they atomic number 18 easily accessible and are barely constrained by censorship and other legislation.The fact that they are ubiquitous in roughly all forms of mediabe it print, broadcast, video, and the internetmake them doubly powerf ul in molding, or warping, the minds of individuals young and old. Dines, Humez, Hoynes, & Croteau (2003) slur out, for instance, how elements of the pornographic can be located in advertisements, (p. 336) referring not only to graphic sexual acts or innuendos but to specific representations of female and male constructs and of power relationships between and within these constructs that are seen in advertisements.It is argued that masculinity and femininity are always constructed in the conventional way that the male is bigger, stronger, and has the ability to hurt the women (Dines, et. al. 336) or in a position of greater power over the women, who are always depicted or associated with the weak, delicate, and passive role. (Gamble 272) In the same manner, women are often portrayed as inferior to men through the use of the following graphic illustrations women appear shorter men instruct women women appear to be drifting in deep thought while men?Eyes are focused purposely and wom en appear helpless. (Wiles, Wiles, & Tjerlund, 36) Indeed, i need not look further than the nearest perfume advertisement to see how men and women are portrayed as predator and prey, respectively, signifying the womens degraded position in the gender stratification. More illustrious is the apparent absence of others in the gender spectrum which may not be totally accepted by societal standards bisexuals, lesbians, and gays, who barely make it to product advertisements except for those products specifically intended for their market.Furthermore, results of Wiles, Wiles, & Tjerlunds (1995) study of the impersonation of women in magazines in three countries which include the United States, the Netherlands, and Sweden supported the contention that role portrayals presented in magazine advertising depict cultural biases and stereotypes which tended to portray men in active roles and women as mens sexual objects or in decorative, passive positions.If art imitates life and culture, this only goes to show the extent to which gender inequality remains as much a challenge to overcome in real, reel, and the simulated land of advertising.Works CitedDines, G. , Humez, J. M. M. , Hoynes, D. W. , & D. Croteau. Gender, Race, and Class in Media A Text Reader. Sage Publications, 2003. Gamble, T. K. & M. W. Gamble, Gender and Non-verbal Language. Contacts Communicating Interpersonally. Boston, M. A. Allyn and Bacon, 1997.