Gender in Advertising - Essay Example

Gender in Advertising Background Gender advertisement is essentially the image created in an advertisement which portrays and displays the stereotypical roles of gender (Baran and Dennis 2008, 45), The displays of gender are heavily utilized in advertising for the purpose of establishing the role of a particular gender in relation to the other (Brett, and Juergen, 2009, 67). Studies have affirmed the obsession of advertisers with gender roles (Motschenbacher, 2009, 11). Unlike sex, which is an outcome of a biologically based female and male difference, gender is established within humans due to socialization, and in most cases, it highly correlates with biological sex (Patterson, and England 2011, 65). In essence, gender is the juxtaposition existing between women, and men or masculinity, and femininity. It is this kind of relationship that advertises emphasize on since individuals define themselves by gender, and the aspect of gender can be communicated at a glance. This makes it easy for those responsible in advertisement to employ this theme in their advertisements. There have been arguments that the images created through advertisement could teach people on a broad range of social cues. The most appealing images could create a significant impact on viewers. Additionally, the advertisement can be used to relay messages concerning gender relations. Among the gender, roles that are mostly relayed include masculinity, and feminity (Chapkis, 2010, 2011). In advertisements, both women and men are depicted in accordance to the constructed definitions of masculinity, and femininity. A man is to masculinity while a woman is to feminity. Little room is available for reversal or variation of roles with the exception of the smaller frame of niche marketing (Hall, 2009, 143). Since gender is defined as a culturally created correlation of sex ( whether as a consequence of learning or biology, gender display would therefore, mean the conventional portrays of these correlations (Jhally, 2011, 16). In particular, gender display could be views as the rituals of gender behavior and they can be effectively used in interpreting of social reality. This is particularly where advertisement borrows from and as Goffman (2011) articulates, it is the reason why many advertisements do not look strange in the eyes of the public. Goffman continues to explain that there are specific codes, which can be employed in gender identification. These codes can be viewed in the depiction of women and men through advertisements. The main categories in gender codes include the feminine touch, family, licensed withdrawal, and subordination. Gender is concerned on the psychological, social and cultural differences between males and females. Additionally, gender is linked to socially constructed notions of masculinity and femininity. Gender variations are extant in almost all social aspects. From the moment a child is born, specific gender expectations determines how both girls and girls are reared up. In fact, it can be said that expectations of gender may begin before birth as both parents and grandparents select specific clothes and toys in decorating a baby’s room with gender colors that are stereotyped. Studies have also demonstrated that there is a gentle handling of girls in relation to boys. There is expectation that girls are to be sweet and likes to cuddle. On the other hand, boys are handled in a rough way and are given greater autonomy (Willis, 2012, 34). Aim Evaluate the representations of gender in advertising with regard to sexism and traditional gender role stereotyping. The second aim is to evaluate whether advertising representation of gender matter nor not. In essence, this paper is aimed at establishing whether gendered advertisements could create disillusionment on the minds of the audience with regard to stereotyping of gender. By the end of this study, we will be able to establish whether there are dimensions in gendered advertisements that can be problematic with to changing the perception of people concerning sexuality, and gender in the modern society (Willis, 2012, 56). Traditional gender role stereotype In ads, females will be associated more frequently with feminine products such as domestic objects, animals, and less frequently with masculine products such as vehicles. According to the Hobson et al (2010), this reflects the gender inequalities in the ad concept. Females also play a role of housewife or mother, in maintaining this traditional image. However, women are gradually coming out of the home, and house roles, into different works in the society, therefore, the image of female in the ads should be re-defined. An example this type of ad can be depicted below. The male community can best use the example in this picture to portray this notion of women insubordination. This advert typically shows a woman being slapped by a man in his lap with writing on a wall reading “women! Know your rights”. This is aimed to make women submissive and not try to venture into “men’s field”. Courtesy of Bank, 2012 2. Sexism in advertising In gendered advertising, women with a nature of semiotics are seen as being successful in relation to mens standard. Apparently, women could be seen as sex objects; many radical and socialist feminists argue that ‘lads’ mags’ and depiction of pornography in various advertisement platforms such as play boy perpetuate women’s subordination to men. In social construction, male are predominant, and authoritative in the social society, they are the breadwinners in both work, and entrepreneurship. On the other hand, female are considered as “objects” and should be submissive as well as passive in the society. Additionally, in the patriarchal society, a woman is considered as lacking personality, and cannot be independence since she is under a man. The following two are example of advertisements that are aimed for different groups of people that is men and women. IRN-BRU AD Courtesy of IRN-BRU Site: http//www.irn-bru.co.uk/poster/chick.html The objective of this advert was to inform the potential female clients about the advent of IRN-BRU site. IRN-BRUE is specifically a site, which deals with female advertisement services of different nature. This advert shows an image of a newly laid chick, which is usually appealing even to many people especially females, and the message besides it provides amore concise meaning to the picture. The advert can be said to match the female type due to its presentation, and the fact that the symbol is a chicken and not a cock. The colors of the advert also do not collide with one another, and correctly match the descriptions of the elements employed. For instance, the color of the chick is white, which is true for many newly laid chicks. Additionally, the advert does not include contents, which may be a violation of the ethics. In other words, it is ethically sound. Although I may not be a regular visitor to the site on IRN-BRU, the advert is designed to tempt female people on visiting the newly established venture for women advertisement. In this Advert, the advertiser has largely highlighted the lifestyle and the kind of image which females could want in a substance or service. This aspect is notable in this advertisement. I can comment that this AD is effective in the sense that it can be appealing to women who do not like depictions of strong elements. The chick, which is a gentle being, or object best suits the admiration of women. Stated differently, the image perpetuates or creates a feminine ideal which aligns with the women’s identities. By by One Courtesy of Vintage Browser, website www.vintageadbrowser.com This Ad’s Product is a man standing near a modern sky reach building. In particular, this AD is the portrait of a male fashion magazine that is designed to lure males into buying and reading the contents in it. The title of this piece is top ten questions, which successive businesses must answer. Men are the target audience in this AD because the magazine is specifically designed for them. These points to the reason as why the man is placed in the cover besides a strong and high architectural building. Men tend to see things in greater perspective, and they are not interested in details. This is the reason as to why in this Ad, it is only the man standing besides the building and nothing else. In most cases, female advertisements include finer details since women tend to go deeper in finding out what an AD presents. In another perspective, males likes short cuts, and by just seeing the depiction and topic in the front page of the magazine, there is a probability that they would want to know more about it, without looking for more details for the topic. The reason why the editor put this topic on top ten, questions which successive businessmen must answer is that men in general like financial success above other aspects. The large architecture besides a man is the sign of success, which most men would like to be associated with. Looking keenly at the Ad, you will not see any aspect of fashion or attractive appearance. This is because the editor understands men are mostly not concerned about this but developments! Discussion Why Gendered advertisements Matter I do belief that gendered advertisements are not good for the society. This is especially if they are used to the extremes. We can all agree on how the media advertisements have greatly influenced gender inequality in our society today. The advertisement images are perpetuated by making the gender variations to seem just natural phenomena in spite of the fact that they may not be naturally produced in the society. In essence, many media outlets and gendered advertisements are affecting the progress with regard to gender equality (Snitow, and Stansell , 2011, 165). On another spectrum, it may not be possible for marketers to ignore gendered advertisements due to various reasons. Among these is that men and women have specific preferences and styles which they can resonate well with. A marketer may find it necessary to use different languages for women and men so as to get their appeal. For instance, they just have to use specific elements for women or men and styles which their brains can articulate easily. Female and male brains are programmed differently and therefore, the advertisements should be based on these aspects so that they can be appealing to the specific audience. This however, does not give them room or reason to create overly extremist adverts that portray, inequality, pornography or male chauvinism. Conclusion The media is having a huge impact on the society with regard to gender stereotyping. This effect on gender stereotyping which is almost identical affects people of all age and both gender. This seems to be a dangerous precedence in the society since individuals are not capable of thinking besides this increasing unequal gender phenomena. However, it may not be possible to eliminated gendered advertisements since both men and women have specific presences and the modes of reaching them may have to be different. This however, does not give marketers a reason to create overly extremist adverts that portray inequality, pornography or male chauvinism. 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