M3:2 Preliminary Literature Review
Introduction
Despite monumental achievements that feminist movements have made in the area of equality and representation of women in the public space, women representation in the media remains low compared to that of the male counterparts. In advertising, gender and media have reached a fever pitch. We have seen many campaigns for gender equality in Hollywood coming from Silicon Valley. Many agencies are recreating the narrative to support women’s and girls’ representation, famously termed as Femvertising (Zawisza et al., 2018). The question, however, remains, is the advertising industry, in general, making efforts towards improving the representation of women?
Gender bias in the advertisements remains a women’s nightmare. The screen time and speaking time of women in commercials have been static for long, despite attempts to challenge the status quo for the past twenty-five years. Men generally get about five times as much screen time as women and speak eight times more (Aramendia-Muneta et al., 2020). In terms of presence, there are four times as many male characters than females in the ads, and even when they appear, the female is not accorded leading roles but subordinating roles to the male characters. It is established that most of the famous ads only have 5% featuring only female, while 30% features male only. For those ads that feature voice-overs, 18% have a male voice, while only 3% of them have female voices (Zotos & Grau, 2016).
Most advertising agencies still chose to portray women stereotypically. In their research on women’s response to stereotypical portrayals, Vezich et al. (2017), observed that there is a lot of sexism in advertisements and marketing since the nineteenth century. In these ads, women are usually naked, or given a more traditional role, strategically to affirm the gender roles, or for erotic allusions (Vezich, Gunter, & Lieberman, 2017). Furthermore, when they feature, women mostly get decorative functions due to their bodies and beauty, and the general social message the advertiser wishes to affirm. These roles are usually family-oriented, with less skilled roles. Men, on the other hand, are mostly shown as independent, controlling, and skilled with less regard about age and appearances (Diabah, 2019).
Furthermore, other studies surrounding the topic of gender bias in advertising upholds the finding that gender biases exist. Many advertising agencies prefer male gender to the female gender whenever ads are about investments and even college courses while preferring female for comfy ads involving bed, luxury cars, and fragrance (Mensa & Grow, 2019). They call for the correct presentation of women in advertisements to strengthen social awareness and eliminate gender biases. The literature review section examines the previous studies to establish how and why advertisers continue to produce ads that portray gender roles stereotypically.
Significance of the Study
Gender stereotypes in advertisements have been extensively discussed in the past. However, but it remains an important topic because not much has been achieved despite the efforts. Change of roles in the labour structure and family units has considerably brought a huge difference in the society, and it remains categorically very uninspiring how the mainstream media has not embraced the change in their ads (Diabah, 2019). This cultural lag warrants the study. Moreover, the female portrayal in the ads in a more traditional role tends to kill women’s morale towards asserting themselves in society. The current reality shows a positive shift in society, with many women currently having more freedom, different roles in the career field, and generally, women are taking over the globe. The study is, therefore, significant in trying to rewrite the wrongs in the ads so that they genuinely pull in the right direction s that of the society. Similarly, in the wake of gender emancipation, the idea of gender stereotypes in ads act as setbacks to women’s fight for their roles in society. This study will, therefore, add to the existing literature, establishing why stereotypic gender portrayals still exist despite the efforts to challenge them in the society
Literature Review
Advertising, like other TV contents, helps create stereotypes in people’s consciousness, and the majority of these stereotypes center on gender roles. Kitsa & Mudra (2019) argue that stereotypical advertising negatively affects the way people conceive socially acceptable gender representations. In Ukrainian Popular TV channels, females are represented in commercials as guardians, nurses, servants, or jewels to powerful men, as queens to adorn their compounds (Kitsa & Mudra, 2019). This view is further reaffirmed by the study of Kathpalia (2019) about Indian English TV. The stereotypes in India shows Hindi cultural identities as traditional, while English as modern, with many women who can speak English seen as the hybrid and acceptable while those who only speak Hindi as tradtio0nal and therefore, relatable to ads about family, marriage, and property (Kathpalia, 2019).
In their attempt to critique the characters’ portrayal of women in the Indian television advertisements, Bharadwaj & Mehta (2017) affirmed the vociferous views of feminists regarding the female representation in the realm of marketing and consumer behavior. According to them, little change has been affected by the female portrayal in the adverts. The studies assert that advertisements act as harbingers of mutation in the gender narrative, reinforcing the traditional gender roles. Middleton et al. (2019) further view the stereotypes in TV adverts as damaging and belittling women in society. Instead of supporting the push for equality, they are stuck with the traditional gender portrayals that are armful and only perpetuate the socio-cultural norms of the Brazilian people. The ads create an image of women who are housewives, sexual objects, objects of beauty and only fit as trophies to powerful men.
Some advertising firms still treat women as children, in line with many patriarchal societies which view a woman and her children as belonging to men. Kim, Ahn, & Lee (2016), while investigating the logic behind portraying thin female characters in children TV commercials, affirmed that some of the reasons behind this trend were role behaviors, traits, physical appearance, as well as occupations which perfectly fit these roles. The ads inadvertently allude that female are big babies, that have outgrown nursing but still fits perfectly in the circles of children, a belief that is still heled by many societies.
Further research by Grogan (2016) affirms that body image matters on TV commercials and media is mostly to blame for the body dissatisfaction witnessed among many people in the society today. Most ads about love centers around men and women with perfect body shapes and beautiful women are the ones that feature in the high-end commercials. It prompts women to begin reducing body fats, with others taking cosmetics and a range of surgeries to appear curvy and attractive like those they see on advertisements (Zotos & Grau, 2016). In the same commercials, thin female characters are more likely to be featured in the children’s commercials than those with larger body physiques, and even when featured in adult films, they still perform children’s roles in such ads. It works to reinforce the stereotypic perceptions of thin females as children by focusing on their outward appearance and sexuality. Such results help policymakers know when and how to represent thin characters in ways that the commercials will be widely accepted in society.
Neither male nor female’s evolving roles in the emerging markets are adequately captured, with men still comfortably captured in their traditional masculine roles. In contrast, the female gender leans towards their decorative roles and represented in the subjective setting in Cyprus advertisements. This trend reinforces the hostile sexism in society, where there is total underrepresentation of the professional women. Their portrayal is mainly in body revealing attires. This outright subordinating portrayal affirms the violent sexism that society tries to advance on the women. Tsichla & Zotos (2016) adds that the high proportion of underrepresentation witnessed in both genders presents an imbalanced image of the public gains towards equality, calling for public policy concerns as it interferes with the women’s psychological balance, and professional development.
The question that many Americans are asking is whether it is a stereotype or just typical? The study and position about America’s perspective on the role of stereotypes in advertising remain unclear. Windels (2016), in a survey that targeted professionals in the field, the majority believed that stereotypes represented some truths, therefore, portraying them without alteration excite the audience, communicate faster to their feelings, thus, prompting the public to act as the commercial intended. Most respondents held that stereotypes are only harmful when they reinforce negative perception, and absolutely okay when they subvert advertising message.
From the significant literature reviewed, it undeniably true that women representation in media, particularly advertisement, remains insufficient, and the only time they are utilized is when the portrayal serves the best interest of the commercial agency (De Mooij, 2018). While these resources are exhaustive, they do not address the issues of why gender stereotypes cannot end, so that commercials can be part of the change and gains witnessed in the societies now courtesy of feminist movements and policies. Gender stereotypes exist in advertising. While the issue is big and threatening, no significant efforts are taken to curb its haunting effects. It shows the advertising agencies are not making much effort to portray gender roles in tandem with the gains in society.
References
Aramendia-Muneta, M. E., Olarte-Pascual, C., & Hatzithomas, L. (2020). Gender stereotypes in original digital video advertising. Journal of Gender Studies, 29(4), 403-419.
Bharadwaj, A., & Mehta, R. (2017). Annihilating or perpetuating the gender stereotype? An analysis of Indian television advertisements. Decision, 44(3), 179-191.
De Mooij, M. (2018). Global marketing and advertising: Understanding cultural paradoxes. SAGE Publications Limited.
Diabah, G. (2019). The representation of women in Ghanaian radio commercials: Sustaining or challenging gender stereotypes?. Language in Society, 48(2), 261-283.
Grogan, S. (2016). Body image: Understanding body dissatisfaction in men, women and children. Taylor & Francis.
Kathpalia, S. S. (2019). Redefining gender stereotypes in Indian English TV advertising. World Englishes, 38(3), 486-499.
Kim, H., Ahn, J., & Lee, D. (2016). Thin Female Characters in Children’s Television Commercials: A Content Analysis of Gender Stereotype. American Communication Journal, 18(2).
Kitsa, M., & Mudra, I. (2019). Gender stereotypes of women in television advertising in Ukraine. Feminist Media Studies, 1-17.
Mensa, M., & Grow, J. M. (2019). Women Creatives and Machismo in Mexican Advertising. European Review of Latin American and Caribbean Studies/Revista Europea de Estudios Latinoamericanos y del Caribe, (107), 27-53.
Middleton, K., Turnbull, S., & de Oliveira, M. J. (2019). Female role portrayals in Brazilian advertising: are outdated cultural stereotypes preventing change?. International Journal of Advertising, 1-20.
Tsichla, E., & Zotos, Y. (2016). Gender portrayals revisited: searching for explicit and implicit stereotypes in Cypriot magazine advertisements. International journal of advertising, 35(6), 983-1007.
Vezich, I. S., Gunter, B. C., & Lieberman, M. D. (2017). Women’s responses to stereotypical media portrayals: An fMRI study of sexualized and domestic images of women. Journal of Consumer Behaviour, 16(4), 322-331.
Windels, K. (2016). Stereotypical or just typical: how do US practitioners view the role and function of gender stereotypes in advertisements? International Journal of Advertising, 35(5), 864-887.
Zawisza, M., Luyt, R., Zawadzka, A. M., & Buczny, J. (2018). Does it pay to break male gender stereotypes in advertising? A comparison of advertisement effectiveness between the United Kingdom, Poland, and South Africa. Journal of Gender Studies, 27(4), 464-480.
Zotos, Y. C. & Grau, S. L. (2016). Gender stereotypes in advertising: exploring new directions. International Journal of Advertising, 35(5), 759-760.