Gender in Advertising

Gunter

Theories/ Studies
Currently a media research specialist, Gunter counts media violence, the impact of broadcast news, effects of television on public opinion, the effects of advertising and the use and impact of new interactive media as topics of interest.

Cumberbatch

Theories/ Studies
Cumberbatch carried out a contents analysis for the Broadcasting council in 1990 looking at gender representation in television advertising. Part of thier research included 'counting' the number of the times women appeared in adverts (twice as often as men) the number of adverts that had male voice overs (80 per cent), and different roles in which men and women were shown. They found that 64 per cent of the women appearing in television adverts were 'attractive', compared to only 22 per cent of men. Another finding was that 50 per cent of the women were aged between 21 and 39 compared with 30 per cent of men.

Gender Role Stereotyping in Television Commercials: The Case of Singapore. | Advertising & Society Review 5:3 Gender Role Stereotyping in Television Commercials: The Case of Singapore. Chun Wah Lee Abstract: The stereotyping of females and their use as sex objects in advertisements has been a hot topic of research. Advertisers tend to use women as "decoratives" in various promotional strategies. This study focuses on the nature of female stereotyping in Singapore's television industry. A content analysis of one working week of television commercials was conducted on Singapore's English-language channel. The coding technique was derived from works such as Craig (1992) and Furnham and Bitar (1993), while an array of variables were employed to examine how and in what situations women were portrayed in these commercials. The study revealed that women were depicted in more diversified roles -- ranging from homemaking and childcare, to endorsing beauty products and working in offices. However, some degree of patriarchy is still prevalent. The study argues that advertisers should portray men and women in more equal partnerships since they now have to manage the increasing demands imposed by work and family. The stereotyping of females and their use as sex objects in advertisements have been a topic of debate among media scholars and feminist groups for a long time (e.g., Allan & Coltrane, 1996; Bretl & Cantor, 1988; Courtney & Whipple, 1974; O'Barr, 1994)....


Scheibe

Theories/ Studies
Scheibe (1979) argued that men's representation changed little, if at all, and Ferrante et al. (1988) reported that there was little change in gender roles in television commercials. For example, women were portrayed in the home, and men were portrayed in the business world (Ferrante et al., 1988).

changes in women's representation in commercials began in the late 1970s and early 1980s (e.g., Caballero & Solomon, 1984; Lovdal, 1989; Scheibe, 1979; Schneider & Schneider, 1979). For example, Schneider and Schneider (1979) argued that marketers and society have begun to accept the changing roles of women. After analyzing 27 hrs oprime-time television commercials aired in 1976, they reported that women's role portrayals were either closer to actual roles held by women in the United States, or were moving toward actual roles at a faster rate than men's role portrayals were

Another extensive study by Scheibe (1983) who examined over two thousand commercials, illustrated that she found the world of television to depict men advertising cars and financial services while women were restricted to beauty products and cleaning equipment. From her observations she also found that women were often portrayed as "powerless, helpless or seeking approval or reward"


Macdonald
Focuses mainly on gender representation of females in children literature

Resources
-Media Studies: The Essential Introduction written by Philip Rayner, Peter Wall, Stephen Kruger
-muse.jhu.edu
-findarticles.com