Commercials: The Unwritten Rule Of Little Girls

Imagine a world in which men could act feminine and women could act masculine without being judged. Now try and identify why this may never happen. Men and women are both taught at an early age what they can and cannot do because of what gender they were born as; they are markedly similar in this aspect. There is a known gender stereotype for girls and boys, and the parents of these children enable these stereotypes from the day that they are born. girls are given pink clothes, and boys are given blue clothes. These colors set the rules of how they must behave for the rest of their lives, this idea is known as The Girl and Guy code. It is all black and white thinking, or in the case pink and blue. There is no in-between because once you stray from the code it is immediately recognized and looked down upon. Although the girl and guy code are almost polar opposites, they go hand in hand with one another because they are both used among society as a way to create a better image in front of others. The Woman looks better in the eyes of other women if she is more lady-like, and a man looks better in front of men if he is more manly; both genders deal with a heavy set of homosocial ideals.

Gender roles have been used as a way of raising children for generations. While they have not always been the typical “pink is for girls, blue is for boys” stereotypes that we have grown accustomed to, there have always been certain roles for men and women that deem what is appropriate and what is not. Although the idea of gender roles has existed for centuries, the stereotypes themselves have evolved, leading many to believe that they are a social construct. “Up until the beginning of the 20th century, pink was actually more associated with boys, while blue was more associated with girls—illustrating how socially constructed these associations really are” (“Gender and

It is fair to believe that all humans are born with equal knowledge and preferences (or no knowledge or preferences). Knowledge gained is subject to what is passed on to them from within the environment and society in which they exist. In the same way that a society may dictate that English is the ‘norm’ language, society more or less dictates what is or is not appropriate behaviour and/or preferences for each gender. Males do not intuitively prefer action figures and hate the colour pink, nor do females naturally prefer domestic task-based toys and love the colour pink. Most of all, not all males or females were born to think, act or behave in the same way.

What is it that drives commercials towards their target audience? Commercials can be for a certain age, race, and sometimes even a certain gender. Pop culture has influenced the minority groups and shed light to women 's rights or so it was thought. Lisa Shaffer a fellow student feels otherwise and believes that Pop culture has only defended traditional values and does little to challenge those who already have power . Commercials bring in gender norms and in Steve Craig’s article, “Men’s Men and Women’s Women” he speaks on four particular TV ads directed towards a particular gender. What is interesting is it shows a false image of the opposite sex to the audience being portrayed toward their preferences. It is the image the audience wants to see that appeals to them. This is all in an attempt to sell their products and take advantage of our desires and anxieties. Craig shows commercials brings gender norms that produce the ideas of what a man’s man and a woman’s woman which is why he would agree with Shaffer because it promotes an old way of thinking.

What is it that drives commercials towards their target audience? Commercials can be aimed toward certain age, race, along with certain gender groups. Pop culture has influenced minority groups and shed light on women 's rights or so it may seem. Lisa Shaffer a fellow student feels otherwise and believes that Pop culture has only defended traditional values and does little to challenge those who already have power . Commercials bring in gender norms and in Steve Craig’s article, “Men’s Men and Women’s Women” he speaks on four particular TV ads directed towards male and female audiences. Interestingly enough these tv ads deliver a false image of the opposite sex to the audience catering to their preferences. It is the image of what the audience wants to see that appeals to them. This is all in an attempt to sell products and take advantage of our desires and anxieties. Craig shows how commercials bring gender norms that produce the stigmas of a man’s man and a woman’s woman, which makes it apparent that he would agree with Shaffer because it promotes an old way of thinking.

In the short article by Steve Craig, Men’s Men and Women’s Womens, the author gives an important special to how television commercials portray gender to different audiences. He describes how an advertisers creates their attractive advertisement to appeal either male or females consumers.An advertisement that targets a specific gender to give interest to the gender to consume their product. Secondly, specific advertisement are played at select times to be seen by a specific set of people. But most importantly television programming is gendered by creating advertisements with considering their target audience needs and to give pleasure to their fantasies. I agree with this type of method to attract society to make money.

Subliminal and direct messages of gender-role stereotyping can be found in advertisements for children’s toys, television cartoons, foods, and many other items that are marketed towards young children. Specifically, children in the age ranges of six to ten years old. For example, McDonald’s Restaurant has a new Happy Meal commercial that runs often on television. Actually, it is a set of commercials advertising Cuties, a brand of mandarin oranges, as a healthier alternative in their McDonald’s Happy Meal. In one commercial, there are two young boys and an adult male sitting in a kitchen playing with Hot Wheels and in the commercial the boys begins discussing calculations, centripetal force, and making ramps as they calculate the force needed

The splitting of products into two genders stemmed from fiscally conscious businesses; those who had two products to sell to different people made more money than those who sold only gender neutral clothing, razors, and drinks. In modern times, almost everything in the media and in advertisements is biased based on gender. Ads for fragrance are no longer equitable; they are for cologne and perfume separately. As the businesses made money, a latent consequence arose. Those who grew in the days of binary gender products and segregated items became socialized to fit what was advertised. Boys targeted by monster truck commercials became conditioned to believe that they could only play with monster trucks and should compete with their friend’s monster trucks. Girls became conditioned to believe that dollhouses and horses were the only toy for them. These influences from the media have affected gender socialization, relationships, and expectations throughout the life course of almost every American.

Since the beginning of human civilization, societies have always held certain standards and behavioral codes that the members of the society had to follow. Even though these standards weren’t ‘written in stone’, so to speak, there was an unspoken requirement that men and women were supposed to follow them. Also, there were different codes for the different genders and ages. A female child had different codes to follow than an old wise man. Today, there are still behavioral codes that societies follow and adhere to.

Commercials also affect the mentality of young children. In every commercial advertising toys demonstrates how cars are for boys and dolls are for girls. There are always commercials about girls playing with a toy house, cooking appliance, or a beautiful barbie doll. Additionally, there are commercials about boys playing with action figures, cars, and sports. In the article “Care Bears vs. Transformers: Gender Stereotypes in Advertisements” Dr. Monica Brasted mentions her experience at a fast food restaurant with her daughter. In her daughter’s happy meal she received a carebear, when her daughter wanted a transformer. The cashier assumed since she was a girl she would like a carebear rather than a transformer. This demonstrates how society believes there are specific toys made for each gender and only that gender can play with it. Brasted stated “Research indicates that the media, particularly advertising, has played a role in the perpetuation of gender stereotypes in our culture.” Basically, Brasted is proving the point that many commercials have shown gender roles and have influences in young kids. All these commercials in their own perspective show how it is okay for a woman and men to abide to these rules society has created.

Imagine the world in which men could act feminine and women could act masculine without being judged. Now try and identify why this may never happen. Men and women are both taught at an early age what they can and cannot do because of what gender they were born as; they are markedly similar in this aspect. There is a known gender stereotype for girls and boys, and the parents of these children enable these stereotypes from the day that they are born. girls are given pink clothes, and boys are given blue clothes. These colors set the rules of how they must behave for the rest of their lives, this idea is known as The Girl and Guy code. It is all black and white thinking, or in the case pink and blue. There is no in-between because once you stray from the code it is immediately recognized and looked down upon. Although the girl and guy code are almost polar opposites, they go hand in hand with one another because they are both used among society as a way to create a better image in front of others. The Woman looks better in the eyes of other women if she is more lady-like, and a man looks better in front of men if he is more manly; both genders deal with a heavy set of homosocial ideals.

Thinking back to the days of my youth, many of us are brought back to the nostalgic commercials of girls playing with Barbies, and boys playing with G.I. Joes. These are just two basic examples. Since before 1997, commercials have been molding our youth to try to portray the idea of having the “perfect image” for boys and girls.“Kline’s research in Canada showed that the themes of television advertisements for toys supported traditional gender expectations in terms of types of toys with a focus on battles, action, and domination for boys, and nurturing, glamour, and domesticity for girls,” (Auster, Carol). I feel like producers of such products should broaden their gendered horizons and produce toys and entertainment that will not offend individuals. The article goes on to state how there is no location on the site that is sectioned

When you enter any store that has a children’s toy aisle, you automatically figure out which side is for boys and which side is for girls. On the girls’ side, you generally see lots of pink and purple, and glitter too. Blues and greens, as well as many other dark colors, fill the boy’s side of the aisle. The division of this aisle and the colors associated with male or female toys is known as the idea of gender-stereotyped toys.

Within the American culture, our youth are taught that the masculine roles of the male has traditionally been associated with their role of being strong and dominant and the feminine role of a female has traditionally been associated with their role of being the follower and the nurturer. Children learn the gender roles beginning at birth through the socialization process. Historically our society has always identified male infants with blue and female infants with pink, however, with the turning of the 20th century more neutral colors are being thrown into the mix. More expecting parents are adventuring away from traditional blue and pink and choosing the neutral colors such as green and yellow. Children learn gender socialization through family members, education, other children and social media. Each reinforces the gender role by displaying and maintaining the normal expectation for each genders behavior. Our youth are taught at an early age of the separate expectations of each gender. Parents often teach the role not knowingly but through association. Boys are associated with trucks, toy guns and superheroes that teach them motor skills and independence, whereas the girls are associated with baby dolls, dress costumes, and toy kitchens which teaches them nurturing and social

Children are highly influential in their younger years and advertisements can change how they view themselves. Take for instance how toys are marketed towards little girls. Most often they tell how feminine and desirable they’ll be if they buy the product in question. Even with how much gender stereotyping has declined, the products being sold to girls are almost exclusively feminine. From dolls, cooking, or princess attire, they still teach young girls that they have to meet traditional womanly roles. They’ll tell them they have to be little princesses that anything remotely boyish is wrong. Unknowingly this can influence children in greater ways than could be imagined. It tells them that if they don’t fit the specific mold they’re being sold they won’t be liked by others. This is often the reason young girls find themselves deterred from pursuing careers in STEM and becoming self conscious about their bodies. Another common stereotype for advertisements marketed towards girls is that they’re always weaker than boys and should leave hard work to them. One toy company is working to break this mold by promoting a line of toys for girls where their female mascot isn’t just interested in being fashionable and pretty. GoldieBlox Inc. desires to keep young girls interested in careers in science, technology, engineering and math claiming that in these industries where men dominate, girls lose interest in these subjects