How Advertising Has Changed The Way Men And / Or Women Have Been Represented Over Time

Since the emergence of advertising in American culture one thing that has remained constant is the visible truth that men and women are portrayed differently. In consideration to the evolution of man kind gender roles have evolved immensely throughout time, although advertisements have not kept up with this process of evolution. Companies to this day use their tactics and skills to reach out to specific genders such as pretty fonts with a stylish message, while advertisements towards men portray the character as strong and intimidating. The typical viewer can easily spot the difference in the portrayal of genders. Men are portrayed this way because the viewers look up to these characters, they want to be

Contemporary visual media contributes to the social construction of gender in that the way that men and women are portrayed in advertising is vastly different.

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.

Women Can Do Everything? In Jean Kilbourne’s film, “Killing Us Softly”, she examines popular stereotypes of women in advertising. Her work has helped to develop the study of gender and how it is depicted in advertising. Gender stereotyping of women in advertising is everywhere today; television, internet, billboards, movies, magazines, airlines, taxis, subways, videos, and other digital media.

Advertising regularly uses gender roles to promote products. Gender-role stereotyping has been a prominent subject in advertising and throughout the media. It is the concept that gender stereotypes influence and reinforce stereotypical values in society, which can lead to negative consequences, particularly for men. As for advertising effectiveness, research shows that stereotypes can be supportive or detrimental, depending on several factors, such as the gender attitudes of the audience.

This essay discusses the representations of women in media and advertising, including the effects they have on individuals in society. Firstly, I will review the literature on stereotypical gender roles within media and advertising. This will include traditional roles such as the housewife, and modern roles such as the sex object. Secondly, I will critically evaluate and examine the effects of these roles on women, and even men, in today’s society. Effects include body dissatisfaction, thin idealisation and, in extreme cases, violence against women. Thirdly, I will aim to make conclusions on whether gender representations and roles within media have impacts on men and women in society.

Advertisements play a big part in our society and are significant for products to be seen to attract people’s attention and be persuaded to buy. They might not always be interested in purchasing anything but instead just taking a peak, especially when women are involved. As time goes by, more women are depicted as sexual icons in adverts. This is true in sports adverts with men portrayed as masculine and athletic, while women are characterised as sexy and lacking athletic potential even though they are well-known athletes. Many people such as Goffman (1979) suggested that advertising images transfers cultural ideals of both genders explicitly or subtly, by

In this study Eisend, Plagemann, and Sollwedel (2014) look at both humorous and nonhumorous advertisements and the impacts they have on the different genders including

In the twenty-first century, both men and women have become targeted groups in advertising. Both target markets are flooded with images and content that promotes stereotypical sexual identities that are based on sexual images as well as cultural notions of gender roles. When flipping through a magazine a woman or girl would see ads for cosmetic surgery, makeup, wedding dresses, perfume, diets, jewelry and the list goes on. Women are affected on many levels by the flawless, airbrushed and idealized models when viewing such advertisements. Although women have been the subject of such advertising methods for centuries, men are also now bombarded with similar messages regarding perceived norms of idealized gender roles. Men are sent the message that they are to be physically fit, successful, and to judge women on their physical characteristics as well as their fashion ability.

The designation of a person’s gender seems to belong to society. Society has the ability to classify men and women as masculine or feminine as they “interact with others and media in their society” (Wood 20). It is not surprising then that society would want to portray its opinions of gender through media. This is done through the art of advertising. Advertising uses the internet, magazines, newspapers, music, and any other mediums that could possibly be utilized to transmit the ideas and sales pitches to its desired demographic. Such ideas are typically not offensive and are meant to strike a humorous tone with audiences. On the other hand these ideas can at times distort masculinity and femininity causing outrage in people. This paper will discuss portrayals and their influences on gender in advertising that are the sexual objectification of women, hyper masculinity of men, women’s dependence on men, men as aggressors, and lastly women’s incompetence and men’s authority.

The roles of males and females in society have significantly changed, as opposed to the predominant roles in our history. In the modern culture of today, women have begun to break out of the mold that which society has placed her in. This much can’t be said when it comes to modern gender representation in mass media advertising. It can be safe to state that woman are seen as sexual, fragile, exotic—whereas men are portrayed as tough, in control, and aggressive. This trend can be one seen as an inhibitor to the advancement of our culture, because especially for women, it is hard to pull away from the stereotypes that are continuously represented. As examples of the given trend, the following

Intro: Vintage Advertisements are interesting because it allows us to look in the past and see the way people lived and products were used. The two ads I chose are from the 1930’s and 1950’s. They are interesting because you get to see how much fashion has changed and standards have changed since the 1900’s, in reference to women’s weight and how they dressed. In a 1959 ad, it shows a woman in a bra and corset. The ad suggests that women should look thin. In a 1935 ad that also refers to women’s shape with a picture of a woman and the slogan “ Dangerous curves ahead.” Both ads depict women as objects and that their identity is tied to their bodies. The 1935 ad presents a persuasive argument because women followed fashion trends that dictated women's body shape. Women are judged by appearances and what they look.

Male stereotype in advertising is somehow less definable than the female one. However, the 21st century is less forgiving to the male population than the earlier decades and tends to depict men in a virile and muscular way, with focus on image of power and masculinity as well as portraying them as a “sex object” so men now experience what women have had for years.

In today’s society, you see advertisements everywhere you look, on the drive to work, on the internet, in the morning newspaper, etc. Although most people simply glance past these advertisements without a second thought, if evaluated one can find that all of them contain underlying messages. I have chosen to focus my analysis on the ways media in our society represent women and the effects individual media sources can have on advancing a patriarchal society or fighting the gender norms set for women. Though all these advertisements highlight the same social group, each individual advertisement delivers completely different messages regarding women in our society. As explained in “It’s Dude Time”, in the past women have been represented rarely in media, and when represented in a manner that often oppressed them. It also states that in recent years there has been an attempt to eliminate our sexist society and change the gender norms that have been set by past generations. It also discusses how recently women have been depicted in more respectful ways than in the past (Cooky, Cheryl, Messner, Musto, 2015). But through my analysis I have found that advertisements still continue to degrade women by sending messages about how they should look, as well as representing them as a weaker gender, and promoting a society where women do the housekeeping. Although I have found one advertisement empowering women the majority of the advertising industry has not

The problems imposed by gender stereotyping and overly-sexualized messages in society have long been a discussion point amongst activists and critics. On one hand, advertisements in magazines, television, and the Internet have often employed a large number of questionable tactics, pushing subtle and not-so-subtle messages that promote indifference and even violence towards women. On another hand, sexism has been so pervasive in our society that it has even affected the minds of young children, who are not mature enough to question the gender norms imprinted on them from a young age.