Amanda Poletti

Caitlin Riviere

Sarah McQuarrie

Luke Putz

Trisha Miller

 

Gender and the Media

Media showers society with images of gender stereotypes everyday. These images are delivered to the public through a variety of mediums. Whether through magazines or television; newspapers or billboards, imagery of perfection are entered into the minds of individuals worldwide. Though the medium may vary, each conveys a distinct message regarding gender and gender roles. An important method through which this communication takes place is in advertisements.

Advertisements are constructed with the intent and purpose of selling products. Interestingly, advertising involves inventing images to convey ideas about men and women. The purpose of these ideas is to create and perpetuate gender roles desired in a society that will contribute to the success of the capitalistic economy (Anderson, 2003: 67). Unfortunately, the majority of these images produce unattainable, unhealthy and oppressive images of women. As a result, women are forced live lives that reflect these unrealistic ideologies.

Ideologies such as how a woman should appear, the occupation women should hold and the submissiveness women should bestow upon male figures are instilled in both men and women at early ages by advertisers. In doing so, advertisements deeply ingrain the conservative mentalities of women’s abilities and positions in society. This causes opportunities for women to decrease, while keeping men in positions of power and authority.  Such views continue because of the media’s ability to smear the lines of reality, making it difficult to distinguish if society is reflecting the media or vice versa (Andersen, 2003:67).

  Advertisements have a profound affect on the culture of society (Hardin, 2002).  Negative images produced by the media create narrow roles to young girls and women, alike, must conform.  Advertisements impacting society include depictions of women’s narrow roles in society.  Examples of these roles include women being depicted as a mother, homemaker or object of beauty (Hardin, 2002). According to Goetzle (1999) 55% of his 566 female participants said they constantly see advertisements that make them feel as though they should diet and 64% of the respondents think there is too much sex in advertisements (Goetzle, 1999).  Since there are so many advertisements about weight and women as sex objects, it is no wonder many girls and young women develop eating disorders among other things (Goetzle, 1999).

            Dangerous problems arise with the objectification of women.  Research shows that young women and girls, on average, feel worse after seeing advertisements showing thin models (Dittmar, 2004).  By portraying images of unattainable goals, such as women who are extremely thin, women adapt to thinking those images are real and desirable.  However, there is a growing concern for the media’s obsession with thinness and how its’ affects on women, both mentally and physically, appear to be extremely harmful. The controversy of this particular topic has resulted in many public debates, which try to uncover how advertisements are actually detrimental to women (Dittmar, 2004). 

External characteristics of women, in most ads, are made the focal point for success in selling any product. These attributes, though not real, depict what is considered, by a majority of men, to be a visually perfect and desirable woman. Unfortunately these attributes are unattainable and are digitally enhanced for visual purposes. Consequently, by emphasizing the importance of a flawless female body image in advertisements, the media dehumanizes women. The dehumanization of women reduces them to mere sex objects, available to men to gaze upon.

The film “Still Killing Us Softly” suggests that rape and the objectification of women in the media are closely related (Kilbourne, 1987).  By depicting women as thin, beautiful and passive reinforces the idea that women are sex objects for the male gaze.  Also, many advertisements tend to normalize violence towards women by objectifying them through submissive positions and subtle body languages (Kilbourne, 1987).  This submissive image that advertisers use to portray women is then viewed by the male as a norm concept.

            Another problematic issue in advertising is the domination of the male presence.  A male presence can take the form of a voice-over, actor or images of men.  One study pointed out that spokes characters in advertisements are often portrayed as male, such as the Energizer Bunny (Pierce, 1999).  In the same study, after viewing 39 random advertisements, participants were asked to count the spokes characters that were female.  In the end, only nine of the spokes characters were female (Pierce, 1999).  Male dominance in the advertisement arena is present when observing voice-overs in commercials.  Male voices are used to sell not only boy toys; they are also used to sell many girl toys (Johnson and Young, 2003:470).  Female voice-overs are found in girl advertisements but can seldom be found in boy oriented ads (Johnson and Young, 2003:470).  This is a strong example of how men dominate not only in the market of advertisements but also within society; these advertisement are subtly implying gendered lives to young children because it is using a dominant male voice to connect with the viewer (Johnson and Young, 2003: 470).  Another study viewed 32 taped commercials and only ten had a character that was shown as either female or neutral (Pierce, 1999).  In Pierce’s article, she asks “What if the Energizer Bunny were female?” (Pierce, 1999).  Pierce leaves advertisers with a very crucial question because in creating the Energizer Bunny as a male character, it communicates the message to the public that men can sell more batteries (Pierce, 1999).  Something as trivial as portraying a bunny as male can have a profound effect on the roles and occupations of women. It reinforces stereotypes regarding women, while introducing young impressionable girls to gendered roles.

            Advertisers begin building gender identity at very young ages.  According to Johnson and Young (2002) advertisements teach young children how to be consumers and uses gender identity to associate an item on television to the child(Johnson and Young, 2002).  One example of this is how advertisers link boys with action toys and girls with fads and dolls (Johnson and Young, 2002:470).  Johnson goes on to say that images in advertisements viewed by children have verbal messages that lead children to develop traditional gendered roles in society (Johnson and Young, 2002:470).  Johnson also says, “These images engage discourse that position many girls in constrained positions and boys in action-oriented positions” (Johnson and Young, 2002:466). For instance, in a study of eight prime-time television shows performed by Ford Foundation, girls were shown to be only interested in boys and clothes (Barricklow, 1992).  Some researchers believe even young toddler’s gender stereotypical behavior to have stemmed from the media (Hardin, 2002).  In the end, young girls and boys are affected by advertisements of gendered roles.

            Advertisers portray gender roles in subtle and not-so-subtle ways.  In one example, advertising propagates the idea of vigor versus female frailty and beauty (Thompson and Zerbinos, 1995).  In commercials men are often shown in sports that require strength and robustness, like football.  Women on the other hand, are seen participating in sports that are more aesthetic, like gymnastics, dancing, or figure skating.  According to Thompson and Zerbinos (1995) research on the portrayal of women in the media has been in progress since the 1970’s.  Observations of commercials, television shows and cartoons showed that females, if represented at all, held lower status occupations or were unemployed. Males were shown as more intellectual, thusly superior (Thompson and Zerbinos, 1995).  All in all, gender stereotypes are important to understand because they limit the future opportunities women have in different roles (Johnson 2002:465).

Theories have been formed, over the years, in attempt to offer explanations as to why stereotypical images of women were produced in the past and why these images continue to be produced today. The theory of Capitalism in the Media provides the foundation upon which other theories are developed. In other words, the existence of capitalism in the media is the main cause of gender stereotypical images. Other theories are results of problems that occur in society as a direct result of the capitalistic nature of the advertising industry. The Role Learning Theory helps to explain how women and men learn how to act and behave by observing others (Andersen, 2003: 65). The Role Learning Theory is the product of the ads impact on society. Role learning occurs because of the images produced by capitalistic organizations and corporations. In order to better understand how the two theories are related, it is vital to understand the theories individually.

The theory of Capitalism in the Media explains the use of stereotypical images in the media and how they affect the economy (Andersen, 2003: 67). The goal of media advertisement is to create or increase the profit being generated by the product represented in the ad (Andersen, 2003: 67). However, it is important for the product to embody the cultural norms of the society. In this case, capitalism is the cultural norm for the U.S. society. Capitalism is an economic structure that is formed on private ownership which, as a result, allows the accumulation of wealth to exist (Andersen, 2003: 385). Wealth in a capitalistic society can be linked with the concept of patriarchy. Patriarchy benefits men, particularly white men of European descent (Andersen, 2003: 394). As a result, the economy, and those who govern the economy, wants to preserve the ideals upon which the structure of capitalism was developed (Andersen, 2003: 394). The corporations that control the majority of the nation’s wealth also control media production (Pediatrics.aappublications.org , 1999). 

The traditional values of capitalism and the accumulation of wealth are associated with the products and are promoted in the advertising of the products (Anderson, 2003: 67). Stereotypical images of women are fostered by the products and the goal of obtaining profit from these products. An example of this is beer commercials. These ads are filled with images of women portrayed as sex objects. The association of women with beer targets both women and men. Women gather that the beer makes them more desirable to men. This same commercial appeals to men, as well. By displaying the objectified women desiring the men who consume the beverage, men desire the product itself.  As a result, the corporations see profit because the ads entice people to associate themselves with the product. Once the general population begins to associate themselves with the ideas and images the producers create, more profit is generated for the organization and the stereotypical images of women are accepted and learned. This becomes an inherent problem in the media. The promotion of such stereotypical images is not based on reality, but is, in fact, false pretenses and myths of social standards. The media acts to control the viewer’s thoughts by placing these images where ever they can. The traditional values associated with products help the producers of media to uphold certain social structures. These structures are ideas that become accepted by society as a whole. As a result of this, role learning takes place among the men and women of society.

The Role Learning Theory explains that the values associated with products seen by women and men are learned. Women and men see images taking on stereotypical gendered roles and, from those images, learn how their own identity should be (Andersen, 2003: 65). Children often become a major target audience of gendered stereotypes in the media (Andersen, 2003: 66).

As viewers of the media, children learn from images they are presented. Younger viewers are impressionable and still in the midst of developing opinions. This is made evident in an article by Fern Johnson. He stated:

In ads directed to children that underlying ideology for the discourse scripted into the ads presents verbal images of gender that conform to blatantly traditional recipes engage discourse that position girls (and women) in constrained positions and boys (and men) inaction-oriented positions (Johnson and Young, 2002: 466).

The reason children and youth are targeted is to instill the ideals of patriarchy as early as possible. Adolescents learn to accept their positions without the knowledge of the gender stereotypes being presented to them (Andersen, 2003: 66). This allows for the social construction of a young viewer to be manipulated by ads in the media. The simple usage of advertisements to communicate gender roles can act as a training ground for young America. By ingraining the beliefs of stereotypes, as children grow, they will use those ideologies they leaned as young children later in life. Thusly, they conform much more quickly to the capitalistic nature of the workforce. This process takes place over a long span of time.

These ideas about how women should act, look, are valued do not happen over night. The gender roles and dehumanization of women is a process that is accomplished with a great deal of time and repetition. When a viewer is surrounded, daily, with depictions of sexual norms that are unrealistic it becomes clear they will begin to associate their own personal identity with the advertisement, in some manner. The individual will either believe the ideology presented to be true, or will conform in order to avoid societal rejection. Corporations use these methods for the purpose maximizing profit and to insure the continuation of an economic structure that generates inequality in order to create wealth for those in power.

In order to reduce negative stereotypes of women in the media, the first step is to dismantle capitalism.  Capitalism needs to be dismantled because the existence of ads is to aid consumerism and maximize profits for major corporations.  This relates greatly to the theory of Capitalism and the Media. Many of these corporations put a lot of money into this branding technique because it enables them to link the product with the consumer (Klein, 2000). According to Fern Johnson and Karren Young, “One main type of image-based influence targets gender identity, and uses it to link products to their consumers” (Johnson and Young, 2002:463).     However, in order to do this, the media creates narrow roles in which women and young girls feel compelled to fit into; hence, gender roles are created (Johnson and Young, 2002:463). 

Not only does capitalism promote constrained roles upon women, it also supports hierarchy.  Elite, white men are primarily in charge of major corporations and media empires and they are the ones who make and produce negative stereotypes of women.  These negative stereotypes include everything from women being seen as sex objects to women being depicted as mothers and other low-status, low-paying jobs.  By classifying women into such narrow roles, it creates oppression and objectification among all women. As the Role Learning Theory suggests, women and men learn their gender roles from what is communicated to them through the media. The result is, instead of women breaking the oppression; women surrender to, and conform to, the oppression because that is what they are taught. Communism is not a solution to getting rid of capitalism; however, incorporating a more socialistic economy would disperse power within the hands of the general population and allow media to put less emphasis on profit and branding.

            Another solution for getting rid of women’s negative stereotypes in the media would be to reconstruct the media.  Since media supports capitalism or a hierarchy of power, putting more women in this field would help reduce the gender bias within the very structure of media (Thompson and Zerbinos, 1995).  Also, avidly representing women from all races, classes and ages would help the overall depiction of women in the media because it would broaden traditional gender roles.

            Along with recreating the structure of the media, comes the belief of censorship.  Creating media advocacy groups would help people band together and demand change within the media (Pediatrics.aappublications.org , 1999).  Advocacy groups could do things such as demanding that women be depicted in non-traditional female roles. Ads with women being portrayed as doctors, farmers, lawyers or trash men would be introduced to society.  Censorship could also be used within the family unit (Pediatrics.aappublications.org , 1999). 

Parents/guardians could monitor what their children are watching to ensure that their children are watching things that promote gender equality and not objectification and oppression of women.  Parents/guardians could put locks on certain channels that are known for frequently playing negative ads towards women. Parents could monitor what their children are watching by simply staying in the room.  They could turn the channel when a Victoria Secret commercial comes on or when commercials for cleaning products appear because in these particular advertisements women are being seen as either sex objects or mothers. 

Equally important is the issue of education. Parents and teachers could teach gender sensitivity in the class room (Johnson and Young, 2002).  This would educate children to recognize how advertisements create narrow gender roles and that this process does actually exist (Johnson and Young, 2002).  Protecting children from gender role models in these kinds of ads would help to break the role constraints put on many young girls. It would encourage young ladies to desire role models that are known for their mind instead of body; intellect rather than sex appeal. 

            Censorship can only exist with the presence of education (Pediatrics.aappublications.org , 1999).  Countries such as Australia and Canada have media education classes that help young people, especially young women, decipher what they are seeing on television and in ads and how those messages affect them.  Their ability to recognize such things as role constraints enables them to understand what they are watching and how it can be integrated into their own lives.  Having media education classes would decrease the impact of negative stereotypes of women in the media.

            Though gender stereotypes are reinforced by the media through many different mediums, advertisements are a large contributor to this social problem. Whether in pictures or in commercial ads, representation of women is shown in very similar ways. The manner in which women are presented to society affects women and men. However, these affects are manifested in very different ways.

 Women have a tendency to evaluate their own worth based on how similar or different they appear from women displayed in ads. Because these images are fictional, women will always come up short. However, because these images are perceived to be the norm, women will spend a lifetime trying to attain a flawless physical form. In order to gain acceptance by the opposite sex and be deemed desirable, women will purchase goods that allude to providing a better lifestyle or appearance. Women are also taught to accept lower status occupations. They are made to believe that their happiness rests in the hands of a man.

Men are similarly taught to view women as less powerful, significant and intellectual. Women, through the process of dehumanization, become objects that only exist to please and obey men. As a consequence, incidents of rape are common among women and are committed primarily by men. Submissive qualities in a woman become valuable to men and women’s place in society is made clear.

Fortunately, there are solutions to this social problem. Though some solutions are more radical than others, each solution is possible and attainable if the cooperation of the nation were behind it. Ideas such as complex as dismantling capitalism in order to adapt a more socialist economy to simply educating the younger generations to reject such ideology, pose as possible options to reduce gender stereotypes and inequalities.

In sum, the capitalism existing in the media causes unhealthy images of women to be projected into society’s beliefs. Though the existence of capitalism is to generate profit, in order to do so, the corporations must appeal to the public’s interest to solicit the product. Images of perfection and desire are created to convince people that their lives could be better. In doing so, it belittles women for a couple of reasons.

One reason is to insure the future of capitalism will be perpetuated. This is based on the theory of Capitalism and the Media. In creating gender roles, women are bound to caretaking, service oriented occupations, and sexual objectification. Opportunities of success are limited to those who deviate from the created cultural norm. This allows men to advance and experience wealth much more easily than women.

Secondly, making women seem imperfect causing a need to purchase a products that will enhance their physical appearance or acceptance by the opposite sex. This idea is supported by the Role-Learning Theory. Their exterior image is made to be the focal point of women, and is only attractive if it meets the male standard, or male gaze. Images in advertisements encourage women to yearn for unattainable personal characteristics.  Women and men both, according to this theory, learn their own gender identity as a result of repeated exposure to these ideals. Dismantling capitalism, placing women in powerful positions in the media, censorship, parent/guardian supervision and education are all ways that this social problem could be eliminated from society.    

 


 

 

References

Andersen, Margaret. (2003) Thinking about Women: Sociological Perspectives on Sex

and Gender. Boston: Pearson Education, Inc.

Dittmar, Helgar and Halliwell, Emma. (2004) Does Size Matter? The Impact of Model’s

Body Size on Women’s Body-Focused Anxiety and Advertising Effectiveness Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 23(1), 104-122.

Goetzl, David. (1999) Teen Girls Ban Ad Images of Women Advertising Age, 70(38), 32.

Http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/103/1/129. (1999) Children,

Adolescents and the Media: Issues and Solutions.

Johnson, Fern L and Young, Karen. 2002  “Gendered Voices in Children’s Television

Advertising.” Critical Studies in Media Communication. 19(4): 461-480.

Kilbourne, Jean. (1987). Still Killing Us Softly.

Klein, Naomi. 2000. “No Logo: Taking Aim at the Brand Bolles.”