Wolska, Malgorzata. "Gender Stereotypes in Mass Media. Case Study: Analysis of the Gender Stereotyping Phenomenon in TV Commercials." Krytyka.org. Wordpress, 9 Sept. 2011. Web. 31 Oct. 2014.
Blumenfeld, Warren. "Examining Media's Socialization of Gender Roles." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 8 Aug. 2013. Web. 31 Oct. 2014
Signorielli, Nancy, Douglas McLeod, and Elaine Healy. "Gender Stereotypes in MTV Commercials: The Beat Goes On." 196-202. Web.
“Trends in Sex Roles in Television Commercials”, by Kenneth C. Schneider and Sharon Barich Schneider
Edmonds, Molly. "Does Gender-targeted Advertising Work? - HowStuffWorks." HowStuffWorks. HowStuffWorks, n.d. Web. 14 Nov. 2014.
Shainess, Natalie, George Ellis, and Judith Waters. "The Formation of Gender Identity." The Journal of Sex Research 5.2, Gender Disorientation (1969): 75-85. Http://ruby.fgcu.edu/. Ruby.fgcu.edu. Web. 14 Nov. 2014.]
Wood, Julia T. "The Influence of Mass Media on the Sex Problems of Teenagers." The Journal of Sex Research 2.1, Teenagers (1966): 27-35. Nyu.edu. NYU. Web. 14 Nov. 2014.
- Quotes
- “...according to a Canadian communication theorist Marshall McLuhan, it also affects people’s lives by shaping their opinions, attitudes and beliefs (1964).”
- “Antonio Gramsci, an Italian Marxian thinker, created a concept of cultural hegemony, which is an intellectual and moral leadership, distinguished from armed force...The last one [media] creates a state of domination by focusing on the elites and the dominant ideologies, subsequently neglecting the subordinate groups (Durham, Kellner 2006: XV).”
- “In the case of gender roles, the societies have established the hegemony of males by institutionalizing of male dominance over women.”
- Summary
- This article gives a pretty brief summary of gender stereotyping in mass media, more specifically, in commercials on TV. The main idea of the article is that the majority of commercials on TV display gender stereotypes that negatively effect the viewers. The article mentions a few examples of this, such as how woman in commercials are usually portrayed as housewives and are mainly in commercials advertising cosmetics or cleanings agents, and how men in commercials are usually portrayed either as hyper-masculine, “family men,” or seducers and are mainly present in commercials advertising cars, cigarettes, and alcohol.
- Analysis
- I liked this article, I thought it tied in a lot of different aspects of gender stereotyping in commercials. I think the best part of the article were the examples they used which I mentioned above. I noticed these gender stereotypes before but I’m positive that there are plenty of people who don’t notice these stereotypes or deny their existence, so an article that gives in-depth examples of said stereotypes is very strong in my opinion. I wish this article would have talked a little bit more about the root cause of gender stereotypes (Patriarchy). This was briefly mentioned and I think a more in-depth analysis of it would be beneficial.
Blumenfeld, Warren. "Examining Media's Socialization of Gender Roles." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 8 Aug. 2013. Web. 31 Oct. 2014
- Quotes
- “The act that one does, the act that one performs, is, in a sense, an act that has been going on before one arrived on the scene. Hence, gender is an act, which has been rehearsed, much as a script survives the particular actors who make use of it, but which requires individual actors in order to be actualized and reproduced as reality once again (Butler, 272).
- “...we as individuals and as a society should be expected to critically, reflectively, and creatively investigate and analyze the media rather than simply absorb them at face "value."
- “Not only must our schools help equip students with communication literacy skills, but also they must actively teach skills of media literacy to empower students in deconstructing, analyzing, and reflecting upon the media images and messages that bombard them...”
- Summary
- This article was a more thorough examination of gender stereotyping in commercials. The author’s main idea is that the issue of masculinity and femininity is at the heart of gender stereotyping in commercials. He provides the reader with a few examples of masculinity and femininity being portrayed in commercials in degrading ways.
- Analysis
- What I liked about this article was that in the end, the author provided at least an inkling of a solution. Although I wish he would have expanded his “solution” and provided the necessary steps/methodology to deconstruct gender stereotypes in media, I liked that he added it in because it gives people at least some hope. In addition, I liked how he talked a little bit more about representation of men in commercials as opposed to women. Although both men and women are stereotyped in commercials, and women are generally represented to be inferior and men superior, I think the issue of masculinity in an important one. Boys from a young age are told to suppress their emotions and “act like men.” I think that’s destructive and leads to complexes later in their life, so I like that he discussed a commercial that did just that. I didn’t like how he said “gender roles” are sometimes known as “sex roles.” I think that rhetoric is subtly trans-misogynistic.
Signorielli, Nancy, Douglas McLeod, and Elaine Healy. "Gender Stereotypes in MTV Commercials: The Beat Goes On." 196-202. Web.
- Quotes
- “In 1990...one-quarter of the audience was between the ages of 12 and 17...”
- “White men were seen most often and usually were the center of attention, while women and Blacks remained in the background.”
- Summary
- This article described the methods and findings of a content analysis of MTV commercials in the 90’s. The main idea is that white men were most often in the center of attention of a commercial with women and other minorities. The findings also showed a clear gender-bias in terms of products that were being advertised.
- Analysis
- Although this article focused on the frequency, portrayal, clothing, and subject in an MTV commercial, it did bring up an interesting point about the portrayal of race in commercials. Perhaps I will expand my question the include race, or narrow my question to women of colour. Although outdated, this article made me think.
“Trends in Sex Roles in Television Commercials”, by Kenneth C. Schneider and Sharon Barich Schneider
- Quotes
- “Female characters, however, are still seen more frequently in this role [married] than are male characters, by a difference of 20% in 1976.
- “The proportion [of males] portrayed as married was less than one-half the percentage of married males in the U.S. population.”
- “...the role portrayal of women can effectively be improved by casting women into a more diverse set of roles.”
- “Women were still portrayed as significantly younger, employed less frequently, inside residencies more often than men, and so forth.”
- Summary
- In this article, the authors conducted an experiment to dig deeper into the issue of representations of sex roles in television commercials. What the authors/researchers did was sample 287 commercials in 1976 and 1971. They then looked into the difference (if any) of commercials in 1971 and 1976 in regards to trends in age portrayals, employment portrayals, marital status portrayals, commercial settings, and sex of spokespersons. They described their results in their conclusion (some of the results I quoted above).
- Analysis
- All in all I liked this article mainly because it didn’t just analyze a sample of commercials for gender portrayals/stereotyping, but it compared the amount and type of gender portrayals over time, five years. A problem with this source is that it is quite outdated with the experiment conducted roughly forty-three years ago. This works both to my disadvantage and advantage. It works to my disadvantage for the mere reason that it is so outdated and the perception of women has at least changed a bit over nearly half a century. It works to my advantage because the results of this study are pretty much in line with the results of more recent studies, perhaps alluding to how our perception of women and men might have not changed as much as we think, or like it to have.
Edmonds, Molly. "Does Gender-targeted Advertising Work? - HowStuffWorks." HowStuffWorks. HowStuffWorks, n.d. Web. 14 Nov. 2014.
- Quotes
- “When it comes to a successful advertisement, it may be more important to be funny, smart and memorable than to worry about pleasing a particular gender.”
- “Yet a scan of Ad Age's Top 100 campaigns reveal just how few ads are geared toward women, suggesting they may not take priority in an advertiser's mind.”
- “A 2004 survey revealed that women-oriented advertising often seemed patronizing or offensive to female viewers.”
- Summary
- In the article, the author discusses some of the trends seen in modern advertising and explores whether they work or not. Although there are many ads that are unisex, a lot of ads are geared toward one gender or another. However, this is actually worse for markets. In fact, it’s better to have a memorable ad than an ad that pleases one gender. In addition, the author discusses how the majority of ads are catered towards men. This is a problem because although men are more easily persuaded by ads, women are more prone to buying both male and female products that are advertised while men will only buy male products, not female ones.
- Analysis
- I’m actually really happy I came across this article. Something that my other Ann Bibs only touched upon was why advertisers use gender stereotypes. This article made me think a lot and provided good sources to further explore this aspect of gender stereotyping. If gender stereotyping isn’t all that much better for the market than creating funny, memorable ads then why do advertisers do it? Hopefully I can find an answer to this question.
Shainess, Natalie, George Ellis, and Judith Waters. "The Formation of Gender Identity." The Journal of Sex Research 5.2, Gender Disorientation (1969): 75-85. Http://ruby.fgcu.edu/. Ruby.fgcu.edu. Web. 14 Nov. 2014.]
- Quotes
- “Very few women are depicted in either the articles or the ads. When they are shown, they are usually completely nude.”
- “In a Calvin Klein ad for his men's cologne, Obsession, Kate Moss, an almost childlike model, reclines nude and alone looking straight at the camera. The inference is clearly that someone similar to her will be waiting for the user of Obsession.”
- “Gender stereotypes are schemata (cognitive structures) about traits and behaviors that are perceived as typical of average or "normal" men and women.”
- “ If that person's traits and characteristics fail to meet the social ideal, the result is frequently low self-esteem and sometimes even depression.”
- “In advertising, voice-overs are more frequently male than female. The implication is that the male voice is more authoritative and credible even for household products than the female voice.”
- “Limited information...increases the reliance on stereotyping.”
- Summary
- This article explored the impact of advertising. the use of gender stereotypes by advertisers, and the pervasiveness of media influence. Some of the findings of the article I’ve noted above in the “Quotes” section.
- Analysis
- What I liked a lot about this article was that it discussed the implicit sexism and gender stereotyping in ads that I hadn’t even realized. I also like how they tied in modern commercials with findings that were either made by Erving Goffman in the late 70’s or those of another sociologist. The authors used this fact to make broader implications as to how gender stereotyping in ads has existed for a very long time and little has changed. I didn’t really understand the discussion of feminism in this article, it seemed a little random and irrelevant. Yes, feminists are concerned about gender stereotyping, and then what? The article didn’t really go into it.
Wood, Julia T. "The Influence of Mass Media on the Sex Problems of Teenagers." The Journal of Sex Research 2.1, Teenagers (1966): 27-35. Nyu.edu. NYU. Web. 14 Nov. 2014.
- Quotes
- “Three themes describe how media represent gender. First, women are underrepresented which falsely implies that men are the cultural standard and women are unimportant or invisible. Second, men and women are portrayed in stereotypical ways that reflect and sustain socially endorsed views of gender. Third, depictions of relationships between men and women emphasize traditional roles and normalize violence against women.”
- “there are three times as many white men as women... This constant distortion tempts us to believe that there really are more men than women and, further, that men are the cultural standard.”
- “The lack of women in the media is paralleled by the scarcity of women in charge of media. Only about 5% of television writers, executives, and producers are women.”
- Summary
- This article was an analysis of the Media’s influence on views of gender. The article explored three themes in particular: how there is a lack of representation of women, how men and women are portrayed in stereotypical ways, and how these portrayals justify, or “normalize” violence against women.
- Analysis
- What I liked about this article is the amount of studies that it drew its content from. However, I wish that the authors did a rhetorical/content analysis of different forms of media themselves, I think that’d greatly improve this article.