Rhetorical Analysis of Gender Stereotypes in Commercials
Intro
Perhaps you’ve come across Dove’s “Real Beauty Sketches” commercial in the last year. This commercial, which has 59,553,696 views and counting on Youtube and was rated the “Best” commercial in 2013 (Adweek), combines smart advertising with a positive social message. The commercial starts with a man sketching individual women based upon how they describe themselves. He then asks other people to describe the women, and sketches them based on their descriptions. At the end of the commercial, he shows the women two sketches: one based on their own descriptions and the other based on other participants’ descriptions. The second sketch ends up being more accurate than the first sketch across the board, revealing that women tend to have a distorted perception of themselves. The commercial ends with the inspirational line, “You are more beautiful than you think.”
However, not all commercials feature the average man or women and convey positive social messages. In fact, it is quite the opposite. More often than not, women are underrepresented in media and in commercials, creating a hierarchy between the sexes where men are deemed superior and women inferior (Wood 31). Men and women are also given stereotypical roles in media to solidify the already-established hierarchy (Wood 31). For instance, women in commercials are portrayed as housewives and are mainly in commercials advertising cosmetics or cleanings agents. Men, on the other hand are usually portrayed as either hyper-masculine, “family men,” or seducers and are mainly present in commercials advertising cars, cigarettes, and alcohol (Wolska; Singh).
According to Kim Sheehan, professor at the University of Oregon and writer of Controversies in Contemporary Advertising, advertisements cling on to many of the values and beliefs of the 1950’s for a profit motive. She writes, “Indeed, advertising has firmly held on to this traditional portrayal of women as homemakers and uses this imagery to promote all types of products from household goods to computers and automobiles.” Another reason why advertisements depict stereotypical gender roles is because advertising is a tool used to maintain the social construct that is gender (Goffman).
In this study, I will compare the “best” and most-watched advertisements with the most effective advertisements and I will show how advertisers don’t need to perpetuate gender stereotypes to make people buy their products. In fact, if the advertisers who make the most watched ads and “best” ads want to reach the same amount of success as those who create the most effective ads, “it may be more important to be funny, smart and memorable than to worry about pleasing a particular gender” (Edmonds). This is especially true because we are subject to gender stereotyping from a young age and are socialized to believe that the way men and women are represented in these mediums is accurate (Signorielli; Gender Spectrum).
I will base my study off of two similar studies: Kenneth C. Schneider and Sharon Barich Schneider’s “Trends in Sex Roles in Television Commercials” and Radford University’s Nancy Signorielli’s, Douglas Mcleod’s, and Elaine Healy’s "Gender Stereotypes in MTV Commercials: The Beat Goes On." Schneider and Schneider 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 1971 and 1976. 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. Some of the results include women being portrayed as younger, married, employed less frequently, and indoors more than men in the 1976 commercials (83). Signorielli, Mcleod, and Healy conducted a content analysis of MTV commercials in the 90’s. Some of their observations include white men being most often in the center of attention of a commercial rather while women and other minorities were in the background, as well as a clear gender-bias in terms of the products that were being advertised (199-200).
Methods
In my study, I will do a rhetorical analysis of three different types of commercials: the ten Most Watched Ads of 2013, the ten “Best” Ads of 2013, and the ten Most Effective Ads of 2014 (Adweek) listed below to explore to what extent gender stereotyping exists in commercials. The ten Most Watched Ads are chosen based on the amount of views they receive on Youtube. The ten “Best” Ads are chosen by Adweek from a list of forty-eight finalists. The Most Effective Ads are chosen by Ace Metrix, an analytics firm which ranks the effectiveness of ads based on their Persuasion and Watchability metrics (Adweek; Ace Metrix). To analyze the ads, I created five tests which I drew inspiration from other studies such as the aforementioned study that measured gender stereotypes in commercials over time and the study that measured gender and racial stereotypes in MYC commercials during the 90’s. The five tests include: the Gender Bias test, the Agency test, the Hyper-Sexuality test, the Sexual/Romantic Gaze test, and the Settings test;
Results
Below is my raw data in three charts:
Intro
Perhaps you’ve come across Dove’s “Real Beauty Sketches” commercial in the last year. This commercial, which has 59,553,696 views and counting on Youtube and was rated the “Best” commercial in 2013 (Adweek), combines smart advertising with a positive social message. The commercial starts with a man sketching individual women based upon how they describe themselves. He then asks other people to describe the women, and sketches them based on their descriptions. At the end of the commercial, he shows the women two sketches: one based on their own descriptions and the other based on other participants’ descriptions. The second sketch ends up being more accurate than the first sketch across the board, revealing that women tend to have a distorted perception of themselves. The commercial ends with the inspirational line, “You are more beautiful than you think.”
However, not all commercials feature the average man or women and convey positive social messages. In fact, it is quite the opposite. More often than not, women are underrepresented in media and in commercials, creating a hierarchy between the sexes where men are deemed superior and women inferior (Wood 31). Men and women are also given stereotypical roles in media to solidify the already-established hierarchy (Wood 31). For instance, women in commercials are portrayed as housewives and are mainly in commercials advertising cosmetics or cleanings agents. Men, on the other hand are usually portrayed as either hyper-masculine, “family men,” or seducers and are mainly present in commercials advertising cars, cigarettes, and alcohol (Wolska; Singh).
According to Kim Sheehan, professor at the University of Oregon and writer of Controversies in Contemporary Advertising, advertisements cling on to many of the values and beliefs of the 1950’s for a profit motive. She writes, “Indeed, advertising has firmly held on to this traditional portrayal of women as homemakers and uses this imagery to promote all types of products from household goods to computers and automobiles.” Another reason why advertisements depict stereotypical gender roles is because advertising is a tool used to maintain the social construct that is gender (Goffman).
In this study, I will compare the “best” and most-watched advertisements with the most effective advertisements and I will show how advertisers don’t need to perpetuate gender stereotypes to make people buy their products. In fact, if the advertisers who make the most watched ads and “best” ads want to reach the same amount of success as those who create the most effective ads, “it may be more important to be funny, smart and memorable than to worry about pleasing a particular gender” (Edmonds). This is especially true because we are subject to gender stereotyping from a young age and are socialized to believe that the way men and women are represented in these mediums is accurate (Signorielli; Gender Spectrum).
I will base my study off of two similar studies: Kenneth C. Schneider and Sharon Barich Schneider’s “Trends in Sex Roles in Television Commercials” and Radford University’s Nancy Signorielli’s, Douglas Mcleod’s, and Elaine Healy’s "Gender Stereotypes in MTV Commercials: The Beat Goes On." Schneider and Schneider 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 1971 and 1976. 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. Some of the results include women being portrayed as younger, married, employed less frequently, and indoors more than men in the 1976 commercials (83). Signorielli, Mcleod, and Healy conducted a content analysis of MTV commercials in the 90’s. Some of their observations include white men being most often in the center of attention of a commercial rather while women and other minorities were in the background, as well as a clear gender-bias in terms of the products that were being advertised (199-200).
Methods
In my study, I will do a rhetorical analysis of three different types of commercials: the ten Most Watched Ads of 2013, the ten “Best” Ads of 2013, and the ten Most Effective Ads of 2014 (Adweek) listed below to explore to what extent gender stereotyping exists in commercials. The ten Most Watched Ads are chosen based on the amount of views they receive on Youtube. The ten “Best” Ads are chosen by Adweek from a list of forty-eight finalists. The Most Effective Ads are chosen by Ace Metrix, an analytics firm which ranks the effectiveness of ads based on their Persuasion and Watchability metrics (Adweek; Ace Metrix). To analyze the ads, I created five tests which I drew inspiration from other studies such as the aforementioned study that measured gender stereotypes in commercials over time and the study that measured gender and racial stereotypes in MYC commercials during the 90’s. The five tests include: the Gender Bias test, the Agency test, the Hyper-Sexuality test, the Sexual/Romantic Gaze test, and the Settings test;
- Gender Bias. Here, I counted the amount of significant female and male characters in each commercial. For the purpose of this study, I deemed a character “significant” if he or she appeared on the screen for five or more seconds and/or had a line in the commercial. I measured the amount of gender bias in a given commercial by using ratios. A ratio higher than one means there were more “significant” female characters than male characters. A ratio lower than one means there were more “significant” male characters. A zero means the commercial excluded women entirely, and a one means there was no gender bias. For instance, a score here of “3:5” means there are three significant female characters and five significant male characters, with an overall bias toward men.
- Agency. Here, I counted the amount of women and men that had agency in each commercial. For the purpose of this study, I defined agency to be the capacity for an individual to act in a way that would alter another person’s actions. I chose to do this test to explore whether or not men are portrayed as having more agency than women in commercials. I used the same measuring system as in the gender bias test, where a score here of “3:5” means there are three female characters with agency and five male characters with agency, with an overall bias toward men.
- Hyper-Sexuality. Here, I wanted to explore the extent to which the characters in the commercials were sexualized based on the clothing they wore and their body type. I ranked my observations on a scale from zero to two. If the characters in the commercial are overly-sexualized (meaning they were wearing promiscuous clothing and had unattainable bodies), the commercial scored a 0. If the characters are not overly-sexualized (meaning they were not wearing promiscuous clothing and had average body types), the commercial scored a 2. If 1-2 characters are overly-sexualized but the rest weren’t, the commercial scored a 1.
- Romantic Gaze. Here, I wanted to find out men or women were more likely to be the objects of another character’s sexual/romantic gaze. I ranked my observations on a scale from 0-2. If only the woman was the object of another character’s gaze, then the commercial scored a 0. If only the man was the object of another character’s gaze, then the commercial scored a 2. If the sexual/romantic gazes were mutual or non-existence, the commercial scored a 1.
- Setting. Here, I observed which settings were most common in commercials, and then divided the commercials into six settings: Outdoors/Recreational center, Various (meaning the setting changed in the commercial), Resturant, Office, Store, and Studio. This test is significant because women are most commonly portrayed as domestic, meaning they would be in a domestic setting such as in their house, whereas men are portrayed as hyper-masculine, meaning they would be in an outdoor setting such as on a farm, working in the backyard, and other outdoor settings.
Results
Below is my raw data in three charts:
Gender bias The results of my study prove that there is indeed gender stereotyping in these commercials. The 10 Most Effective, 10 Most Watched, and 10 Best Ads all had a skewed gender balance with the majority of commercials being male-centric, while the population actually holds a female majority (51% of people are female, 49% are male). However, out of the three types of commercials, the most effective ads had the least amount of gender bias while the most-watched ads and the “best” ads had an almost equal amount of gender bias, with the “best” ads being the worst offenders. Agency In addition, the majority of characters who had agency (the capacity for an individual to act in a way that would alter another person’s actions) were male in the most-watched and best-ads, whereas in the most effective ads, the quantity of men and women with agency was not only near equal, but also gave women a bit more agency. Hypersexuality Much to my surprise, the majority of commercials in my study did not overly-sexualize the actors. The majority of men and women in the commercials wore neutral clothing and were of average body type. However, a few commercials were “neutral,” meaning only one to two characters were sexualized, and and of those characters, the majority of them were female. Again, the worst offenders were the “Best” ads. Romantic Gaze Although the majority of commercials didn’t have romantic gazes, of the commercials that did, the woman was the object of another character’s sexual/romantic gaze. There were no commercials in which the man was the object of another character’s romantic gaze. The results were similar across all three types of commercials. Setting Finally, I found that the majority of commercials I analyzed were either in the Outdoors/Recreational Centers or had multiple settings. I also found that all of the commercials where only males had agency took place in the outdoors/recreational centers, meaning men are more likely to be portrayed doing stereotypically “masculine” things such as working outside. The most effective ads perpetuated this stereotype to a much lesser extent. For instance, out of the ten most effective ads, four of the commercials were solely outdoors. Three out of four of those commercials featured more, or an equal amount of, women with agency than men. The same cannot be said for the most-watched ads and “best” ads. Out of the ten most-watched ads, two of them were solely outdoors, and in both commercials only men had agency. Similarly, out of the ten “best” ads, five of them were solely outdoors, and in all of them only men had agency. |
Conclusion
Perhaps the most interesting part of my results came from the rhetorical analysis of the ten Most Effective Ads of 2013. These ads scored either equally or much better than both the Most Watched and “Best” Ads across the tests. The most effective ads had practically no gender bias, had an almost-equal amount of men and women with agency in their commercials, were less likely to hypersexualize women, and didn’t perpetuate the stereotype of women not being shown outdoors. The most-watched ads and “best” ads, on the other hand, portrayed more gender bias, featured men with agency more than women with agency, and were more likely to hypersexualize the characters.
I think it’s easy to get caught up in the “story” of a commercial, and forget that at the end of the thirty-second to two minute visual, advertisers want to make sure their audience feels inclined to purchase their products, which is why it is important to make sure that both men and women are being accurately represented in media and in commercials. This will result in a more effective and profitable strategy for advertisers, and a less discriminatory and gender-biased society for the public.
Works Cited
"Adweek's Ads of the Year: How Many Do You Recognize?" Adweek. Adweek, 10 Dec. 2013. Web. 20 Jan. 2015.
Blumenfeld, Warren. "Examining Media's Socialization of Gender Roles." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 8 Aug. 2013. Web. 31 Oct. 2014
"CLIO Awards | CLIO Awards Archive." CLIO Awards | CLIO Awards Archive. Clio, n.d. Web. 11 Nov. 2014.
"Media Portrayal of Gender Stereotypes." Gender Spectrum. Weebly. Web. 31 Oct. 2014
Edmonds, Molly. "Does Gender-targeted Advertising Work? - HowStuffWorks." HowStuffWorks. HowStuffWorks, n.d. Web. 14 Nov. 2014.
Goffman, Erving. Gender Advertisements. New York: Harper & Row, 1979. Print.
"Methodology." Ace Metrix. Ace Metrix, n.d. Web. 20 Jan. 2015.
Nudd, Tim. "The 10 Most Watched Ads on YouTube in 2013." AdWeek. Adweek, 11 Dec. 2013. Web. 11 Nov. 2014.
Rudasill, Kathleen, and Carolyn Callahan. "Gender Stereotypes and Parenting."Education.com. 23 Apr. 2014. Web. 2 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.]
Signorielli, Nancy, Douglas McLeod, and Elaine Healy. "Gender Stereotypes in MTV Commercials: The Beat Goes On." 196-202. Web.
Singh, Ravi. "Gender Representation in Tobacco and Alcohol Advertising." R Singh .net. 1 Jan. 2006. Web. 16 Nov. 2014. <http://www.rsingh.net/gender/#masculinity>.
Smith, Stacy L., Marc Choueiti, Ashley Prescott, and Katherine Pieper. "Gender Roles & Occupations: A Look at Character Attributes and Job-Related Aspirations in Film and Television." Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media (n.d.): 2-46. Seejane.org. Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media. Web. 10 Nov. 2014.
"Gender Advertisement." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 24 Oct. 2014. Web. 31 Oct. 2014.
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.
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.
Primary Sources:
Best Ads- http://www.adweek.com/news-gallery/advertising-branding/10-best-ads-2013-154404#intro
Most-watched Ads- http://www.adweek.com/news-gallery/advertising-branding/10-most-watched-ads-youtube-2013-154423#intro
Most effective Ads- http://www.adweek.com/news-gallery/advertising-branding/here-are-most-effective-ads-2014-so-far-156752
Perhaps the most interesting part of my results came from the rhetorical analysis of the ten Most Effective Ads of 2013. These ads scored either equally or much better than both the Most Watched and “Best” Ads across the tests. The most effective ads had practically no gender bias, had an almost-equal amount of men and women with agency in their commercials, were less likely to hypersexualize women, and didn’t perpetuate the stereotype of women not being shown outdoors. The most-watched ads and “best” ads, on the other hand, portrayed more gender bias, featured men with agency more than women with agency, and were more likely to hypersexualize the characters.
I think it’s easy to get caught up in the “story” of a commercial, and forget that at the end of the thirty-second to two minute visual, advertisers want to make sure their audience feels inclined to purchase their products, which is why it is important to make sure that both men and women are being accurately represented in media and in commercials. This will result in a more effective and profitable strategy for advertisers, and a less discriminatory and gender-biased society for the public.
Works Cited
"Adweek's Ads of the Year: How Many Do You Recognize?" Adweek. Adweek, 10 Dec. 2013. Web. 20 Jan. 2015.
Blumenfeld, Warren. "Examining Media's Socialization of Gender Roles." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 8 Aug. 2013. Web. 31 Oct. 2014
"CLIO Awards | CLIO Awards Archive." CLIO Awards | CLIO Awards Archive. Clio, n.d. Web. 11 Nov. 2014.
"Media Portrayal of Gender Stereotypes." Gender Spectrum. Weebly. Web. 31 Oct. 2014
Edmonds, Molly. "Does Gender-targeted Advertising Work? - HowStuffWorks." HowStuffWorks. HowStuffWorks, n.d. Web. 14 Nov. 2014.
Goffman, Erving. Gender Advertisements. New York: Harper & Row, 1979. Print.
"Methodology." Ace Metrix. Ace Metrix, n.d. Web. 20 Jan. 2015.
Nudd, Tim. "The 10 Most Watched Ads on YouTube in 2013." AdWeek. Adweek, 11 Dec. 2013. Web. 11 Nov. 2014.
Rudasill, Kathleen, and Carolyn Callahan. "Gender Stereotypes and Parenting."Education.com. 23 Apr. 2014. Web. 2 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.]
Signorielli, Nancy, Douglas McLeod, and Elaine Healy. "Gender Stereotypes in MTV Commercials: The Beat Goes On." 196-202. Web.
Singh, Ravi. "Gender Representation in Tobacco and Alcohol Advertising." R Singh .net. 1 Jan. 2006. Web. 16 Nov. 2014. <http://www.rsingh.net/gender/#masculinity>.
Smith, Stacy L., Marc Choueiti, Ashley Prescott, and Katherine Pieper. "Gender Roles & Occupations: A Look at Character Attributes and Job-Related Aspirations in Film and Television." Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media (n.d.): 2-46. Seejane.org. Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media. Web. 10 Nov. 2014.
"Gender Advertisement." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 24 Oct. 2014. Web. 31 Oct. 2014.
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.
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.
Primary Sources:
Best Ads- http://www.adweek.com/news-gallery/advertising-branding/10-best-ads-2013-154404#intro
Most-watched Ads- http://www.adweek.com/news-gallery/advertising-branding/10-most-watched-ads-youtube-2013-154423#intro
Most effective Ads- http://www.adweek.com/news-gallery/advertising-branding/here-are-most-effective-ads-2014-so-far-156752