The methodology used was researching, analyzing, and observing magazine ads, plus watching commercials for a full three hours to help in exposing the advertising in the media and how it seems to characterize our society today.
Commercials are a way that gender roles are displayed in society. When you see a car commercial for a mechanic most of the time the mechanic is a man. But when you see a commercial about cleaning products for the house, normally a woman is the face you see. In other words, the media can help break the barriers on how gender roles are portrayed in society. The more those women represent strength on television; it will then encourage them to build their own self-confidence.
In review of the television viewing of women and men, it is easy to forget that the hours they spend watching television are a substantial part of each week. Excluding hours spent sleeping, women spend approximately 1 hour out of every 4 hours of each day watching television. Men, not far behind, spend about 1 hour out of every 5 hours of each day watching television (Butler 1980).
In general, these concentrated views of manhood
Cited: Anderson, Margaret L. 2000. Thinking about Women: Sociological Perspectives on Sex and Gender. Pearson Education, Inc. Butler, Matilda. 1980. Women and the Mass Media. New York, NY: Human Sciences Press. Melville, Dennis A.; Cornish, Ian M. "Conservatism and Gender in the Perception of Sex-Roles in Television Advertisements". Perceptual and Motor Skills. 1993, Vol. 77, p642.