Gender Stereotypes as a Reflection of Women
Introduction
The media holds up a mirror to our society. As condemned as the media may be, it does reflect much truth and reality. This is especially so for comics and advertising media because they are very much inspired by our daily lives and struggles (Klein, 1993).
Commercials and comics should never be solely regarded as the promotion of tangible objects as they carry subtle messages and reinforces certain ideas subconsciously. Gender roles are underlying and recurring themes in these commercials and it is crucial to understand the development of the images media portray because they have a strong correlation with the society. As these forms of media dominate the industry, we have to be wary of how it validates and ascertains our gender perceptions, which governs the way we behave and expect others to behave.
Commercials have been found to be influenced by society, as Huang discovers that in more patriarchal societies, gender role stereotypes are more common (Kaufman, 1999). This implies that commercials are in fact, a reflection of the society. Similarly, women in the commercials during the inaugural WNBA season are shown to be more masculine as the society becomes more accepting of women who participate in considerably more aggressive sports, like basketball (Wearden & Creedon, 2002). As the society develops and gender roles change, advertisements also evolve to adapt to the climate and changes. To compensate for the rise in women’s power, men find the need to change “their bodies to be even bigger and stronger than women’s” (Cortese, 2008, p. 72).
With gender role reversal taking place in advertisements and comics (Cortese, 2008; Klein, 1993), gendered images seem to be moving out of the stereotype images. A change in the traditional images of women portrayed in commercials has also been discovered in the area of physical activity, which “suggest that it’s acceptable for women to be powerful and aggressive” (Wearden & Creedon, 2002, p.
The media holds up a mirror to our society. As condemned as the media may be, it does reflect much truth and reality. This is especially so for comics and advertising media because they are very much inspired by our daily lives and struggles (Klein, 1993).
Commercials and comics should never be solely regarded as the promotion of tangible objects as they carry subtle messages and reinforces certain ideas subconsciously. Gender roles are underlying and recurring themes in these commercials and it is crucial to understand the development of the images media portray because they have a strong correlation with the society. As these forms of media dominate the industry, we have to be wary of how it validates and ascertains our gender perceptions, which governs the way we behave and expect others to behave.
Commercials have been found to be influenced by society, as Huang discovers that in more patriarchal societies, gender role stereotypes are more common (Kaufman, 1999). This implies that commercials are in fact, a reflection of the society. Similarly, women in the commercials during the inaugural WNBA season are shown to be more masculine as the society becomes more accepting of women who participate in considerably more aggressive sports, like basketball (Wearden & Creedon, 2002). As the society develops and gender roles change, advertisements also evolve to adapt to the climate and changes. To compensate for the rise in women’s power, men find the need to change “their bodies to be even bigger and stronger than women’s” (Cortese, 2008, p. 72).
With gender role reversal taking place in advertisements and comics (Cortese, 2008; Klein, 1993), gendered images seem to be moving out of the stereotype images. A change in the traditional images of women portrayed in commercials has also been discovered in the area of physical activity, which “suggest that it’s acceptable for women to be powerful and aggressive” (Wearden & Creedon, 2002, p.