Gender Representation in Television Advertising
Date
2011
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
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Publisher
Faculty of Arts in English
Abstract
The present study analyzes television advertising. Superficially, the motive
behind the TV commercials seems to promote the sales of goods and make optimum
profit by selling the items being advertized. But, besides selling the goods they sell
the ideology, belief and value system that are pervasively patriarchal. It has become a
powerful agent for reconstructing and perpetuating gender stereotypes. To examine
the role of advertising for strengthening the weaker position of women this project
analyzes the advertisements aired by Nepal Television (NTV) because it has remained
a major force in shaping the public opinion of the nation. It stands for the mainstream
ideology of the nation as it is run by the state. It is the oldest channel of Nepal and has
the larger coverage in terms of both population and land area. Hence people believe
that as a responsible media it has to disseminate communication and information for
the positive change.
The things disseminated by television are taken for granted and so is the case
with television advertising. The way they present men and women go unnoticed as
they are thought to be concerned with transaction of the market. However, the
commercials on NTV assign different tasks and world values to men and women as if
they belong to the different worlds. Mostly the ads associate female with domesticity
where their main task is cooking, cleaning and looking after the children. The female
models are juxtaposed with beauty products, homemaking, fashion and food and
beverage. On the contrary they locate men with construction, hydropower, education,
transportation and other types of role which demand both brain and muscle.
The assumption made here is these ads retain the myth of femininity and
masculinity of women and men in which a man is projected as the bread winner
professional who is engaged in productive and paid works whereas a woman is either
a loving wife or a caring mother who is mostly engaged in unpaid works and very
often in frivolity and wastage. In these ads femininity goes together with passivity and
domesticity, whereas, masculinity goes with activity, knowledge and rationality. Even
if a woman is projected as a confidential professional, which is rarely done, her
confidence comes from her beautiful look. Thus, her main aim is to look beautiful to
the exclusion of other productive and creative works. The idea is women have more
prominence if they are beautiful and provocative. The ads exploit sexual appeals as
well. The images of beautiful ladies in revealing and tight and fitting dress are
sexually suggestive. So my contention is the TV commercials are not gender neutral.
By making the stereotypical representation of masculinity and femininity the TV
commercials reinforce male superiority which fuels for the inferior position of the
Nepali women. They are motivated by patriarchal ideology that systematically
marginalizes women.
To justify my claim I have chosen fifteen ads randomly that are aired by NTV.
The samples are taken from six categories: cosmetic and body care; food and
beverage; cleaning and hygiene; jewelry; banking and finance and building and
construction. To analyze the selected data it uses feminism, media analysis and
multimodal discourse analysis. However, as the project is an interdisciplinary in
nature, it applies eclectic methods.
In the process of analysis, it is found that mostly the female models are
associated with beauty products, food and beverage and washing and cleaning. The
message is cooking, cleaning and nurturing are feminine tasks and they best suit to
women. Likewise, men are associated with banking and finance and building and
construction. The message is these are rough and tough outdoor tasks so they suit to
the strength and rationality that go with masculinity. Women are portrayed as young
and beautiful and are happy nurturing and caring the children and serving the
husband. None of the women are shown as professional except in one case with the ad
of Complan, however the focus is for motherhood. In these ads beauty appears to be a
typical feminine value and aim and motherhood is also upheld as an ultimate goal for
women. The research claims that the portrayal of women in these ads focuses on the
importance of achieving femininity and self-esteem mainly through beauty at the cost
of other important aspects like being independent and fighting for gender justice.
Furthermore, most of the ads that portray women are supported by male voice-over.
By supporting the ads by male voice-over women are systematically silenced. None
of the woman represents the voice of authority and expertise.
It is confessed that many of the traditional norms and values are harmful, so
instead of perpetuating them they should be abolished. Feminists believe that the
traditional gender roles are harmful for the society on the condition that half of the
population remains passive. Besides it is not possible for all men to assert their
masculinity all the time and meet the obligation of earning the living for the family in
this materialistic age. But the emphasis on the traditional gender roles discourages
women taking part in the public field and engaging themselves in some income
generating work. Moreover, their investment in cosmetic and jewelry decreases the
investment for productive work and blocks them from gaining knowledge and skills
and make them more dependent on men. Thus, it is vital to combat the stereotypical
gender representation of women in the media.
I have attempted to expose the misleading nature of advertising. It may be
argued that advertisers find it more practicable to start where the society is and they
show what is generally practiced in the society. But the reality shown in the ads is the
exaggerated version of the reality; they simplify the things and manipulate the
consumers to buy the things. My effort is to critically analyze these commercials and
then resist the stereotypical representation of women with the realization that
stereotypes are harmful as they contribute for prejudice and discrimination. I believe
the representation of women largely in the feminine roles limits women’s scope in the
real life situation. My attempt is to show how advertising is helping to broaden the
gap of gender inequalities and then to draw the attention of the stake holders to the
seriousness of the matter.
Description
Keywords
Television Advertising, oldest channel