Gender Stereotypes

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Advertising is used in today’s society as a way for companies to promote and sell their products to consumers. This is a generally effective way to market products, however the concept of advertising encompasses many problematic issues. These issues highlight the need for consumers to critically think about images in advertising, in order to limit the negative effects of using hyper-masculinity and ideal body types as a way to sell products, and the problems facing the LGBT (lesbian, gay bisexual and transgender) community and minority ethnic groups regarding their representation.
Gender roles are consistently shown throughout advertisements, which may have a negative effect on an individual’s forming identity. Using stereotypical male gender …show more content…
For example, In Las Vegas, Nevada many casinos started advertising same-sex commitment ceremonies as a way for gay and lesbian partners to show their love “loud and proud” (Audi, cited in Bartholomew, 2010). This form of advertising helps to normalise same-sex relationships, by presenting same-sex couples as loving and monogamous. However most advertisements feature only heterosexual couples, however, some companies have used LGBT individuals as a way to cater to a niche market. Advertisements aimed at LGBT individuals tend to advertise the ‘gay lifestyle’, implying their product is needed for the ‘gay lifestyle’ (Skover, cited in Bartholomew, 2010). Advertising which implicitly implies the need for certain products is common and effective (Vokey et al, 2013). Niche advertising is becoming increasingly popular, with over 33% of Fortune 100 companies directly advertising to gay and lesbian individuals (GLAAD, cited in Bartholomew, 2010) .This tactic is similar to how companies use hyper-masculinity to sell products, and while more studies regarding LGBT advertising will need to be performed, it is reasonable to believe this niche marketing might cause harm to LGBT individuals and their social identities (Bartholomew, 2010). Lisa Penaloza (cited in Bartholomew, 2010) states “because these representations provide a mirroring function for gay/lesbian people, they potentially …show more content…
These Ideal body types shown in advertising generally comprise of white, thin, able bodied bodies. Using these body types in advertisements is similar to both the problems discussed by Vokey et al, (2013), and Bartholomew (2010), regarding hyper-masculinity and the LGBT community, respectively. Like hyper-masculinity, ideal body types are used to convey that one way to have a perfect body is through the use of the product advertised. Implicitly presenting a conventionally attractive body alongside a product implies that buying the product will help you attain a conventionally attractive image. Although women shown in advertisements are imagined to be the pinnacle of modern beauty and fashion, they are not usually representative of the general population, and can be photo-shopped (Fouts & Burggraf, Fouts & Vaughan & Spitzer et al., cited in Diedrichs, 2010.) Poor self-esteem regarding body image in young women is linked to exposure to many examples of ultra-thin women in advertising (Barlett et al., & Grabe et al., cited in Diedrichs, 2010). Certain demographics are more vulnerable to the effects of this this, such as young, less-educated and poor individuals. Knowing that these body types are not easily attainable for the general population and realising how often photo-shop is used to improve appearances is important for
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