Stereotypes In Advertising

Prevalent media does not shy from stereotypical representations of gender within advertising. In actual fact, these conventional depictions are utilized to market products. Even as societal roles advance, advertisers often thrust deceitful imagery at consumers which has monumental effect. People’s perspectives of what men and women should be are warped before we’re entitled to our own opinion. This essay will explore analytic assumption made of how men and women are portrayed whilst consuming the advert, DirecTV: Pretty.

To summarize, the advert commences with a man who appears to be resting in bed watching television. Shortly following this surveillance, his wife enters the room. Rather than being represented as a woman, by a woman, she’s …show more content…
These insecurities arose after the husband had purchased a wireless cable box, followed by weeks of gloating about how happy he is without the inconvenience of wires cluttering his view. After reassurance is sought, an attempt is made to seduce the husband displaying that wires can be attractive. The wife who’s dressed in a sexy negligee then starts to prance herself; seeking his attention and approval. From the initial introduction, there is a clear stereotypical divide between the two genders and what is expected of them. Men are repeatedly given roles of authority, where more often than not women are objectified and resiliently degraded (which can be witnessed throughout this advertisement). In the 21st century you’d unquestionably anticipate women to be treated with a mutual degree of respect to their fellow male counterparts. Sheehan states that, ‘men and women living in the 21st century lead highly complex lives with multiple societal roles’ (Sheehan, 2004: 5), where this apparent point may indefinitely be factual, advertisements still portray men and women in old fashioned, stereotypically sexist habits. These types of portrayals relate …show more content…
Whilst he is lying in bed which may indicate he is settling down to unwind, his characteristics are very bland. The room itself is of a dark, neutral colour scheme, as are the clothes he is wearing. Nothing about the husband is neither striking nor memorable, this is as opposed to the wife whose characteristics define her, ‘the emotional, sexual, and psychological stereotyping of females begins when the doctor says, 'it's a girl’ (Chisholm, 1973:36). These attributes tie in with the idea that sex captures attention, although it may not initially seem apparent, the husband is not part of the fantasy for consumers. His role acts as an introduction for the wife, but as far as promotion goes he is not an important part of viewer observation. His dark, unnoticeable presence emphasizes the wife's sexual nature. If he was as brightly coloured and as vibrant as she is presented, it'd take away the important focal point directed at her. Another relating point to the previous is that if the husbands look was as bold as opposed to blending into his surroundings his masculinity would be compromised, ‘the resulting media research centered on images of women in the media (much less emphasis was placed on men) in order to draw attention to inequities in their portrayal in relation to men (in quantitative terms as well as in terms of the use of

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