Introduction
Contemporary society is highly influenced by the opinions and ideas transmitted through a variety of media sources. With the advancement of digital media in line with the conventional sources of information, the exposure to advertisements is uncontrolled. It implies that the audiences consume advertising content perceiving the messages as a norm of social behavior or representation. Gender roles and age are predominantly stereotyped in advertising due to the uneven representation of genders and biased connotations about their capabilities and appearances. More significantly, while adults are capable of critical analysis of the information in advertisements, minors are more susceptible to the obtained messages, which ultimately shape their worldview in general and their understanding of gender roles in particular. Thus, gender stereotypes consumed by younger audiences through media shape the understanding of gender roles and might have a negative impact on gender equality promotion. This paper is aimed at presenting a scholarly literature review on the topic of gender stereotypes and analyzing advertising content in popular contemporary magazines to identify misrepresentation of gender and age.
Literature Review
The topic of gender roles and their stereotypical or biased representation in media in general and advertising, in particular, has been frequently addressed and researched in-depth in the scholarly literature. Multiple research studies have been conducted to analyze discourse and images used in ads to identify whether male and female personalities and body images are equally represented and if different age groups are properly portrayed (Akestam et al., 2021; Eisend, 2019). Indeed, the implications of patriarchal dominance in contemporary society have been broadly addressed due to the persistence of using sexualized body images of young women of a think body complexion in advertisements.
The advertisements of such kinds imply defined stereotyped roles for both men and women, failing to depict truthful and objective information. Such objectification of female bodies is based on the theory that holds that such advertisements reflect “sociocultural contexts where women experience sexual objectification” (Akestam et al., 2021, p. 66). In such a manner, women of age not older than approximately 30, with artificially perfected physical appearances, using photo editing tools, and transmitting sexualized messages prevail in the media context (Heathy, 2020). The problem of women’s objectification in advertisements is significant and deeply rooted in the construction of social opinions about gender roles since such messages shape people’s worldviews. In such a manner, “exposure to sexualized advertising can lead to increased self-objectification in both men and women” (Akestam et al., 2021, p. 66). Thus, with the persistence of young women’s sexualized objectification in the advertisement, their stereotypical roles will be perceived incorrectly, ultimately hindering the real-life experiences of females.
Furthermore, while youth associated with female beauty and sexual appeal dominate advertising markets, personality-related stereotypes are noticed as well. Indeed, the study research conducted by Heathy (2020) found that despite the advancement of female social roles from housewives to powerful women with opportunities in the workplace, leadership, and other social roles, their personality characteristics are misrepresented in advertising. The scholar claims that women are predominantly portrayed as “weak and fragile, easily frightened, defenseless, blinded by emotions, dependent on male counterparts” (Heathy, 2020, p. 45). Thus, such characteristics as intelligence, decision-making capability, independence, and power are not attributed to the female image in media.
Moreover, the discussion of the relationships between gender and age stereotypes and their persistence in media advertising is characterized by two opposing ideas. Firstly, due to the purpose of advertisers to reach their target audiences, they create messages that reflect the ideas and stereotypes that already exist in society (Eisend, 2019). Secondly, media messages construct new stereotypes, thus shaping and influencing the perception of gender and age roles by the audiences (Eisend, 2019). Scholars agree that despite such opposition, the exposure to the advertisement with a biased representation of gender roles promotes and reaffirms stereotypes in the population, especially in youth (Akestam et al., 2021; Eisend, 2019). Therefore, it is essential to evaluate advertising messages critically and change the discourse toward a more objective and truthful representation free of bias.
Magazine Advertisement Analysis Results
For the purposes of this research, two magazine issues have been analyzed as per the quantity and gender-related content of the advertisement. People magazine’s issue dated by June 15, 2020, and The New Yorker magazine’s issue of March 20, 2017, were examined. The results of the analysis of ads in People showed that there were 14 advertisements in the issue, five of which contained images of people. Two ads depicted young women with slim body shapes with an appeal to beauty, one ad showed a young athletic man, one ad showed a boy playing with toy cars, and one ad with an image of an elderly woman in shapewear.
As for The New Yorker advertisements, there were 26 ads in the issue, 11 of which contained images of individuals. In particular, four of them depicted young men either of an athletic body type or with the appeal to their intelligence and wealth. One advertisement showed a group of boys on a sea shore, and one advertisement promoted wealth management using a photo of an elderly man’s face. The rest of the advertisements (5 ads) used young females’ images exclusively slim and beautiful. Four of these female-focused ads were fashion-related and focused on body image, while only one portrayed the intelligence of a young woman to advertise educational services.
Discussion
Thus, the analysis of the magazine advertisement content as per the representation of age and gender showed a significant level of bias in relation to gender roles. In particular, only one ad used an image of an elderly woman, which implies severe underrepresentation of older females in media. Furthermore, the only elderly man’s image was associated with wealth, which serves as a stereotype about male roles. Male children were depicted playing stereotypically male toys, which hinders gender equality representation. Moreover, among youth, men were depicted significantly less frequently than women while implying intelligent personality and athletism. Finally, young female images dominated the advertisement, with only one ad appealing to intelligence, with the rest focusing on beauty, style, and slim body.
Conclusion
In summary, the conducted research shows that the issue of gender and age stereotyping in contemporary media is persistent. Congruent with literature review implications, the findings of the conducted magazine ads analysis have revealed that gender and age representation in advertisements does not reflect the objective reality about demographics and contributes to stereotyping of gender and age in society. The lack of older adults’ representation in advertisements diminishes their presence in the social domain. Moreover, the connotations of males being intelligent, wealthy, and athletic while females being slim, beautiful, and unintelligent reaffirm bias about genders. It is essential to impose regulations on gender representation in ads to eliminate such stereotypes.
References
Akestam, N., Rosengren, S., Dahlen, M., Liljedal, K. T., & Berg, H. (2021). Gender stereotypes in advertising have negative cross-gender effects. European Journal of Marketing, 55(13), 63-93.
Eisend, M. (2019). Gender Roles. Journal of Advertising, 1–9.
Heathy, B. H. (2020). Gender stereotypes in advertising: A critical discourse analysis. Language in India, 20(1), 45-56.