Stereotypes in Advertising: Gender

Among many places that stereotypes occur in our world, advertising is home to various examples of widely exaggerated images and ideas that the media wants us to conform to. When observing stereotypes within gender, it is easy to fall into the ideologies of 'all women are like... and all men are like...'. It is easy to identify the contrasting images within gender roles and advertisers do a good job of conveying that message.

In this commercial we see a group of women in a research facility proving that clorox is the best detergent for taking out stains. What this commercial tells its audience is that washing clothes is a woman’s work. This commercial reinforces the stereotype that women should stay at home cleaning. Also, most of the scientists in the video are men. This reinforces the stereotype that men do the important work while women stay home cleaning the clothes.

This is an example of an ad that not only breaks from gender stereotyping, but also reinforces it. The photo was taken for a french woman’s clothing store. It shows a man wearing a blouse holding a baby. To me this imagery breaks from womens stereotypes. Then the ad brings in the stereotype by asking the question “What would the world be without women?” as if a man holding a baby is such a shocking notion.

What are examples of gender stereotypes that you see in advertising today? Is it right or wrong for these advertisers to do so? Comment below!