Advertisements And Gender Stereotypes
Most of the topics I write about here are arrived at courtesy a heated discussion on my blog. Recently, something caught my attention and I started thinking and researching about it. Television is flooded with advertisement, whatever channel/program you watch you have to sit through loads of ads.
Kids sure get influenced by these, for instance my 2.5 year old eats Oreo the way they eat in the Oreo advt… Twist – lick – dunk. That’s when her TV viewing is limited to 1 hour (which includes YouTube and DVDs). So you see, soon my Little Ms. Z will start asking for things she sees in advertisements. I have a lot of problems with these advertisements, especially ones featuring (targeting) kids.
I was recently at a Fast Food Joint with my nephew; I overheard a little girl of around 5-6 years telling her mom… “Ma, why did they give me a pink car in the kiddie surprise? I like blue… Oh they gave it to me because I’m a girl…” These gender stereotypes are engraved in the mindset of not only our society but world over. Advertisements ensure these gender stereotypes are engraved in the minds of little children from the time they start thinking & reacting.
Take Jr. Horlicks ads; they only feature little boys… why? Because boys are the only ones who need to grow taller … stronger and sharper? Except for one campaign of theirs, they only feature ‘naughty’ young boys. Are the nutritional requirements any different or do little boys deserve to grow faster??? The Daag Acche Hain advt. by Surf Excel shows only boys getting dirty, barring one ad where they show a brother and a sister. The sister falls in the puddle and starts crying, then the brother acts as if he is fighting with the puddle and says “Sorry bol raha hai” (Puddle is saying sorry).
Ads featuring children these days emphasise on roles that kids of different gender play. Girls are mostly shown having a tea party (eg. The Oreo ad), studying, and playing with their dolls. They are shown as cooperative, less aggressive and less competitive compared to boys. Boys are portrayed as brats who like getting dirty, who want to get taller and stronger. Girls are mostly shown indoors (happy at home) and boys are generally shown roughing it up outdoors. There are ads which do come as a welcome break and try to keep stereotypes away.
A study published by Browne further proves my point, “Boys appeared in greater numbers, assumed more dominant roles, and were more active and aggressive than girls. In commercials containing both boys and girls, boys were significantly more likely to demonstrate and/or explain the product even when the product used was not sex-typed.
Girls were never shown using products designed for boys (e.g., guns or trucks), and no commercials showed boys using products targeted for girls. Gender role reinforcement was observed at the level of body language and facial expression; girls were portrayed as shyer, giggly, unlikely to assert control, and less instrumental.” This study was published in 1998, and now thankfully things have become better…. But we still have a LONG way to go.
There are many people out there who think, this isn’t completely true. Well, I guess they just don’t want to see what is happening around them. You might think I’m over-reacting, just have a look at these ads on YouTube one after the other you’d know what I’m talking about. And you should definitely check this video out.
A story-teller, a Communication Trainer, a Parenting Blogger, a wife to her best friend and mum to the most adorable 2-year-old – Zoe. Falak Randerian, plays many roles, her favorite Being Zoe’s Mom. She runs story telling & communication workshop for kids My Little Chatterbox. You can read her personal blog Being Zoe’s Mom and her parenting website which she runs along with her elder sister www.momsters.in .
