Adversting
To what extent would you consider media advertising as a tool of gender, race and class stereotype? Illustrate your views with example from the media.
Visual representation of reality, as seen through mass media, is acknowledged by sociologists to be influential in shaping people 's views of the world. Our everyday realities are articulated mostly by what we see in the media. The role of advertising in this interpretation of reality is crucial. The target audience 's self-identification with the images being a basic prerequisite for an advertisement’s effectiveness, makes advertising one of the most important factors in the building of behavior models and values systems. The way a certain notion is managed at a visual level determines how people will perceive this notion and whether they will identify with it or not. Meaning is encoded in the structure of the images, which thus become potent cultural symbols for human behavior. The framing and composition of the image, the setting, the symbolic attributes and every other element in its structure, all are engaged in the effective presentation of the underlying notion
Background research suggested that stereotypical attitudes of male and female gender roles from as far back as the 1800 's were far more traditional than the gender roles of today. However women today may be seen to be more independent, career minded and successful but physical attractiveness still is a paramount quality for a woman to have. In current media beauty is seen to be synonymous with successful women. Women may no longer be seen to be barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen but the stereotype has only changed to value beauty and the pursuit of the perfect body above all else.
Men have not escaped and they too have a stereotypical model that has evolved to produce a New Age man who is sensitive, in touch with his emotions and no longer depicted with exaggerated masculinity. The prevalence of beauty adverts also point to the importance
Visual representation of reality, as seen through mass media, is acknowledged by sociologists to be influential in shaping people 's views of the world. Our everyday realities are articulated mostly by what we see in the media. The role of advertising in this interpretation of reality is crucial. The target audience 's self-identification with the images being a basic prerequisite for an advertisement’s effectiveness, makes advertising one of the most important factors in the building of behavior models and values systems. The way a certain notion is managed at a visual level determines how people will perceive this notion and whether they will identify with it or not. Meaning is encoded in the structure of the images, which thus become potent cultural symbols for human behavior. The framing and composition of the image, the setting, the symbolic attributes and every other element in its structure, all are engaged in the effective presentation of the underlying notion
Background research suggested that stereotypical attitudes of male and female gender roles from as far back as the 1800 's were far more traditional than the gender roles of today. However women today may be seen to be more independent, career minded and successful but physical attractiveness still is a paramount quality for a woman to have. In current media beauty is seen to be synonymous with successful women. Women may no longer be seen to be barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen but the stereotype has only changed to value beauty and the pursuit of the perfect body above all else.
Men have not escaped and they too have a stereotypical model that has evolved to produce a New Age man who is sensitive, in touch with his emotions and no longer depicted with exaggerated masculinity. The prevalence of beauty adverts also point to the importance
References: http://sc2220.wetpaint.com/page/Gender+Stereotypes+in+government+job+advertisements http://www.123helpme.com/view.asp?id=121708 http://www.sciencecodex.com/racial_stereotyping_increases_after_being_exposed_to_alcoholrelated_images_says_mu_psychologist-88655 The Star (Nairobi) Kenya: Selling Women Short - Adverts Perpetuate Gender Stereotypes, By Mercy Njoroge, 11 June 2011 Ross, R.J. & Hamilton, C.A. & Mbenga, B.K. (Eds.) Cambridge History of South Africa, Volume I. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (2010) Ross, R.J. Clothing: a Global History; or the Imperialists’ New Clothes. Cambridge: Polity Press. (2008) Ryan J: Media and Society: The Production of Culture in the Mass Media; Pearson (1998)