Images of Men and Women in Advertisement
1. Introduction
This research study is designed to compare the images of men and those of women in advertisements. Since advertisements are ubiquitous, they become an important part of society and exert subtle influence on socialization.
Socialization is defined as a “process through which people learn the expectations of society” (Scott Outline 7a). People learn the norms, the values, and the culture of society, and train themselves to conform to adapt to it. To illustrate the process, sociologists develop the symbolic interaction theory. According to the theory, people should understand the social expectations and symbols associated with a particular status in order to interpret people’s behaviors. This understanding is achieved through social interaction, and every object that people interact with can be an agent of socialization. For example, we learn how to be a “proper” male or female while interacting with parents, teachers, and friends, and especially while browsing ads, which depict the preferred gender roles of society.
Although people claim that advertisements have no effect on them, their views towards both genders are still largely shaped by the media images, because advertisements create an environment in which people subconsciously form the mainstream expectations of males and females (Jean Kilbourne, Killing Us Softly 4, 2010). Therefore, it is very necessary to examine the information that ads convey to us.
2. Methods
I selected eight advertisements from two magazines. Four of them are from Cosmopolitan, a magazine aimed at female consumers, and the rest of them are from Gentlemen’s Quarterly, a magazine with young males as a target audience.
The four ads from Cosmopolitan advertise body washes, a lip stick, a BB cream and potato chips. Three of the four ads’ actresses are female celebrities and the other contains a couple. The four ads from Gentlemen’s Quarterly advertise a men’s fragrance, men’s underwear, a men’s watch and
This research study is designed to compare the images of men and those of women in advertisements. Since advertisements are ubiquitous, they become an important part of society and exert subtle influence on socialization.
Socialization is defined as a “process through which people learn the expectations of society” (Scott Outline 7a). People learn the norms, the values, and the culture of society, and train themselves to conform to adapt to it. To illustrate the process, sociologists develop the symbolic interaction theory. According to the theory, people should understand the social expectations and symbols associated with a particular status in order to interpret people’s behaviors. This understanding is achieved through social interaction, and every object that people interact with can be an agent of socialization. For example, we learn how to be a “proper” male or female while interacting with parents, teachers, and friends, and especially while browsing ads, which depict the preferred gender roles of society.
Although people claim that advertisements have no effect on them, their views towards both genders are still largely shaped by the media images, because advertisements create an environment in which people subconsciously form the mainstream expectations of males and females (Jean Kilbourne, Killing Us Softly 4, 2010). Therefore, it is very necessary to examine the information that ads convey to us.
2. Methods
I selected eight advertisements from two magazines. Four of them are from Cosmopolitan, a magazine aimed at female consumers, and the rest of them are from Gentlemen’s Quarterly, a magazine with young males as a target audience.
The four ads from Cosmopolitan advertise body washes, a lip stick, a BB cream and potato chips. Three of the four ads’ actresses are female celebrities and the other contains a couple. The four ads from Gentlemen’s Quarterly advertise a men’s fragrance, men’s underwear, a men’s watch and