Gendered Media: The Influence of Media on Views of Gender

Of the many influences on how we view men and women and the limited perceptions they themselves hold, media, particularly advertisements, are the most pervasive and powerful. These media representations are largely uncritical and stereotypical in nature, created by the continued gendered exposure of consumers to patterns of imagery. Advertisers use the idea that men and women are different to develop stories, create conflict, and provide persuasive imagery, resulting in different interpretations of the advertisements among different sections of society.

Gendered Media: How Media Shapes Perceptions of Gender

Most heroes and protagonists are men, while women are mostly shown in traditional homemaker roles. Internationally, advertising still conforms to traditional gender portrayals. A meta-analysis of advertising globally found that women are more likely to be pictured as dependent in advertising and in homes compared to men (Luyt, 2011). One advertisement by Airtel Telecom Services named ‘Boss’ caters to these prevalent notions, where even if a woman is in a powerful position, she is depicted in socially sanctioned ways. Despite her role as CEO, the advertisement shows her prioritizing domestic duties over her professional achievements.

Analysis of Airtel's 'Boss' Advertisement

The advertisement attempts to portray the economic independence of a woman by showing her as the CEO of the company, who calls the shots at the office and sets a deadline for her employees, including her husband. This initial phase of the ad is followed by the depiction of her as ‘not a demanding boss but a caring wife,’ where on her way back home, she calls her husband to ask his choice of dinner. Here, one might expect the telecom services to use this situation to promote their network by showing her ordering food or paying bills, but the ad fails to do so. Instead, it successfully stresses the importance of cooking and caring for your husband, even considering that the woman has worked too.

Confinement to Domestic Roles

Upon returning home, she becomes a stereotypical ‘housewife’ who doesn't understand the pressures of work life and pleads with her husband to come home, suggesting that being a conventional wife is more important than being a good boss for a woman. This indicates that no matter how successful and independent a woman becomes in life, her most primary and important duty, connoted as ‘natural,’ is her domestic duties, confining her within the boundaries of household: family, husband, children. As Simone De Beauvoir (1949) states, “One is not born a woman but becomes one.” This process of ‘becoming’ focuses on the socialization of genders, particularly women, to become an ideal one full of care and sympathy, placing her husband and children above her own needs.

Reinforcement of Stereotypes

This advertisement, like many others, attempts a progressive approach by showing the woman, who is also the wife of the employee, as the boss. However, her role as the ‘wife’ is overemphasized, promoting regressive values. It is unclear what the ad is trying to promote—telecom service or kitchen equipment—as the lady is shown cooking elaborate meals for her husband/employee, who is overworking in the office to meet the deadline set by his boss/wife. This portrayal raises questions about how differently men and women are depicted, such as a male boss and a female boss. Advertisements often show male bosses' commitment to family by coming home in time for their child's birthday or remembering their wedding anniversary, but a female boss proves her goodness by making dinner for her husband.

Impact on Gender Roles

Sexist images in the media are accepted as ‘normal’ without significant questioning from viewers. Advertisers use a type of “consumer realism,” attempting to portray images in advertisements that are believable or real. For instance, the absence of men in traditional domestic roles and women in work outside this fold is consistent with the societal expectation that the male member is the ‘breadwinner’ (Goffman, 1979). Along with this, women are underrepresented, implying that men are the ‘culture’ and women are ‘invisible’ or unimportant. The depiction of these traditional roles and relationships between men and women normalizes violence against women.

Media's Role in Shaping Perceptions

Men are portrayed as active, adventurous, powerful, sexually aggressive, and largely involved in human relationship settings, setting the standards of ‘true masculinity’ and reinforcing it by various means. Just as consistent with cultural views of gender is the depiction of women as sex objects who are passive, dependent, and often incompetent, devoting their primary energy to improving their appearance or taking care of the home and people. Because media pervades our lives, the way they misrepresent gender may result in how we perceive ourselves and what we perceive as normal and desirable for men and women. The prevalence of these stereotypical notions significantly impacts the formation of attitudes among young boys and girls, ensuring that they succumb to these images of what their future proper role in society will be, as reinforced by normalized stereotypical images. Hence, boys and girls experience the same stereotyping, and boys suffer just as much from these images in media and commercials.

Work-Life Balance and Gender Stereotypes

Another important notion arising from this advertisement is the ‘work-life balance,’ hinting towards conservatism as the prevalent notion of balance between domestic work and professional life. This often results in questioning: how do you manage between the two? Who looks after the children? Did your husband/in-laws allow you to work? These and many more similar questions are directed towards women. This raises questions about the very common term used to denote a woman working outside of the domestic fold—‘working woman.’ How many of us use the term ‘working man’ to address the work of a man? These notions largely come from the fact that domestic work is not valued or even considered as work because it is unpaid and taken for granted, whereas those outside the domestic sphere involve the production of goods and services and have a monetary value attached to them, thereby associated with the man. This association is also perceived as ‘natural,’ just as domestic work is to women.

Conclusion

The agency responsible for the campaign, Taproot, says that the commercial is true to an independent woman's ‘choice,’ and the woman in the ad depicts true freedom as she is free to decide exactly what she would like to. But this choice of ‘forced altruism’ only comes in the lack of alternatives or a strong embodiment of these gendered notions, confirming the idea of having it all as this ‘choice’ they are allowed to have by fulfilling their obligations at home. Knowing that these advertisements and the portrayal of gender roles play a crucial part in our daily lives by forming attitudes and beliefs, i.e., a concrete value-based system resulting in a gender-based division of labor and giving a foreground to the existing parameters designated to being masculine and feminine, it is important for these advertising agencies to be socially sensitive towards these issues. There should be an attempt to construct these ads in a gender-neutral manner, considering other social conditions around.

References

• De Beauvoir, S. (1949). The Second Sex. Paris: Gallimard.
• Goffman, E. (1979). Gender Advertisements. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
• Luyt, R. (2011). Representation of Gender in Media: A Study of Gender and Advertisement. Journal of Gender Studies, 20(1), 33-45.