Gender Stereotyping in TV Commercials Essay

Stereotyping is basically relating a certain behavior or actions to a certain sector of the society or a certain group of people. It dictates how a person or a group is supposed act or respond in front of the society. It tells what behavior by a particular group is acceptable to the society. Such labels or tags are put by us humans itself. Gender stereotyping is when we relate certain manners or conduct to men and women. For example, men are the bread earners of the house and women are home makers. Such stereotypes are created by the society and the general behavior portrayed by them. Today gender stereotyping is extensively used in television commercials. This is mainly done to attract viewers to buy their product. Female stereotypes are mostly used in TV advertisements. Women are usually portrayed as sex objects in commercials. They are portrayed as â€Å"decoratives† in various promotional strategies. They are shown as desirable women to attract the male crowd. They are used more in those commercials which advertise products used by men. For example axe, addiction, etc. They are also shown with minimal clothing. Women are also portrayed as housewives only. In advertisements like Saffola oil, Maggi, Everest masala, etc. t is always the woman who is cooking, etc. Women are shown as people with lower status than men. They are the ones who are washing dishes and clothes in ads like Vim and Surf Excel respectively. Most successful women portrayed on television are always shown as fair and young women. Duskier women are very rarely shown in ads. Fair & Lovely ads are a great example. They demonstrate that any and every woman can become fair after using their product. The end result is shown as them turning fair and becoming successful or popular. They stereotype that women must always be fair and pretty to be successful. Male stereotypes are less used as compared to female stereotypes. They are usually portrayed as more successful and powerful. Men are usually well dressed in TV commercials. They are shown to have more poise and status in the society. Mostly only handsome and good looking men are used to sell products to women. Men are stereotyped to be the ones to lead the society ahead with their charm and personality and success. It has been tried to avoid such stereotyping by a lot of advertisers but at the end of the day the viewers get attracted to such advertisements only. Companies generate more revenue but such advertisements.