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Yes,
women are clearly subjected
to "traditional" gender roles
in advertising -- although less
"traditional" than "stereotypical."
You should check out Ms. Magazine whose last page--"No Comment"--documents
these very ads. (Of course,
Ms. is able to do this
only because they are an "ad-free"
magazine.) To learn some of
the history behind how these
ads are not only "misrepresenting"
women on a visual level, but
also encouraging the same misrepresentation
in the editorial content of
magazines, check out Gloria
Steinem's article, Sex,
Lies and Advertising.
To find out more about "what's
wrong" you should also check
out Where The Girls Are
by Susan Douglas and Naomi Wolf's
The Beauty Myth.
I think there is also an organization
called Advertising Women
of New York - which is hopefully
working on "what's right." For
other hopes of "righting these
wrongs", more and more women
are reaching top positions in
advertising firms, so maybe
this will give us hope of having
more accurate representations
of men and women.
The good news is that advertisers
are also coming out with some
great ads, which take us beyond
these "gender roles"--like the
Nike ad about girls'
sports. Good luck on your project
and I hope this helps.
—Amy
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