Abstract
During interviews with students, the most common advertising gender themes of sexualisation and domesticity were explored. It was considered important to get a handle on how students interpreted such imagery and whether they accepted or rejected depictions of women as sex object or housewife/homemaker, and the reasons and justifications underlying their attitudes, since women have far more frequently been reduced to these roles than men in advertising. It was broadly found that most students found the sexualisation and sexual objectification of women in advertising problematic, at some level. However, there was some confusion and misunderstanding about what constitutes sexual objectification. Furthermore, such abstract, hypothetical, or theoretical concerns for reductive depictions of women as sex objects appeared to fall away when the discussion moved onto issues of what could or should be done to address this. Adverts that equate women with the domestic realm proved to be far less contentious for students. Indeed, none of the students interviewed expressed a concern with this ubiquitous trend in advertising. Rather, it was explained and justified on a number of fronts, which is covered in the following chapter.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
- 1.
This aspect of the findings is covered in Chap. 5 in the section on ethics.
- 2.
SMA is a brand of baby milk.
- 3.
‘Caught yiz rapid’ is a slang term for being caught doing something wrong.
- 4.
This report has remained, to date, unpublished. Following the resignation in 2008 of the Chief Executive of the Equality Authority in protest at extensive budget cuts, the Equality Authority went on to be subsumed into the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission.
- 5.
About 61% of adverts in the sample use a male voiceover, compared to only 36% which had female voiceovers.
- 6.
The concept of humour is discussed in detail in Chap. 5.
- 7.
This is a reference to Michael Kimmel’s assertion that encouraging men to invest in gender equality requires challenging the contention that equality for women represents a ‘zero-sum game’ and therefore a loss for men. Rather, equality should be understood as benefitting both sexes. See Kimmel’s TedTalk at: https://www.ted.com/talks/michael_kimmel_why_gender_equality_is_good_for_everyone_men_included#t-54193
- 8.
George Hook is a radio personality on Newstalk FM known for his controversial, ‘telling-it-like-it-is’ approach to broadcasting.
- 9.
This advert can be viewed at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AtK2qImqBQs
References
Advertising Standards Authority. (2017). Depictions, Perceptions and Harm: A Report on Gender Stereotypes in Advertising. Retrieved from https://www.asa.org.uk/asset/2DF6E028-9C47-4944-850D00DAC5ECB45B.C3A4D948-B739-4AE4-9F17CA2110264347/
Ahmed, S. (2015). Introduction: Sexism – A Problem with a Name. New Formations, 86, 5–13.
Barthel, D. (1992). When Men Put on Appearances: Advertising and the Social Construction of Masculinity. In Men, Masculinity and the Media. Newbury Park: Sage.
Berger, J. (1972). Ways of Seeing. London: British Broadcasting Corporation.
Connell, R. W. (2005). Change Among the Gatekeepers: Men, Masculinities, and Gender Equality in the Global Arena. Signs, 30(3), 1801–1825.
Connell, R. W., & Messerschmidt, J. W. (2005). Hegemonic Masculinity: Rethinking the Concept. Gender & Society, 19(6), 829–859.
Coy, M., & Garner, M. (2010). Glamour Modelling and the Marketing of Self-Sexualization: Critical Reflections. International Journal of Cultural Studies, 13(6), 657–675.
Coy, M., & Garner, M. (2012). Definitions, Discourses and Dilemmas: Policy and Academic Engagement with the Sexualisation of Popular Culture. Gender and Education, 24(3), 285–301.
Gill, R. (2007). Gender and the Media. Cambridge/Malden: Polity Press.
Gill, R. (2008). Empowerment/Sexism: Figuring Female Sexual Agency in Contemporary Advertising. Feminism & Psychology, 18(1), 35–60.
Gill, R. (2009a). Beyond the ‘Sexualization of Culture’ Thesis: An Intersectional Analysis of ‘Sixpacks’, ‘Midriffs’ and ‘Hot Lesbians’ in Advertising. Sexualities, 12(2), 137–160.
Gill, R. (2009b). Supersexualise Me! Advertising and “the Midriffs”. In Mainstreaming Sex: The Sexualization of Western Culture. London: I.B. Tauris.
Ging, D., & Flynn, R. (2008). Background Paper on the Stereotyping of Women in Advertising in the Irish Media, 1–91 [unpublished].
Goffman, E. (1979). Gender Advertisements. London: Macmillan.
Hilliard, M. (2016, January 2). Remove ‘Women in the Home’ Clause from Constitution, Says Nash: Minister Says Article that Prioritises Women’s Domestic Duties Over Career Is ‘Offensive’. The Irish Times. Retrieved from https://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/remove-women-in-the-home-clause-from-constitution-says-nash-1.2483284
Hochschild, A. (1989). The Second Shift: Working Families and the Revolution at Home. New York: Penguin.
Kilbourne, J. (1999). Can’t Buy My Love: How Advertising Changes the Way We Think and Feel. New York/London: Touchstone.
Martin, A. K. (2000). Death of a Nation: Transnationalism, Bodies and Abortion in Late Twentieth-Century Ireland. In T. Mayer (Ed.), Gender Ironies of Nationalism: Sexing the Nation (pp. 65–86). London: Routledge.
McRobbie, A. (2004). Post-Feminism and Popular Culture. Feminist Media Studies, 4(3), 255–264.
McRobbie, A. (2007). Top Girls? Young Women and the Post-Feminist Contract. Cultural Studies, 21(4–5), 718–737.
Miranda, V. (2011). Cooking, Caring and Volunteering: Unpaid Work Around the World. OECD Social, Employment and Migration Working Papers No. 116. Retrieved from http://www.oecd.org/berlin/47258230.pdf
Mulvey, L. (1992). Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema. In The Sexual Subject: A Screen Reader in Sexuality (Vol. 16, pp. 22–34). New York: Routledge.
Nagle, A. (2017). Kill All Normies: Online Culture Wars from 4Chan and Tumblr to Trump and the Alt-Right. Winchester/Washington, DC: Zero Books.
O’Connor, P. (1998). Emerging Voices: Women in Contemporary Irish Society. Dublin: Institute of Public Administration.
Peterson, A. H. (2014, February). Jennifer Lawrence And The History Of Cool Girls. BuzzFeed. Retrieved from https://www.buzzfeed.com/annehelenpetersen/jennifer-lawrence-and-the-history-of-cool-girls?utm_term=.kt3z1Y5bxV#.cr54xgE31o
Pollock, G. (2007). Encounters in the Virtual Feminist Museum: Time, Space and the Archive. London: Routledge.
Rose, G. (2001). Visual Methodologies: An Introduction to the Interpretation of Visual Materials. London: Sage.
Tasker, Y., & Negra, D. (2007). Interrogating Postfeminism: Gender and the Politics of Popular Culture. Durham: Duke University Press.
Williamson, J. (1978). Decoding Advertisements: Ideology and Meaning in Advertising. London: Marion Boyars Publishers Ltd.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
O’Driscoll, A. (2019). The Reverse Stereotype and the Double Standard: Expressions of Concern About Advertising’s Treatment of Men. In: Learning to Sell Sex(ism). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-94280-3_4
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-94280-3_4
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-94279-7
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-94280-3
eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)