Gender representation in television

Gender Portrayals in Media

Since the advent of the television during the latter part of 1920s, men and women have been portrayed differently in movies, television, radio, music videos, news, and social media. Stereotyping men and women aided in developing sustainability strategies for marketing and advertising efforts. Essentially, it is about appeal and influencing the consumer. Unfortunately, the various mediums are fraught with sexism and racial disparities, which are difficult to overcome since the mediums are controlled by those in power. This level of control may be disguised as marketing techniques for certain target groups. By devising an appealing image for a consumer in which he or she may identify, advertisers establish a connection, thus building loyalty and developing a following. Hence, gender portrayals are fundamental practices to reach a large group of consumers by creating categorical images.

Gender Socializer: Television

Several of the popular radio soap operas made the transition to television, with many new ones created for the medium which would eventually eclipse radio in audience numbers. As with their radio predecessors, these shows were programmed for the daytime hours, and they featured commercials aimed at the housewives who were described as the stereotype of the post-war American culture. Daytime hours on television also included game and talk/advice shows, whose rhetorical strategies assumed women's capacity as caretaker of the family's economic and emotional resources. The make-up of daytime programming on the broadcast networks has stayed remarkably the same over the years, although soap opera plots seem to take into account the presence of male viewers (not only making male characters more important, but mixing action genre ingredients into the narratives). Perhaps even more significantly as programming strategy, game shows have given way on the schedule to talk shows.

Ironically, primetime television, once considered more "serious" than daytime programming, has continued to cause controversy in the 1980s and 1990s when dealing with issues (abortion, homosexuality) now regularly discussed on daytime talk shows. Primetime television has been considered by the networks and media critics and historians as more serious because of the "adult" dramas, mostly with male characters as central figures, scheduled during the late, 9:00-11:00 P.M. time slots. Of course, the unspoken here is that these shows are serious because they appeal to male viewers, who are stereotyped as more interested in violence, the law, and the sometimes socially relevant aspects of nighttime drama. Many primetime dramas of the 1950s, 1960s, and early 1970s drew on the "masculine" emphasis of genres successful in other, prior media forms -- novels, films, and radio. The western, the detective/police thriller, science fiction, and the medical drama featured controlling male characters, having adventures, braving danger, and solving problems through reason and/or violence.

Gender Messages: Advertising

Gender stereotyping in advertising still prevails despite the change in the roles of men and women over the years. Stereotyping is prevalent in advertising. Stereotyping occurs mainly related to gender's occupational status, meaning gender equality in advertising is least likely in an area that is the primary concern of gender-related politics. Stereotyping in advertising has indeed decreased over the years, although this decrease is almost exclusively due to developments in high masculinity countries. Hence, gender stereotyping in advertising depends on gender-related developments and value changes in society rather than the other way around.

As early as the late 1920s, market research suggested to advertisers the importance of the middle-class female consumer in terms of her primary role in making decisions regarding family purchases. Early radio programs included some targeted to the female listener. Advertisers found success with how-to and self-help programs that could highlight the use of a food, cosmetic, or cleaning product in their generous doses of advice patter. By the early 1930s, household product advertisers successfully underwrote serialized dramas ("soap operas") in the daytime hours, and their assumptions that women were the primary listeners during those hours meant that narratives often revolved around central female characters and that segmentation of story and commercial must conform to the working woman's activities as she listened.