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STEREOTYPING

Stereotypes are stereotypical perceptions used to generalize people or things. These are prejudices and may not be related to reality.

Stereotypes can cause many groups to appear uniform. They do not take into account people's personal characteristics, experiences and abilities. Stereotypes are widespread through the media and social environments.


Table of Content

 

•          Gender Stereotyping

•          Body İmage

•          Children Stereotyping

•          Racial Stereotyping

•          Conclusion

•          References


Gender Stereotyping

Women are the ones most harmed by stereotypes. Women are excessively energetic and obsessed with cleanliness in home and family matters. They are stuck in the role of a self-sacrificing mother, thinking more about their families than themselves. At the same time, if a woman is a busy businesswoman, she and her family are portrayed as unhappy because the most important thing for a woman is to please her family, advertisements tell us. Advertisements often portray women as fashion-obsessed shopaholics, reinforcing the stereotype that all women care about is their appearance. In reality, women have diverse interests and concerns, just like men. The objectification of the female body and the fact that women appear only as sex figures pose a big problem. Highlighting the beauty of a woman only with her body leaves her other personal characteristics in the background. The image of women as just beautiful causes women to be presented as if they have no intelligence. "According to some researchers interested in the psychology of advertising, sexuality displayed through the use of women is associated with satisfying a hunger. However, it is known to cause dissatisfaction rather than satisfaction." (Uğur and Şimşek, 2012:554).


This sets a bad example for female viewers because the super-thin women we see in advertisements constitute only 1% of the society.

Body İmage


While women are depicted as representing purity, innocence, and motherhood, men have become symbols of power, wealth, and heroism. Apart from the roles of father and family head, men appear in positions that exploit the emotions of handsome, muscular consumers in advertisements targeting audiences not directly male. The different presentations of men in today's advertisements are classified as follows (Tosun and Ülker, 2015, p. 230):

Masculine Presentation of Men: In this classification, the male body is characterized by muscle strength, physical work capacity, and endurance features. It is noted that in advertisements, the image of a slightly macho and heroic man is more frequently used. For example, in the worlds of the 1940s and 1950s, the male figure is described and reflected as strong, active, authoritative, authoritarian, tough, aggressive, prone to violence, competitive, and emotionless.


Metrosexual Presentation of Men: Since the 1980s, the use of the male body in advertisements has been observed. The main reason here, just like the use of the female body in advertisements, is to make the message in the advertisement attention-grabbing and memorable. In the advertisements of many products ranging from cars to underwear, the male body is now positioned as a sexual object. The man is now portrayed in advertisements as muscular, broad-shouldered, upright, and semi-naked.


New Generation Presentation of Men: In the early 1990s, a discourse called the 'new lad' about men emerges. This newly created lad finds a place for himself in a structure that is inclined towards football, sexuality, and alcohol and just wants to have fun like a child. So much so that the emerging new male identity prefers to avoid deep subjects and prefers not to talk, is stylish like the metrosexual man, and cares about himself. The difference between this new male identity and the metrosexual man is that he prefers expensive and sophisticated T-shirts and comfortable sportswear such as tracksuits.


Gay Presentation of Men: It is noteworthy that brands do not hesitate to communicate with LGBT consumers today. For example, it is stated that large companies such as Banana Republic, Calvin Klein, and Remy Martin Cognac have developed strategies for the gay market. It is stated that gay men in the media are often represented as overly groomed, fragile, with exaggerated clothing and behaviors, and delicate. It is noted that these consumers are presented in the media on a global scale as the opposite of the 'real man,' with feminine qualities such as being excessively groomed, fragile in alcohol consumption, thin, and aesthetically developed (Tosun and Ülker, 2016, pp. 230-231).

The people in the advertisements are in very good shape, the women are very thin and the men are very muscular. Now let's look at the effects of this on people.


Fadness et al. (1998), conducted a study on advertisements and reported the results as follows: In entertainment-related advertisements, 30.5% featured men and 0.1% featured women; in personal product advertisements, 17.2% featured men and 55.8% featured women; 90% of narrators and voice-overs were male and 10% were female; only 3% of positions at home were occupied by men while 97% were occupied by women; of the women shown on television, 77% had very fit, healthy, and beautiful bodies, and 40% of them did not have a profession.


According to research, advertisements emphasize thinness as a standard for female beauty, and the bodies idealized in the media are often different from those of normal, healthy women. In fact, today's fashion models weigh 23% less than the average woman, and a young woman between the ages of 18-34 has a 7% chance of being as slim as a catwalk model and a 1% chance of being as thin as a supermodel. However, 69% of girls in one study said that magazine models influence their idea of the perfect body shape, and the pervasive acceptance of this unrealistic body type creates an impractical standard for the majority of women.


Kilbourne also argues that advertisements do not depict a mythological world and do not show many people who are ugly, very fat, poor, struggling, or disabled. She (cited in Harper, 1998) states that the perfect display of women's bodies in advertisements causes other women to compare themselves with them and deteriorate their psychology. Women watching women with ideal measurements feel envy and admiration, leading to increased interest in the product. When this happens, advertising will achieve its goals and the desire to consume will increase in the audience. (As cited in Ezilen Kıran, 2000:15).


Children Stereotyping

Another problematic stereotype in advertisements is found in children's commercials. When it comes to children's ads, girls are often depicted with dolls and household items, reinforcing traditional "feminine" roles, while boys are shown with toys related to professions like doctor, engineer, and cars, reinforcing "masculine" roles. These stereotypes can limit children's interests and abilities, and are restrictive in nature. On the other hand, "From the perspective of children; the visual indicators of the adult woman that the girl imitates in the advertisement include: women's clothing, makeup, jewelry, styled hair, depicting the child doing tasks belonging to the adult woman (household chores, working in the office, etc.), behaviors evoking that the woman is a sexual object (feminine smile, seductive glances, low-cut clothes, etc.), while the visual indicators of the adult male role that the boy imitates in the advertisement include: riding horses, playing with weapons, wearing ties, wearing bow ties, not doing tasks considered feminine, showing fists, depicting doing tasks belonging to the adult man (working in the office, in business meetings, changing car tires, etc.)" (Uluyağcı and Yılmaz, 2007: 150).

Racial Stereotyping


Cultural stereotypes are oversimplified ideas, beliefs, or images used to describe or represent a particular culture or group of people. They are often based on a narrow understanding of a culture and are often used to make assumptions about individuals and groups of people. Cultural and ethnic stereotypes in the workplace can have a devastating and long-lasting impact on the victims, as well as the workplace in general. The effects of stereotypes can include decreased job satisfaction, low morale, reduced productivity, loss of trust, and increased turnover.


Stereotypes about African Americans can result in Black employees being perceived as less educated, primarily because of systemic racism that has been embedded in American society for centuries. Historically, Black people have been denied access to quality education, have been discriminated against in the job market, and have been subjected to a range of other forms of institutionalized racism. This has led to a situation where Black people are disproportionately underrepresented in higher education and in certain career fields. As a result, the stereotype that Black employees are less educated persists, even though it is not based in fact.


The stereotype that Hispanic-American employees are lazy exists because of a long-standing history of prejudice and discrimination towards Hispanic people. This stereotype is often used to justify denying them certain opportunities and to deny them promotions or raises. It is also used to make them appear inferior or less capable than other employees. This stereotype reflects a lack of understanding of the diversity among the Hispanic community and the many hardworking and successful individuals in it.

A common stereotype of Asian Americans is that they are highly educated, driven, and successful. This stereotype is based on the fact that Asian Americans are often over-represented in top universities and jobs in the STEM field. This stereotype has been used to explain the success of Asian Americans in many areas, such as academics, business, and technology. It has also been used to explain why Asian Americans are perceived as model minorities.


One of the main negative effects of racial stereotypes in advertising is that it can offend the population implied in the advertisement. Researcher Srividya Ramasubramanian explains how stereotypes become harmful, stating that there are two stages in the stereotyping process, where activation is more automatic and application is more specific. Essentially, she suggests that while all people implicitly believe in stereotypes to a certain extent, they only become offended when stereotypes are explicitly and openly expressed. Because people naturally identify themselves socially, they assign qualities to themselves that they can also associate with other people. The likelihood of being offended by stereotypical messages conveyed in advertisements increases due to the stereotypes present in the advertisement, which "significantly affects the way individuals self-identify within the group." Therefore, typical outcomes of archetypal representations of specific groups in advertisements are anger towards the advertising producer or a lack of self-confidence among individuals within the group.


Conclusion

In conclusion, stereotypes in advertisements have negative effects in terms of gender, body image, children, and ethnicity. Depicting women solely as nurturing mothers or associating them only with household chores disregards their true roles. The portrayal of idealized body images in advertisements has led people to compare themselves unfavorably and has caused psychological harm. Gender stereotypes in children's ads, such as assigning toys based on pink and blue colors, narrow children's perspectives. Additionally, racial stereotypes create negative perceptions of certain groups and contribute to increased discrimination in society. As explained by researcher Srividya Ramasubramanian, these stereotypes significantly influence how individuals identify with their groups, affecting their self-perception and leading to negative feelings towards advertising producers or brands that perpetuate stereotypes.


It is imperative that these issues be addressed within an ethical framework. Advertisers and brands should reflect the positive qualities of ethnic groups in their advertisements to reduce discrimination. Instead of negative stereotypes, positive stereotypes should be utilized. Stereotypes that demean and marginalize people should be abandoned. Viewers should feel equal when watching advertisements. Recognizing that everyone has flaws, more natural representations of people should be featured in advertisements. There needs to be a departure from traditional gender roles towards a more feminist perspective.

 

 

References

Tosun, N.B.  ve Ülker, Y. (2015). Kadınların, Televizyon Reklamlarında Erkek İmgesi Kullanımına Yönelik Tutumlarında Demografik Özelliklerinin Rolü.  Akdeniz İletişim Dergisi.225-244. https://dergipark.org.tr/en/download/article-file/497235. Erişim Adresi:

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Şimşek, S. (2006) Reklam ve Geleneksel Ġmgeler, İstanbul: Nüve Kültür Merkezi Yayınları

Tosun, N.B. (2007). “Sosyal Sorumluluk Bağlamında Reklâmda Etik Anlayışı”, İdil Sayımer vd. (Ed.), Halkla İlişkiler ve Reklâm Üzerine Etik Değerlendirmeler, İstanbul: BETA Basım Yayım Dağıtım A.Ş. ss. 247- 282

ULUYAĞCI, Canan, ve YILMAZ, Ayhan. (2007). “Televizyon Reklamlarında Çocuğa İlişkin Toplumsal Cinsiyet Rollerinin Sunumu”, İLETİ-Ş-İM, 6 (6), s. 141-157.

Richins, M. L. (1991). Social comparison and the idealized images of advertising. Journal of

Consumer Research, 18, (1) (June), 71-83.

Silverstein, B., Perdue, L., Peterson, B. ve Kelly, E. (1986). The role of the mass media in

promoting a thin standard of bodily attractiveness for women. Sex Roles, 14, 9/10, 519-

532.

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