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Liz Ibek Tabraj Murillo
English 4th Section TR44
November 19, 2012
Final Essay – 1157 words
GENDER ROLES IN THE MEDIA
Women take care and men take charge is a well-know sexist common saying that
give us an idea of how gender stereotypes are. This sexist view of genders have been
changing in the last years but it still differs depending on where you are as it could be
seen in Campbell's Chunky soup ad ( 2010-USA) and Inca Cola ad (2009-Peru). The
media has not only a big influence in society's idea of gender stereotypes but it's also
influenced by this. The media, depending on the culture, use gender stereotypes to
reach their audience by encouraging gender stereotypes such as physical appearance,
gender roles and society's idea of how men and women should be.
In the first ad, the one about Inca Cola, it could be seen a man and woman playing
out the respective masculine and feminine gender role that have been traditionally
prescribed by their culture, in this case the Peruvian culture. The man looks strong,
masculine and like the one who could take control over his own decisions and his
family decisions. In other hand, the woman in the ad looks tiny, fragile, passive and
submissive.
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It seems like she would be happy to do whatever just to please her husband. In addition,
it could be seen that the clothes they use are completely different. She is wearing the
kind of clothes that a housewife would wear while he is wearing formal clothes. The
way they dress up gives us an idea of the gender roles that they both should carry out in
their society. The woman's clothes give the idea that a wife's role in the Peruvian society
is to do housework. She could work outside but she is still in charge of cook, clean,
dust, and takes care of her family. On the contrary, the man is wearing formal clothes
so, maybe, he could work in an office or at least have a higher job position than his
wife; it means that she could not earn as much money as her husband. This makes
woman even more fragile because the one who brings more money is the man so she is
economically dependent. This is a sign of dominance.
This advertisement influences even more in the Peruvian society's idea of how
women and men should behave. This ad idealizes traditional stereotypes and gender
roles like domesticity and submissiveness for woman and independence and the
provider and protector role for men. It's also important to know that the Peruvian society
has a macho view of the genders. That's why this ad uses this kind of stereotypes just in
order to reach their audience. This ad shows the Peruvian idea of the perfect wife, who
should be someone that just wants to make his husband and family happy. She could
have a job outside but it should not interfiers with her housework like cook, dust, and
takes care of the children while the man should have the one who take care
economically of his family.
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In the same way as the last ad stereotypes woman and man in order to please and reach
the audience of their objective public, the American ad - Campbell's Chunky Soup ad
(2010) give us a completely different view of gender roles. This ad will show us how
man can play woman's role and woman can do things that man do as well.
In the second ad it could be seen a man who breaks all the typical stereotypes. The
man in the ad doesn't look like the macho. On the contrary he looks more passive and
sensitive. In this ad, there is not a woman but it could be deduced that she would looks
like an independent one. Also it could be seen that the man in this case is not wearing a
suit or formal clothes; he is wearing a shirt and probably comfortable pants and sandals.
On the other hand, the woman probably would not be wearing the kind of clothes that
the typical housewife wears. All these differences even in the way they dress up let us
think about what kind of job they could have. He is wearing clothes for do housework
so he is a house-husband while, probably, his wife is working outside as a secretary,
sale seller, and any job that in past times just a man could get. Gone are those days
when man was expected make a living all by himself and provide for his family, now
the woman is the bread-winner. Gender roles have change. According to some sources,
the rate of house-husbands or stay-at-home dad has increased in the last years. The
principal reason of this shift of traditional gender roles is the massive job losses; the
recession has hit harder the male dominated industries like manufacturing and
construction. Pamela J. Smock, a professor at the University of Michigan, says “The
economic crisis is heavily affecting families and what the latest data show is that gender
roles are flexible and are going in the direction of egalitarian roles".
This advertisement breaks the typical idea of how men and women should be and
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how they should behave. This ad idealize equality and the modern idea of gender roles,
it means that is not necessary be a woman to take care of the children, cook, dust, an
other many things, men can do all those things as well. It is important to know that the
American culture is not a macho culture; they do not even have a word for that concept,
they took borrow the expression from the Latin-American Culture, in this case Mexican
culture. For American equality is an important value, and American woman have fought
for her rights since 1800. Feminism has played an important role in the history and
culture of the United States. On addition, the crisis in American has hit more men than
women, is easier find a job is you are a woman so now men should stay at home. That is
why this ad breaks the macho idea of gender roles, and changes it completely.
In conclusion, gender roles has change in every culture at least a little but as it could
be seen the macho idea of gender roles is still present in some cultures like in the
Peruvian culture while in others like the American culture the meaning of gender roles
have change in so many ways. The Inca Cola ad shows us a traditional family where the
wife does housework while the man goes to work. On the contrary, in the Campbell's
Chunky Soup show us something completely different, a man who stays at home to be a
stay-at-home dad whiles probably his wife is working outside. This occurs because
those cultures are completely different and the media, depending on the culture, use
gender stereotypes to reach their audience by encouraging gender stereotypes such as
physical appearance, gender roles and society's idea of how men and women should be.
