Men Vs. Women in Advertisements

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Men Vs. Women and Advertisements

Since the emergence of advertising in American culture one thing that has remained constant is the visible truth that men and women are portrayed differently. In consideration to the evolution of man kind gender roles have evolved immensely throughout time, although advertisements have not kept up with this process of evolution. Companies to this day use their tactics and skills to reach out to specific genders such as pretty fonts with a stylish message, while advertisements towards men portray the character as strong and intimidating. The typical viewer can easily spot the difference in the portrayal of genders. Men are portrayed this way because the viewers look up to these characters, they want to be like them, if an advertiser were to use someone overweight and lacking in physical attributes it would lose most viewers due to a lack of interest in that character.
Depending on the product an advertiser is trying to sell the advertisement is created around whom it is being sold to. For example a men’s cologne advertisement uses dark ominous colors with a well-dressed good-looking man. Everything about said advertisement appeals to men in general, there is nothing about the ad that is meant attract the female consumer.
As for the consumers it does attract, the guys that are willing to buy the product are looking to attract the women that the men in the advertisements are able to attract. It gives the consumer a false sense of confidence, bad for the consumer but great for the advertiser. According to the text James B. Twitchell talks about the old Anacin ads where the advertisement would “hold up two quarters and claim his job was to make you believe they were different.” (Twitchell 183). Th...

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... make advertisements.
The media is not evolving as quickly as gender roles are. Although it is not a new concept, the increase of women in the workforce or men becoming stay at home dads has not changed the way advertisements work to appeal to their target gender. Advertisers are aware of the fact gender roles are changing and the way they make ads are not as accurate as they used to be, why change something that is already working with perfection? The use of people that are physically fit or good looking has worked for decades, for the future, men will most likely be portrayed the same, strong, and looked up to by others. If it weren’t for advertisers, consumers would have no idea when a new product has launched. Consumerism in general should remain unchanged, but the portrayal of gender roles should make at least a stepping-stone towards the way things are now.

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