Long way to go, baby

Discusses ad-industry's consistent portrayal of men and women in highly gender-stereotyped roles. Penny Belknap and Wilbert Leonard's study; Men and women portrayed as unequal partners; Some progress.

By PT Staff, published on March 01, 1992

Ad Images

Despite the power of magazine advertising to shape how we see ourselves, the ad industry consistently portrays men and women in highly gender-stereotyped roles.

But the times are changing. Penny Belknap and Wilbert Leonard, of Illinois State University, scrutinized ad images in Ms., Good Housekeeping, Rolling Stone, Sports Illustrated, GQ, and Time to see whether men and women were portrayed with equal stature.

Cues such as similar height were interpreted as signs of equality. Dominance was seen when one figure was kneeling or lying at the feet of another; was lower in relation to the other; or was shown erect while the other was not.

In more than two-thirds of the ads, men and women were portrayed as unequal partners. But there were a number of happy surprises: Progress was made in some nontraditional quarters such as beer ads. There were unhappy surprises as well. Ads in the women's mags Ms. and Good Housekeeping depicted women as subordinate to men by a margin of two to one.

And where did the men make great strides? These ads reflect a less authoritarian portrayal of men, observe Belknap and Leonard. Men were allowed a soft touch-cradling and caressing instead of grasping the item-almost as much as the women.

"Photographic images may not be deliberately selected for their sexist and demeaning messages apropos women," say the researchers. Still, that is their effect, and women continue to wait for change. But the pace of social change is slower for some groups than for others.

Photos (2): SUBLIMINALLY SEXIST: Ads continue to portray one sex as subordinate to the other.