Pink vs. Blue: Gender Roles in Advertising

I think the funniest is "Kleenex for Men." What guys feel so insecure with themselves that they need a macho tissue?

OMG i looked up that laptop for women, and some of them go for $350,000!! soooo they're insulting us by saying "here! a laptop that looks like a sparkly pretty purse-thing!" and then insulting us again by saying "here! bet you're so desperate to get it, you'll pay this much!!"

either that or there are some superficial millionaire housewives who really need to give to charity. like now.

lol those energy drinks have me in stitches. Where can I get my hands on some Erektus?!

the color coded designation kinda begins with a parents celebration. the further use of it as a stereotypical marketing tool probably insists on a need for approval from our parents. i dont think mine care what i buy, so much as i dont buy into status..gender being billed as just that. of course im only assuming, cause ive bought into a nesting paradigm that sorts passed down values in transit.

-le sigh-

I think the one that bothers me most is McDonalds Happy Meals. I order them all the time: for myself. Invariably I am asked "For a boy or a girl?" The toys for girls are always way crappier than those for the boys, so if I'm tired I spit out "For a boy," and if I'm more awake I say, "Just give me the Transformer."

This would be so easy to fix. Just ask "Do you want a doll or a truck?" Why does gender even have to enter into it? Why is it so important to society to inculcate these stereotypes at an early age? I think the latest information about Caster Semenya is going to have a big impact on how we think about gender. At least, I sure hope so.

In the book Signs of Life in the USA by Sonia Maasik and Jack Solomon, there is an article that deals with exactly this topic. The article is called Men’s Men and Women’s Women by Steve Craig, he shares with his readers insight to gender and advertising by saying “gendered commercials, like gendered programs, are designed to give pleasure to the target audience, since it is the association of the product with a pleasure experience that forms the basis for much American television advertising.” I believe that it is a combination of both clichés being started based upon the feminine and masculine nature and also having so much exposure to what is considered the “norm” from birth. It is very true that from the moment your born there is a stereotype of girls being pretty and graceful while boys are wild and crazy. It seems to me that if a person is out of this norm, they are automatically considered weird or different. Advertising and marketers know that this is the stereotype and take full advantage hence all the gender specific products out there. Even though the world is becoming more and more understanding and accepting of people who are different, advertisers still use this concept or idea of selling a product to their target market. I do not think that this will ever change; I think that people are always going to stereotype girls as being girls and boys as being boys. We might as well get use to the gender specific way of advertising because it is going to be around for awhile.