Depictions of Race and Gender in Commercial Advertising

1. Depictions of Race and Gender in Commercial Advertising Preet

2. Popular Assumptions • What are some of the more popular stereotypes of race and gender that you believe to be most prevalent in television commercials today?

3. Thesis • Television commercials have a massive influence on viewers perceptions, subconsciously or explicitly, and I intend to prove that regardless if the stereotypes of races portrayed in such advertisements are positive or negative, any perceived equality is basically superficial and can have damaging effects on racial divides

4. Racial Formation Theory • Racial formation (the beginning of race as a concept) • Socio-historical process by which racial categories are created, inhibited, transformed, and destroyed • Differential racialization; different subordinated racial/ethnic groups have their own unique histories and experiences with racism, shaping their portrayals in popular culture

5. Prominent Stereotypes • Due to this idea of differential racialization, portrayals of African Americans, Asian Americans, and Latino populations differ in how the are presented to viewers • This concept can also be applied to discriminatory practices against women, regardless of race or ethnicity

6. Prominent Stereotypes • A study conducted by Dana Mastero and Susannah Stern finds 83% of models with speaking roles are white, 12% black, 2% Asian, and 1% Latino • White males; domineering and exercise greater authroity and expressed in greater frequency than either racial minorities or women • African American males; portrayed as aggressive and active/instrumental • African American women; if featured at all play insignificant roles, and more broadly if women feature in adverts are usually sex objects • Some basic patterns found in "The Perpetuation of Subtle Prejudice: Race and Gender Imagery in 1990s Television Advertising” By Scott Coltrane and Melinda Messineo

7. Prominent Stereotypes • Asian Americans and the “model minority” • Most often feature in sympathetic, unthreatening roles, featuring with unsurprising frequency in adverts for technological products and depicted working • A minority population that receives almost no air time is Native American populations, save commercials for macro-retailers (e.g. Walmart) • .5% according to Mastro and Stern

8. Some Examples • An example of commercial from 1960’s which features stereotypical portrayal of Chinese laced with assumptions prominent during that era • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RrK2NMW13OE • Another example, portrayal of African American • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSIZQRi4M6c

9. Conclusions • Even if an advertisement seems relatively neutral in terms of depictions of genders and race, is it effective in diminishing such stereotypes if you notice it?

10. Conclusions • The abundance of television sets in American homes signifies the prevalence commercials have on every day lives, they are virtually inescapable • Therefore such ads most defiantly have an influence on viewers formation of images of other races and genders (SCT), and evidence points to current portrayals as damaging to self-image minority groups have of themselves as well as perceptions of other races and ethnicities