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Gender portrayal of US children ’ s television commercials: 50s and 60s

Gender portrayal of US children ’ s television commercials: 50s and 60s. Kara Chan Hong Kong Baptist University. gender role portrayal on television programs and advertising content as major source for children’s gender role socialization Gender stereotyping existed in

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Gender portrayal of US children ’ s television commercials: 50s and 60s

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  1. Gender portrayal of US children’s television commercials: 50s and 60s • Kara Chan • Hong Kong Baptist University conferen\2002\AAA_gender5060

  2. gender role portrayal on television programs and advertising content as major source for children’s gender role socialization • Gender stereotyping existed in the portrayal of roles and activities of boys and girls the location of the setting the reward types conferen\2002\AAA_gender5060

  3. Previous studies • Studies of gender role stereotyping of children commercials dated from 70s • Patterns: (70s to early 90s) • Research on gender portrayal: male dominance in number and in voice- over; authoritative role in product endorsement; in outdoor setting; more cuts, loud music and active playing females in home setting; more fades and dissolves, soft music and quiet play conferen\2002\AAA_gender5060

  4. Historical perspectives • 1950s: a decade in the development of marketing to children • 1968: Action for Children’s Television group lobby on restriction of host selling • 1975s: the National Advertising Review Board developed a self-regulatory checklist for gender portrayal conferen\2002\AAA_gender5060

  5. Content Analysis • Chulay and Francis (1974): TV ads orienting girls to accept traditional feminine roles, as a wife, a mother, or a sex object • Seiter (1993): boys’ toy commercials depicted conflict, pursuit and competition; girls’ doll commercials focused on care of family members, clothing and home-making conferen\2002\AAA_gender5060

  6. Kline and Pentecost (1990): play groupings: play with same sex play styles: girls interacted with; boys identified with linguistic theme: scripts for boys’ ads emphasized power, control, domination; scripts for girls’ ads emphasized motherhood, relationship, glamour and attention to physical appearance • Dominance of male voice-over: myth of male voice more authoritative conferen\2002\AAA_gender5060

  7. Research question • How were males and females portrayed in children commercials in the 50s and 60s? • How does the gender portrayal differ with those found in the 70s to 90s • Method: Content analysis of TVC conferen\2002\AAA_gender5060

  8. Sample • N=341, unduplicated • 13 tapes of kids commercials in the Television Commercial Archive, Video Resources New York (tapes 2,4,6,8,10,12) • Included toys, breakfast cereals and snacks commercials • Convenient sample conferen\2002\AAA_gender5060

  9. Two levels of coding • Each commercial, code: Product category, product gender-type, sex composition, sex of voice-over, location of setting and reward type • Each central character (a child, adult, or cartoon human character appears most), up to two, code: Sex, age, role, activity, whether he/she is authoritative • 1/10 of sample coded by a second coder, • inter-coder reliability ranged from 0.9 to 1 conferen\2002\AAA_gender5060

  10. Product Category No. Percent Toys Character toys and dolls Snacks/food and drink Personal hygiene & toiletries Clothing and shoes Stationeries Household goods and appliance Others* 128 53 127 12 5 3 3 10 37.5 15.5 37.2 3.5 1.5 0.9 0.9 2.9 Table 1. Sample profile (N=341) conferen\2002\AAA_gender5060

  11. Product gender type • 82 (24%) for boys • 48 (14%) for girls • 211 (61%) for both • For neutral ads, 94 features both sexes, 90 features males only conferen\2002\AAA_gender5060

  12. Ad orientation: trend conferen\2002\AAA_gender5060

  13. Voice-over • 69% use male voice(s) • 6% use female voice(s) • 24% no voice over • 1% use male and female voices • Commercials for gender-neutral products used male v-o or no v-o conferen\2002\AAA_gender5060

  14. Voice-over: trend conferen\2002\AAA_gender5060

  15. Central characters • 307 out of 341commercials with CC • Altogether 593 CC coded • 402 male CC (68%), 191 female CC (32%) • 63 (11%) authoritative figures, (14%) male authoritative figure, 5% female authoritative figure conferen\2002\AAA_gender5060

  16. Central characters: trend conferen\2002\AAA_gender5060

  17. location • All commercials: mainly home and outdoor • Commercials for girls: mainly home and studio • Commercials for boys: mainly studio and outdoor conferen\2002\AAA_gender5060

  18. Reward type • Mainly pleasure and practical • Commercials for girls: pleasure (94%) • Commercials for boys: pleasure (56%) and practical (40%) conferen\2002\AAA_gender5060

  19. Discussion • 50s-60s: Strong male dominance in terms of ad orientation and composition of characters • 50s-80s: male to female characters ratio kept at 2:1, more balanced in the early 90s • commercials in the 50s and 60s were gender-stereotyped • The slow in change of the gender-stereotype images • Implication for advertisers: be more sensitive to the gender portrayal conferen\2002\AAA_gender5060

  20. Further research • A greater sample allowed to generalize the findings to all children’s TV commercials from the era • Interviewing advertisers and creative personnel reasons for the change or lack of change in their gender-role orientation their perceived gender roles of children conferen\2002\AAA_gender5060

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