Sociologie Românească, Vol. II, no. 1/2004, pp. 101-116.
Percepții asupra stereotipurilor de gen în publicitate
Perception of Gender Stereotypes in Publicity
Alina Coman
Abstract (Rezumat în limba engleză): It is known that advertising discourse contains gender stereotypes. This paper is a reading of the people perceptions of this kind of gender messages. After a brief introduction with a focus on the sex-gender incongruity and the specificity of patriarchal social order, we move to the analysis of the perceptions of two ads for both men and women. The participants to the focus group session revealed distinct aspects. We identified self-esteem for men who feel obliged to preserve their high gender status. In opposition, we found the gender anxiety for women who confront with gender inequity using self-defense mechanisms. Though the care ethics of women for children and old or ill people was extended for men in a false mentality, men require this kind of attention as a right of their own even if the woman is an employee, too. In conclusion, we formulated a new type of patriarchy, the mediated one, extremely subversive for women because of their showed smiling acceptance related to their inferior condition.