As a young woman who has been exposed to many commercials over the course of my lifetime, I have stumbled across a realization about women portrayed in cleaning commercials. Can you personally recall a commercial promoting some type of household cleaning product that featured a male as the lead? You might be able to think of one, maybe two, but how about five? Ten? How many cleaning commercials can you think of that feature women prancing around their sparkling homes sporting aprons and rubber gloves? I am assuming the latter is much higher number. You may already have plenty of examples that you can draw from memory, so instead I found a video addressing this particular phenomenon:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqDzKad2Q3M&ob=av3e
This issue directly relates to our topic for the week which is the framing theory. To frame, as defined in the reading by Entmann, “…is to select some aspects of a perceived reality and make them more salient in a communicating text, in which such a way as to promote a particular problem definition, causal interpretation, moral evaluation, and/or treatment recommendation for the item described.” The way the media frame what they broadcast could potentially affect how we as audience members perceive that issue in real life. We have seen this time and time again with the objectification of women, particularly in the media. Especially as Media Studies students, we are all aware that women are oftentimes exploited and portrayed as sex objects all , but that is a whole separate conversation.
On the flip side, women are also being portrayed as the sole household member responsible for cleaning up after everyone else. According to cleaning commercials, women are the only people who know how to clean or use a mop! I wonder if any of you have also noticed this trend. I find this tendency to be partly amusing and partly outdated. I would like to think that the media would represent gender roles in a way that better correlates with modern trends, but according to these commercials women are still the only family members responsible for cleaning the house. Maybe it’s just my family that’s different, but my dad does the cooking, the grocery shopping, the laundry, and sometimes the cleaning. Is that the case in your house? According to the framing theory, the way that topics are framed in the media could potentially influence how the public forms beliefs about reality.
Erving Goffman explored the way media might influence viewers:
…he presented an insightful argument concerning the influence advertising could have on our perception of members of the opposite sex… We might be learning more than product definitions from these ads. We could be learning a vast array of social cues…Advertisers didn’t create sex-role stereotypes, but, Goffman argued, they have homogenized how women are publicly depicted.
Do you think these cleaning commercials focused on women enforce the notion that women are responsible for cleaning? Does it become a subconscious belief that it the woman’s job, or do you think that these one-sided commercials have no effect whatsoever on what people believe about who should do the cleaning?
What other dominating portrayals of gender roles to you see depicted in the media?
I definitely think that framing can reinforce gender stereotypes and roles. The cleaning commercials are a great example, and I can honestly say that I cannot remember any commercial having to do with household chores that involved a man. The Baran & Davis reading talked about Primary Reality which is defined as: “the real world in which people and events obey certain conventional and widely accepted rules”. Gender stereotyped media frames enforce gender roles and therefore they become part of our primary reality. If we see women being portrayed in the media constantly as the person who is in charge of cleaning and other household chores, we start to believe that that’s the way things are supposed to be. Other stereotypes I have seen in the media are that women are supposed to take care of the children, be sex objects, and are overly emotional. For males, they are supposed to be aggressive, the breadwinners, and dominant.
ReplyDeleteEntman talked about how frames have at least 4 locations in the communication process which includes: the communicator, the text, the receiver, and the culture. “Communicators make conscious or unconscious framing judgments in deciding what to say, guided by frames that organize their belief systems.” The communicators in charge of the media in the U.S. are predominantly white men. They aren’t concerned about the concept of gender roles and don’t think it’s important to portray gender equality since they most likely want to keep their dominance. To change this and stop gender stereotypes in the media, the communicators need to be a diverse group of people. “The text contains frames, which are manifested by the presence or absence of certain keywords, stock phrases, stereotyped images, sources of information, and sentences that provide thematically reinforcing clusters of facts or judgments.” That quote by itself tells us that although the text may not say directly that women are supposed to do the cleaning, it reinforces that idea by using an image of a woman cleaning. “The frames that guide the receiver’s thinking and conclusion may or may not reflect the frames in the text and the framing intention of the communicator.” If we see the same stereotyped images over and over in the media, I think that it is intentional. Some people might interpret it differently, but ultimately the same message is being portrayed. This leads to our culture accepting these represented stereotypes and gender roles, and adopting them into their daily lifestyle. It will never change unless the frames are changed.
Gender roles in the media have been prominent when it comes to product endorsement. A video from Current TV displayed a comical interpretation of this issue particularly for woman with current cleaning advertisements. As mentioned in the Baran and Dennis text, socialogist, Erving Goffman pointed out the issue of framing and the effect it has on the general public that is absorbing this type of content. “Advertisers didn’t create sex-roles stereotypes, but they have homogenized how women are publically depicted.”(pg 318) He continues by saying that marketers put woman as a specific role of being more playful, less serious, and shown off in a more sexual manner then that of men. Comparing this statement to the Current TV clip this is true. Who wears their best clothes and smiles when cleaning? The slight sexual innuendos of the scrubbing and wiping these gross surfaces aren’t thought of at first but they are present in the advertisement. The framing of woman in the traditional role of housekeeper is still highly present in the media. This is probably because it is a traditional stereotype that the whole population is aware of and it is easy to portray and deliver that message to the audience.
ReplyDeleteBreaking what Goffman describes as “social cues” is difficult. The traditional gender role of a woman within the home is slowly dissipating. Robert Entman defines framing as “a highlight some bits of information about an item that is the subject of a communication, thereby elevating them in salience.” (pg 53) He continues by defining the word salience saying that those particular frames make that specific content more ore noticeable, meaningful, or memorable to audiences. The new roles that are slowly forming within our individual households are not as a whole a stereotype anymore the media cannot group our home experience in that one instance anymore. So unfortunately these roles are still being portrayed because of the tradition and message a cleaning product has because it is easier to state. It is no longer taboo for a man to pick up a broom and do some domestic work within the home but what would be the new response if a real life Mr. Clean actually did the housework and be a “Suzie Homemaker” on television. We do not know because a man has not yet been put into that position yet.
The whole idea of gender stereotypes when it comes to advertisements is quite fascinating. As I look through my favorite magazine, or as I sit down to watch my favorite television show, is easy to see that gender plays a specific role in most advertisements. Yes, there are certain products that pertain only to females, and certain advertisements that pertain only to males, but shouldn’t cleaning products be considered a “neutral” product? As Angela pointed out, it seems as if cleaning products have become associated with females because they are the people who use the products the most. But are they? Do women really use cleaning products more than men, especially in today’s society? I do believe commercials such as those portrayed in the clip, can have a lasting affect on its viewers. Then again, doesn’t the media in some shape or form affect everyone? I have become accustomed to seeing women use these cleaning products because of the media’s use of framing.
ReplyDeleteBaran and Davis state, “Advertising using the sex appeal of women to attract the attention of men could inadvertently teach or reinforce social cues that could have inadvertent but serious consequences,” (Baran and Davis 318). Although the Youtube video doesn’t exactly show that women using cleaning products can grab the attention of men, it does show that women are more likely to use these products, and that cleaning may be considered part of a woman’s daily chores. As we examine commercials more closely, we can learn other things about the female sex as well. According to commercials on television, “women are supposed to have long, luscious lashes,” and are supposed, “to smell like roses.” Because of the media, women only see the “ideal,” and may fear what is in reality. I believe that advertisements can be dangerous. Advertisements are often filled with beautiful, thin models, and some people, especially young women, may be unable to decipher what is real from what is fake.
According to Entman, “Frames highlight some bits of information about an item that is the subject of communication, thereby elevating them in salience,” (Entman 53). This can be proven in the example of the cleaning product advertisement, but also in advertisements for alcohol and perfume/cologne. Advertisements for alcohol often show people laughing and enjoying themselves, and very rarely do they show sad or unhappy people. This presents the notion that with alcohol comes fun, but in reality, that is not always the case. Sexuality is also shown in fragrance ads, as most advertisements involving perfume show naked or scantly clad females. This presents the idea that women must look a particular way or smell a certain way to be considered “sexy.” Overall, the media’s use of framing can inadvertently put certain thoughts and ideas in a person’s mind, thus proving that the media does affect society.
Gender roles in the media are a great example of framing. Not only do you see stereotypical depictions of male and female roles in cleaning advertisements, you see it in clothing, fragrance, and food ads, and even with children’s toys! I think these frames are damaging and cause many unnecessary problems. As Entman explains on page 54 of “Framing: Toward Clarification of a
ReplyDeleteFractured Paradigm,” “…frames select and call attention to particular aspects of the reality described, which logically means that frames simultaneously direct attention away from other aspects. Most frames are defined by what they omit as well as include, and the omissions of potential problem definitions, explanations, evaluations, and recommendations may be as critical as the inclusions in guiding the audience.” I thought this was important to consider when looking at framing of gender roles because as we saw in the cleaning ads, the majority of the time we see only women doing the cleaning, and they are enjoying it. As we saw in the video, it is almost always glamorized, such as the ad for the sponge that won’t damage your nails. Although it does not literally say this, the images presented gives the idea that it is the women’s job to do the cleaning, and it is the cleaning product company’s job to make sure women can do this efficiently while staying feminine and beautiful. The fact that we don’t see men in this same role speaks volumes. This then leads to an even bigger problem, as explained on page 318 of Baron and Davis, where men take these different social cues of what women are supposed to be doing and how they should act, and apply them to real-life situations. If men are learning these social cues and believe that is how the world is, women might have a hard time avoiding behaviors that will trigger these cues. This could be the simplest things, such as moving their arm or their head in a certain way, and men might mistake this for a cue when it is not. I believe this type of framing of gender roles is extremely damaging to the social world. Even if it is a joke, I think of how my own friends will sometimes say, “Oh get to the kitchen. Make me a sandwich.” At the time we all laugh, but I think, “How serious are they, really? Do they learn this from the media? Will this mentality last generations?” I think what Adina mentioned about Mr. Clean really hits a point, and I think frames will have to change before anything else can, so maybe in the future we will see Mr. Clean unfold his arms and scrub something himself.
That video was a great choice.
ReplyDeleteI think these ads do reinforce the idea that women are responsible for cleaning. Showing a woman cleaning something is reinforcement of the idea that women are responsible for cleaning.
It’s not intentional though. We’d all freak out or find ourselves on the floor laughing if we saw a man thoroughly enjoy scrubbing a tub or passionately mopping a floor. Women were very much responsible for the cleaning that took place everywhere only a few decades ago. That is changing more and more, but not so aggressively that marketers need to include more men with cleaning products. It’s a matter of marketers taking advantage of resonance. Resonance occurs, “when viewers see things on television that are most congruent with their own everyday realities” (Baran and Davis 328).
Even though women cleaning may resonate with most people, I don’t think it becomes a subconscious belief that women are responsible for cleaning. I think the people have accepted the frame and expect cleaning and cleaning products to be presented that way. Entman explains, “Once a term is widely accepted, to use another is to risk that target audiences will perceive the communicator as lacking credibility-or will even fail to understand what the communicator is talking about” (55). In other words, showing women with cleaning products is more a matter of marketers using the buzz words/images of the cleaning discourse rather than them trying to attach real women to brooms, sponges, and/or Lysol.
Women are also often portrayed as submissive, materialistic, domestic, and weak. Men are often portrayed as dominant, strong, and aggressive. As with cleaning products and women, these portrayals of gender roles are reinforced by TV, but not created there.
What people believe about who should be doing the cleaning has more to do with how they were raised than what is on TV.
First of all, that video clip was hysterical! It had me laughing out loud! Those are the commercials that we see on a regular basis and not ONE of them features a man cleaning. So of course all I had a good laugh thinking about the ridiculous way that those women are portrayed in cleaning commercials (like how they clean while smiling and in business casual outfits!) That’s just unrealistic.
ReplyDeleteHowever I do agree with Mera here... I think that she’s right when she says that yes media has reinforced (not created!) the stereotype that women do the cleaning at home. For most of the women who clean their homes today, they may have grown up with their mother doing the cleaning. Yes, the roles for men and women today are changing -- but the traditional roles for men and women are not so far extinct that they are not still relevant. I think that while there are certainly men in America that do the cooking and cleaning while the woman is the breadwinner, that scenario is still the exception to the rule. It is still more common that women are the ones cleaning, and therefore the cleaning ads need to be targeting those women.
Still, I can see how people would consider these ads to be problematic. Linda Lazier-Smith “accuses the advertising industry of not keeping up with changes in society … We seem to be suffering a cultural lag – our culture’s beliefs and attitudes and opinions on women are lagging behind the reality about women” (McQuail 48). For the generation that is growing up today, kids have endless possibilities of what they can make of their lives. But if they always see women doing the cleaning on commercials, then the young girls might be socialized to think that cleaning (and cooking, and so forth) might be the role that they are expected to fill one day. And even worse, young boys might someday pressure their wives to fill these molds. “We might be learning more than product definitions from these ads. We could be learning a vast array of social cues…once learned, these cues could be used in daily life to make sense of members of the same or opposite sex” (Baran & Davis 318). This is a pattern we see all the time. Kids learn from what they see, and they emulate that. If we really want to open the door of possibilities for our kids, we should probably be putting women in serious business ads just as much as we put them in cleaning ads.
Bravo on the video choice. I have to agree with Angela on the ever-changing modern and “traditional family” stereotypes. In my house, my mom and dad both share the household up-keeping. To answer your question of whether or not it’s a subconscious belief that it’s the woman’s job to clean, I found this statement in the Baran & Davis text on page 315 - “As human beings, we have cognitive skills allowing us to continually scan our environment, make sense of it, and then act on these interpretations. We do this with little or NO conscious awareness. Our actions are routinized and habitual.”
ReplyDeleteAs a few of you noted earlier in the post, media has mastered subtlety - constantly reinforcing (not creating) gender roles and stereotypes which we unconsciously adhere to.
Another important role I found to framing in Entmann’s article was salience in which he defines as “making a piece of information more noticeable, meaningful, or memorable to audiences. An increase in salience enhances the probability that receivers will perceive the information, discern meaning and thus process it, and store it in memory,” (Entmann 53). So which part in these cleaning commercials are the most memorable? Is it the sexual exploitation of women in cute outfits wiping the countertops down with a bright smile on her face? Or, are we looking at the mess the children and men are making and relating them to our own lives? I know that it’s not the fact that the household cleaner kills 99.9% of germs because supposedly they all do. When I clean my apartment there is no smile on my face, no make-up on and I’m probably wearing an old t-shirt. The mess I am cleaning is most likely my own. In my opinion, cleaning commercials are the most boring to everyone because they’re all the same. To sum it up, strictly depicting woman as the sole cleaners is becoming a bit old-fashioned.
Relating the issue of framing to the use of women in ads to promote cleaning products is an excellent example. Framing, as Entmann discusses, selects as aspect of our reality uses a casual interpretation for the item, therefore the casual placement of the All-American housewife beside the newest cleaning product seems to be the right way to market an item. It is in this way that framing is so successful within advertisements. America’s obsession with television, internet, and magazines has ensured the marketers of products with a ‘sure-thin’ audience, since they know the consumers are out there watching, marketers are more apt to use framing.
ReplyDeleteAdvertisers create a sense of false perfection that offers ways for women to better themselves by using their products. “Advertising creates the problem and then provides the solution – some product or service that will help women become beautiful and stay beautiful” (Berger, 91). It is engraved in our own consumer culture, that consuming is a way to validate a person’s own self worth. Advertisements provide a constant reminder of what they don’t have, and need to have. It is in this way specifically that framing a false perfection within the ads then creates a spiral of what every woman should have in order to be that perfect mother. Since the media has a strong influence over our culture, society has faith that the media would not betray or mislead us. It is in this way that advertisers are so persuasive because they are trying to make their goods available to customers to make the customers lives easier. This is because in today’s culture, products are linked with brands. Brands are linked with lifestyles, and the brands are selling the lifestyle more than anything else. This is successful because consumers are buying the products in hope to create the persona and/or lifestyle represented by the models and celebrities within the ads.
Gender roles in our society are very prominent in our society, from the 1950’s where the man was the only breadwinner and the woman only had the option of being a ‘good’ wife for her husband; to now when more women are choosing housewife as a career because of their love of motherhood, not ‘wifehood’. By nature, women are usually better at cleaning and care giving than men. It is not some trick by the media that makes me say this, but an unsaid and usual taboo fact. Men in the instance, by nature, are better at fixing things around the house, carrying large loads, and being protective. I’m not saying this to be sexist and go against my fellow females, but I am okay with the fact that I know how to clean a kitchen and bathroom better than most males my age, and older.
I definitely believe that yes, cleaning products advertisements feature women in the role of being the perfect mom to encourage a lifestyle from the product. This is why ads for disinfecting wipes normally feature a mother and child in the kitchen baking cupcakes and then the mother is quickly wiping things down so her messy little child doesn’t get sick. This scenario is used in ads because it is so relatable, every person can recall baking or cooking in the kitchen with their mother (hence why framing is a great tool, since the audience can relate to the scene within the first 10 seconds). I also do agree that the role of being the mother, the caregiver, and the ‘maid’, has become a subconscious belief that it is a woman’s job. In the same breathe, I don’t think it has to have such a negative tone about it, I enjoy taking care of people and I know that one day I will enjoy taking care of my kids and cleaning the house, but that does not mean my husband wont ever clean a toilet. It just means that some roles in life come easier to one sex as opposed to the other. (This is of course based on the majority, I know there are many men who take on a mother role, but then why is it always referred to as the mother role….)