FACULTATEA DE SOCIOLOGIE I ASISTEN SOCIAL

ANTROPOLOGIE

Erving Goffman- "Gender Advertisements"

Gender roles and representation in
advertisements

Profesor coordonator: Ghioiu Claudia

Student: Dumitru Corina-Andreea

Universitatea Bucureti
2016

Gender roles and representation in advertisements

Erving Goffman has written two papers that focus solely on gender: "Gender
Advertisements" (1976) and "The Arrangement Between The Sexes" (1977). Prior to his
publishing the matter of gender was seldom approached, even though at the time the disparity
between the sexes was a topic largely dealt with by second-wave feminism.
Goffman challenges the common view on the reasons why gender differences appear. He
infers that societal expectations regarding gender roles, rather than genders themselves are
the source of differences. He talks about the way biological differences are extended
culturally to multiple areas of life and uses as an example the differences between a mother
and a father. It is biologically impossible for the father to breastfeed, but it is a cultural norm
that makes other domestic duties unsuitable for a male to perform and "a whole range of
occupations away from the household come to be defined as inappropriate for the female".1
(Goffman, 1977, p. 313) Using this reasoning, Goffman goes on to analyse the reasons
couples form. He finds that due to these cultural limitations, individuals come to be
dependent on the opposite gender for the tasks found inappropriate for their own gender (a
male might take a wife to escape household chores or a female might need the company of a
male in order to fully access public places). Goffman concludes that gender identities have a
substantial influence on the establishment of relations.
Goffman makes some interesting observations in regards to gender in general and gender
display particularly. He states: "lf gender be defined as the culturally established correlates of
sex (whether in consequence of biology or learning), then gender display refers to
conventionalized portrayals of these correlates."2 (Goffman, 1979, p. 1) Observing the social
norms, he notes that gender expression is used as a basic way to characterize an individual,
femininity and masculinity being regarded as essential parts of a person. He finds gender a
product of societal norms and notes that what stands out in gender identity is the human

1 E. Goffman, The Arrangement between the Sexes, 1977, p. 313

2 E. Goffman, Gender Advertisements, 1979, p. 1

nature making people conform to expectations. "One might just as well say there is no gender
identity. There is only a schedule for the portrayal of gender."3 (Goffman, 1979, p. 8)
Goffman first publishes "Gender Advertisements" in 1976, in the fall number of Studies in
the Anthropology of Visual Communication. He makes some modifications and publishes it
as a book in 1979. "Gender Advertisements" studies gender representation in the
advertisement world. Goffman selects over 500 advertisements and analyses them in order to
find patterns in gender depiction. He finds six categories of stereotypical representation:
relative size, feminine touch, function ranking, the family, ritualization of subordination and
licensed withdrawal.
Relative Size: in Goffman's conception height or girth in advertisements are used to show
superiority. In most advertisements the male is depicted towering over the female, creating
the impression of power. This category can be linked to function ranking and ritualization of
subordination.
Function Ranking refers to the difference in authority between the genders, the male being
much more likely to be depicted as having a higher rank than the female. This category
extends outside the occupational side, showing superiority in other fields of life as well.
Goffman notes that three responses typically appear when a male is placed in "the domains of
the traditional authority and competence of females".4 (Goffman, 1979, p. 36) The first and
most common type of representation in this case is the male not contributing at all, avoiding
subordination or disregard of his gender role. In the other cases, the man is either supervised
by a female or is presented ludicrously, so as to preserve the authority of other men by
comparison.
Another portrayal of superiority is shown in Ritualization of Subordination. Goffman
notices that superiority is expressed through body language and positioning. Men are shown
holding their head high and their body straight and emanating superiority and disdain, while
women are shown lowering themselves physically, so as to create a bigger height difference.
Another common way of depicting females is on the floor or beds, suggesting either a lower
position or sexual availability.

3 E. Goffman, Gender Advertisements, p. 8

4 E. Goffman, Gender Advertisements, p. 36

The Family: When families are depicted in advertising, parents are shown to be closer to
their children of the same gender and in some instances men are shown separate from the rest
of the family, in a protective manner.
Goffman focuses on the way women are portrayed in the Feminine Touch and Licensed
Withdrawal categories. He remarks that women are frequently depicted touching persons or
objects in a ritualistic manner, occasionally just barely touching the object or person. This
type of touch also applies to their own bodies, showing a sort of vulnerability. Women are
frequently portrayed as removed from the scene around them, either by physically turning
away from the scene or by appearing lost in thought. This type of depiction could show a
need for an alert person by their side, emphasizing the role of the male.
Subsequent to Goffman's study, numerous scholars have analysed gender depiction in
advertisement using Goffman's methodology and categories. A replication of Goffman's study
was made by Penny Belknap and Wilbert M. Leonard II in 1991.5 Using the same
methodology as Goffman, they analysed a little over 1000 ads in order to see if Goffman's
categories could be applied to a larger lot of ads. The results of the study showed that when
the categories set by Goffman were present the stereotypical way of representing genders was
used. Out of the six categories, Feminine Touch and Ritualization of Subordination were
present in more than two thirds of the ads analysed, Licensed Withdrawal in about a quarter
and The Family in 12%. Function Ranking and Relative Size were scarcely found, but when
present they followed the patterns described by Goffman. In some ways, the changes in
gender roles were depicted in the advertisements selected. The authors noted that: "The
findings here are provocative, not definitive. They point to the slowness with which social
change can occur".5 (Belknap, 1991, p. 117) The traditional magazines they selected ads from
(Good Housework for example) did show higher rates of gender stereotyping.
In a study published in 2004 Katharina Lindner examines female reprezentation in
advertisements from 1955 to 2002.6 She used Goffman's categories (except for the family)
and added three more to them: body display, movement (ads in which "The woman is
inhibited in her movement, by being wrapped in a blanket for example, which limits the
amount of control she can exert on the environment"6), location and objectification. The
analysis was conducted on a lot of 1374 images taken from Times and Vogue. It was found
5

P. Belknap, W. M. Leonard II, A Conceptual Replication and Extension of Erving Goffman's Study of Gender Advertisements, 1991,

pp. 103-118.

K. Lindner, Images of Women in General Interest and Fashion Magazine Advertisements from 1955 to 2002, 2004, pp. 409-421

that 78% of the advertisements contained some sort of gender stereotype in them. "Women
were often depicted as mentally drifting from the scene and thus being unprepared and
vulnerable to potential threats in their environment (licensed withdrawal: 31.9% of all
advertisements), as lowering themselves physically and adopting postures that indicate
submission to control by others (ritualization of subordination: 33.0%), and as being mere
objects whose only function was to be looked at (objectification: 40.0%). Stereotyping in
terms of movement, on the other hand, that is, the portrayal of women as inhibited in their
ability to control space, was relatively low; only 2.5% of all advertisements met the criteria
for this category".6 (Lindner, 2004, p. 416) These percentages make for distressing results, as
advertisements have a large impact on the way we view the world and the role of women in
society. The most frequent forms of stereotyping were objectification of women, showing
them as subordinate to men or depicting them as withdrawn from their surroundings. These
types of stereotypes serve to strengthen the differences in social power already present
between men and women. There were few changes over the years in the way women were
depicted, only the categories of feminine touch, ritualization of subordination and movement
showing decreases. Another thing noticed in the study was how the type of magazine in
which the ads appeared influenced the stereotypes shown. The ads shown in Time portrayed
women more stereotypically in the categories relative size and function ranking ("the only
categories in which the role of a woman in relation to a man was coded"6), most likely due to
the fact that the magazine was of general interest. By looking at these results we can come to
the conclusion that the advertisements shown in Time reinforce stereotypical gender roles that
portray women as smaller, weaker and dependant on a man. Vogue rarely used relative size or
function ranking, but women were depicted caressing objects or tracing the outline of objects
or their body, lowering themselves physically, sitting or lying and holding on to a man for
protection. They were also depicted as withdrawn from their surroundings and in domestic or
de-contextualized environments. In Vogue, the categories of body display and objectification
were much more noticeable than in Time, the women being depicted as wearing revealing,
hardly any, or no clothing and as objects, their sole purpose being to be looked at. The
different ways in which women are depicted by the two magazines might be due to their
audience and the topics usually approached. Time approaches more serious subjects than
Vogue, which makes sexually suggestive ads inappropriate for their target audience.
The conclusions of this study are rather upsetting, especially if one looks at how
inconsequential the changes in representation of women are for such a lengthy period of time.

I believe that representation of gender in the media is oftentimes prejudiced. While

Goffman's categories of gender stereotypes have mostly lost their value, the problem of
unequal representation is still present. Another apparent problem is the lack of representation
of transgender and gender non-binary people. There is an almost complete erasure of people
that do not identify as their biological sex in the media.
Nowadays, the way in which gender, female in particular, is portrayed in advertisements
-and media in general- has transformed to a certain extent. Females are presented in positions
of power much more often than in the past. While there are more ways in which women are
empowered, a considerable number of advertisements sexualize females. The amount of
commercials and advertisements that use the female body as an object in order to sell
products (ranging from food and alcohol to clothes and cars) is extremely high. There are
numerous examples of this common practice in the advertisement world. Clothing brands like
American Apparel, Dolce & Gabbana, Gucci, Diesel have constructed an infamous reputation
based on the blatant sexualisation of females in their ads. Marketing campaigns for products
like Axe often show women as individuals with no self-control or as trophies to be won. Food
chains sexualize ads for their products. Alcohol related ads often show women in a state of
near nudity to sell their product. Commercials for cars more often than not contain women
used as prop rather than human beings. This type of representation is highly problematic, as it
leads to sexist mindsets and contributes to the perpetuation of rape culture.
The concept of rape culture was introduced in the 1970s by second wave feminists in their
efforts to raise awareness about the prevalence of rape in American society.7 Rape culture is
defined by the idea that rape is normalized in society due to outdated notions about gender
and sexuality.7 (New York Radical Feminists & C. Wilson & N. Connell, 1974) Behaviours
associated with rape culture include victim blaming (justifying rape through the actions or
clothing of the victim), sexual objectification, trivializing rape, denial of widespread rape,
refusing to acknowledge the harm caused by some forms of sexual violence (such as sexual
harassment in the workplace or catcalling), or combinations of these. (Attenborough, 2014)
Of course, stating that gender stereotyping in advertisements is the sole cause of gender
inequality is ludicrous. While the ways gender is portrayed in the media is a rather large
factor in gender inequality (as individuals are continuously exposed to media from a very
young age, fact that shapes the way one views the world and their values), the main issue is
7 It is uncertain when the term was coined, but the first published use appears
to have been in 1974

that outdated stereotypes continue being the predominant way of viewing the world. That can
be seen not only in the case of gender, but in all types of discrimination. One might argue that
discrimination is less prevalent nowadays, but that is not entirely true. Rather than
disappearing, discriminatory behaviours have become more subtle ( thus more embedded in
various social structures). That is the case of microagressions, a term that psychologist Derald
Wing Sue defines as "brief, everyday exchanges that send denigrating messages to certain
individuals because of their group membership". (Sue, 2010, p. 24) The difference between
microagression and deliberate overt discrimination, Sue finds, is the lack of intention to harm
or offend in the former case. Microagression theory can be applied in all types of
discrimination, even though it was initially intended to show how rooted in American culture
racism is.
To conclude, the concept of gender, how it is represented and how it correlates with
multiple areas of life should be studied more. Seeing as it is unlikely that the cultural norms
keeping gender as a defining feature of a person will change, scholars should strive to
understand this social construct as much as possible.

Works Cited
Attenborough, F., 2014. Rape is rape (except when its not): The media,
recontextualisation and violence against women. Journal of Language Aggression
and Conflict, 2(2), pp. 183-203.
Belknap, P. a. L. I. W., 1991. A conceptual replication and extension of Erving
Goffman's study of gender advertisements. Sex Roles, 25(3-4), pp. 103-118.
Goffman, E., 1977. The Arrangement between the sexes. Theory and Society,
4(3), pp. 301-331.
Goffman, E., 1979. Gender Advertisements. s.l.:Harper Torchbooks.
Lindner, K., 2004. Images of women in general interest and fashion magazine
advertisements from 1955 to 2002. Sex roles, 51(7-8), pp. 409-421.
New York Radical Feminists & C. Wilson & N. Connell, 1974. Rape : the first
sourcebook for women. 1st ed. New York: New American Library.
Sue, D. W., 2010. Microaggressions in Everyday Life: Race, Gender, and Sexual
Orientation. s.l.:John Wiley & Sons.