The Gendered Language of Advertisements Directed at Children
Advertisements directed at children contain strong stereotypes attached to the
labels “boy” and “girl”. The nature of this problem is that gendered language both
reflects and contributes to stereotypes about males and females. Male and female youth
represent an increasingly profitable market for advertisers. Historically, this trend has
grown considerably over the last few decades, partly due to the increasingly large number
of cable channels offered on television (Childs & Maher, 2003, p. 408). Childs and
Maher (2003) say that researchers started to show a strong focus on this issue around the
mid- to late-1990s. During this time it was estimated that children aged 2-14 “directly
influenced $188 billion USD of parental expenditures...” (Childs & Maher, 2003, p. 408).
Childs and Maher (2003) point out that annual spending on advertising for children
amounted to approximately $3 billion USD in 2003 (Childs & Maher, 2003, p. 408).
Even though children’s advertising had received scholarly attention prior to the 1990s, it
was this sort of unprecedented growth that lead to an increase in studies (Childs &
Maher, 2003, p. 409). Childs and Maher (2003) suggest that many researchers wanted to
know if this increase in children’s television and advertising lead to a direct increase in
exposure to gender bias in everyday life. Gender stereotypes in advertisements lead to
behaviours that reflect gender attitudes by associating gender-specific behaviour with
personal rewards and fulfilment.
Gender specific behavior is a reflection of the popular idea that males and females
are “vastly different psychologically” (Hyde, 2005, p. 581). Hyde’s argument is that
males and females, including youth and adults, “are similar on most, but not all
psychological variables” (p. 581). This supports the idea that advertising continues to
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The Gendered Language of Advertisements Directed at Children
present strong stereotypes partly because many consumers, for a wide variety of reasons,
have proven to be quite receptive of gender stereotypes, as illustrated by continued sales.
Nelson and Vilela (2012) discuss how assumptions about gender differences have
also been part of scholarly work on this subject. For example, these researchers question
whether the Selectivity Hypothesis is still appropriate for scholars considering the fact
that this theory relies heavily on supposed differences between males and females. The
central principle behind this hypothesis is that in order to be successful, advertisers have
to market to men and women in different ways. Nelson and Vilela (2012) discuss this
theory as an example of how gender is not a “fact” but rather “an ideology that originates
from social, historical, and cultural constructs of ideas and beliefs” (Nelson & Vilela,
2012)
.
(Toys ‘R’ Us, 2013) Hot Wheels Retrieved from
http://www.toysrus.ca/category/index.jsp?categoryId=3730382&foreSeeBrowseSampli
ng=15&foreSeeBrowseLoyalty=1&foreSeeEnabled=true
The social construction of gender is a major component of prescribed behavior in
elementary schools. Baker-Sperry (2006) says that children negotiate ideas about gender
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The Gendered Language of Advertisements Directed at Children
while interacting with peers in an elementary school setting. Baker-Sperry (2006) refers
to today’s children as “active agents” who take an authoritative part in filtering messages
and perceiving meaning on their own terms, even within settings such as elementary
schools that are controlled by adults (p. 38). As children work out what it means to be a
“boy” or “girl” for themselves, they often establish their own unique rules for gendered
behavior. Baker-Sperry (2006) says that as a result, there are sometimes social
repercussions to “crossing gender lines,” including humiliation and chastisement (p. 41).
If gendered advertisements promote this sort of division along gender lines, the reward
and fulfillment promised by such ads is the sense of belonging and peer acceptance that
goes along with following socially-accepted ideas about gender categories. Miller et al.
(2009) support this point by saying that children often respond more harshly to boys
“who violate gender appearance norms” than they do to girls (p. 877). Thus, for boys the
reward for conforming to gender norms is the avoidance of social exclusion. The same
research also suggests that girls receive considerable “social sanctions” for not
conforming to physical appearance norms (Miller et al., 2009, p. 877). Bakir and Palan
(2010) argue that creating such clear and strong separations between the genders takes
place partly because “stereotyping functions as a way to categorize information about
what it means to be male and female...” (p. 35). As children continually rely on gender
stereotypes to categorize themselves and others, they “develop cognitive structure to help
them make sense of gender-related information” (Bakir & Palan, 2010, p. 35). Bakir and
Palan (2010) say that as a result, gender categorization becomes a natural cognitive
process.
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The Gendered Language of Advertisements Directed at Children
The idea that gender categorization becomes a natural cognitive process is
supported by the fact that advertising provides one of the most frequent sources of gender
categorization. Bakir and Palan (2010) say that the average child in the United States
views approximately 40,000 commercials per year. These commercials appear
predominantly on television, but also on billboards, public transportation ads, the
Internet, newspapers, movie theatres and many other locations in our media environment
(Johnson & Young, 2002, p. 461). Research studies suggest that the vast majority of these
advertisements contain gender stereotyping. Johnson and Young (2002) convey this point
by investigating televised ads for toys in order to determine how advertisers script
language differently for males and females. These researchers ask; “How is gender used
as a discourse code to link products to gender roles?” (Johnson & Young, 2002, p. 461).
Johnson and Young’s (2002) answer to this question is that products are linked to gender
roles by way of portraying certain actions as being performed exclusively by one or the
other gender. Some researchers have argued that this has a significant impact on children
because being exposed only to traditional sex roles limits the “range of experiences” for
children to experiment with (Johnson & Young, 2002, p. 465).
The gendered nature of advertising goes beyond the more obvious gender roles
portrayed in television commercials. In their study, Childs and Maher (2003) recorded
215 commercials directed at children. 46% of this sample contained commercials
advertising food or candy and 33% advertised for toys (Childs & Maher, 2003, p. 411).
Childs and Maher (2003) focus on food advertisements because they are often thought to
be gender neutral. Childs and Maher (2003) challenge this view by measuring some key
variables that illustrate the degree and type of gender categorization. These variables
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The Gendered Language of Advertisements Directed at Children
include the gender roles of characters in advertisements, the gender of voice-overs, and
the gender of the main user of the product. Childs and Maher’s (2003) show that within
their sample, gender preferences were “significantly” present in most of the measures
they examined. While this was not surprising for advertisements promoting toys, Childs
and Maher (2003) discovered that supposedly “gender-neutral” food advertisements
shows strong gender preferences for voice-overs, dominant products users, and main
character roles. This subtle form of gender preference illustrates that gender bias can
reach children at a more subconscious level, which may have an even stronger impact on
their views of gender, since it can be more difficult to notice and challenge the messages
sent through subtle advertising.
Added to these assessments of media and the frequency of gendered
advertisements, there are also a number of psychological theories that assess the impact
of stereotypes on children. For example, the concept “stereotype activation” refers to
stereotypes being established in the individual’s memory after frequent exposure (Miller
et al., 2009, p. 871). These stereotypes are then retrieved from memory when people
make social judgements and behavioral decisions (Miller et al., 2009, p. 871). As
mentioned above, children are frequently exposed to gender stereotypes, suggesting that
such stereotypes are regularly stored their memories. Thus, the “stereotype activation”
hypothesis suggests that gendered advertisements have a direct impact on how children
act and feel toward one another and toward adults. Miller et al. (2009) develop this point
by examining how boys and girls describe their respective gender traits. After
interviewing 256 children aged 3 to 10, Miller et al. (2009) conclude that “appearance
stereotypes were particularly prevalent in descriptions of girls and activity/trait
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The Gendered Language of Advertisements Directed at Children
stereotypes were more prevalent in descriptions of boys”. Miller et al. (2009) focus on
relatively new concepts related to gender stereotyping, such as the different ways that
boys and girls perceive messages about gender and what they focus on when looking at
ads. Miller et al. (2009) found that when girls were asked to respond to advertisements,
the most frequent responses targeted appearance (31% of participants). This was followed
by traits (19%) and activities (14%) (Miller et al., 2009, p. 874). Boys showed a very
different focus for their responses. 27% of boys focused on character traits, followed by
19% focusing on activities, and 13% focusing on appearance (Miller et al., 2009, p. 874).
Miller et al. (2009) say that these findings indicate that some gender stereotypes are
“differentially accessible when children think about boys and girls”. In other words, some
stereotype categories (for example, appearance) are applied more often to girls than they
are to boys. This also raises the possibility that certain stereotype categories are stronger
than others because of the ways they are exposed to children. For example, appearance
may be the strongest focus among girls because they are most frequently exposed to
visual advertisements that have something to do with one’s appearance and behavior. The
following advertisement from the brand “Just Like Home” clearly illustrates this
tendency for products intended for girls:
(Toys ‘R’ Us, 2013) Just Like Home Retrieved from
http://www.toysrus.ca/family/index.jsp?categoryId=4016318
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The Gendered Language of Advertisements Directed at Children
Research on the impacts of media on people’s appearance and behavior has
traditionally focused on television and print media, but new research is emerging on
gender differences that appear on the Internet (such as the example provided above). As
McQuillan and O’Neill (2009) point out, Internet usage continues to rise as computers
become cheaper and more advanced. Children are becoming increasingly computer
literate as these devices become easier to use. McQuillan and O’Neill (2009) discuss the
optimistic view that because Internet usage is now “more participatory and equitable than
traditional media,” it may not have the same negative impact that television has on
gender perceptions (p. 366). Further research is needed on this topic, but an initial
position taken by McQuillan and O’Neill (2009) is that while the gender gap may not be
as strong on the Internet, “more subtle gender differences in online activities are
emerging, particularly among children”. This raises the need to consider the character of
new media while trying to resolve the issue of gender stereotyping.
The first possibility for helping resolve the issue of gender stereotyping in
children’s advertising is to conduct more research on the motivations and experiences of
young Internet users (McQuillan & O’Neill, 2009, p. 375). Some assume that youth’s
experiences with the Internet are largely similar, but according to McQuillan and O’Neill
(2009), patterns of technology development and use also depend on gender. For example,
McQuillan and O’Neill (2009) claim that gender determines how young people use the
Internet because their identities are shaped by “multiple communities of masculinity and
femininity practice”. The gender stereotypes promoted within these communities should
be studied based on how they impact Internet usage among youth, or how young boys
and girls use the internet in difference ways. Another more hands-on approach to
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The Gendered Language of Advertisements Directed at Children
resolving this issue is to make advertisers aware of how their practices impact young
consumers. Advertisers are not always aware of the degree to which they are perpetuating
gender stereotypes, as they are concentrating on pleasing the public with new and
exciting ideas. Bakir and Palan (2010) do not provide a specific strategy for advertisers
(nor would this be an easy and straightforward process), but these researchers do
recommend that parents take on a greater role in helping their children understand gender
content in advertising. Baker-Sperry’s (2006) study implies that teachers should also take
an active role in helping children understand gender relations. This recommendation is
based on the fact that children spend a great deal of time with one another at school,
during which time they often construct their own meanings about gender. Baker-Sperry
(2006) proposes that excessive competition, which is a common feature of many schools,
creates social hierarchies which in turn create peer pressure to conform to specific gender
norms. Teachers might address this issue by informing students that there are multiple
other rewards and gratifications to be experienced by not conforming to gender norms,
such as making new friends across gender boundaries and experimenting with products
(e.g., toys and clothes) that do not fit traditional notions of “male” and “female”.
One of the most effective ways to resolve the issue of gender advertising in
children’s advertisements is to make a case to advertisers for the benefits of creating
gender-neutral ads. Baker-Sperry (2006) suggests the benefit of gender-neutral
advertising by mentioning previous research that shows how children play with toys in
many different ways and with toys that are not necessarily exclusive to their gender. For
example, Baker-Sperry (2006) says that many young females commonly use items that
are identified as being for the opposite gender. In another research experiment, children
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The Gendered Language of Advertisements Directed at Children
played in mixed sex groups. Within these groups “children consistently played with
masculine or neutral toys and games, rarely engaging in play that could be identified as
‘feminine’”. Baker-Sperry (2006) claims that many advertisers have already become
aware of this type of behaviour pattern and that they responded by including a mixture of
both boys and girls in their advertisements. Baker-Sperry (2006) also states that
advertisers have done this to maximise the selling potential. This strongly suggests that
there is already a viable market for gender- neutral advertising and toys.
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The Gendered Language of Advertisements Directed at Children
References
Baker-Sperry, L. (2006). Gendered Agency: Power in the Elementary Classroom. Women
and Language, 29(2), 38-46.
Bakir, A., & Palan, K.M. (2010). How are Children’s Attitudes Toward Ads and Brands
Affected by Gender-Related Content in Advertising? Journal of Advertising,
39(1), 35-48.
Childs, N.M., & Maher, J.K. (2003). Gender in food advertising: boys eat first. British
Food Journal, 105(7), 408-419.
Hyde, J.S. (2005). The Gender Similarities Hypothesis. American Psychologist, 60(6),
581-592.
Johnson, F., & Young, K. (2002). Gendered Voices in Children’s Television Advertising.
Critical Studies in Media Communication, 19(4), 461-480.
McQuillan, H., & O’Neill, B. (2009). Gender Differences in Children’s Internet Use.
Journal of Children and Media, 3(4), 366-378.
Miller, C.F., Lurye, L.E., Zosuls, K.M., & Ruble, D.N. (2009). Accessibility of Gender
Stereotyping Domains: Developmental and Gender Differences in Children. Sex
Roles, 60, 870-881.
Nelson, M.R., & Vilela, A.M. (2012). Is the Selectivity Hypothesis Still Relevant? A
Review of Gendered Persuasion and Processing of Advertising Messages. In C.C.
Otnes & L.T. Zayer (Eds.), Gender, Culture, and Consumer Behavior (pp. 111133). New York, NY: Routledge.
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