Cars have always had that sort of gender stereotype to them. Like
muscle cars are only for men while women ride around in beetles, mini coopers,
and vans. The most stereotypical people are the companies that do the ads for
their products. Ford for instance will try to appeal to young men by talking
about the speed of the car, the build of it and other things that will
encourage the viewers to buy the car. Most commercials for luxury vehicles, SUV's or any other type of sports car or big
trucks will always have a men driving the car or talking about the car, while
commercials for smart cars, small sedans, vans, and buggy's will have woman
driving them.
Men are known for
being the dominant one in the family. The one that pays for things and looks
for cars to buy and how to fix cars, with that said men are usually seen as the
driver of the family. So traditionally you would then see men driving the cars
in commercials because according to the media that's the norm.
The same goes for
motorcycles. They are seen as things only for men to use. The media will most
of the time use men when doing commercials for bikes. if you see a women on a motorclye it's usually on the back holding onto the man.
The media has
changed the way we think about a lot of things that can lead to stereotypes.
For instance you’re driving down a highway and there's a big ford f-250 in
front of you and it starts swerving a little. You’re going to think “that guy's
an idiot" so you go to pass the truck and see a woman driving it. The
media has made it so we automatically assume something just because the media
has portrayed it like that. Gender stereotypes assume that men always drive the
bigger car or more muscular car while the women drive the slow cars.
Car advertisements are the one type of media that is looked upon in the audience as being sexually bias. I do agree that most women are looked at as being the “Stay at home” mom figure when it comes to car advertisement. Whenever you see a car advertisement with a woman they are all in a type of sun or a minivan with a bunch of kids heading to somewhere the kids need to go. Though when a man is showed in a car advertisement there in a sportier car with negative colors, and is always looked upon being the “super hero” What people don’t realize is that gender bias is mainly reflect in advertisements it doesn’t just exist in the U.S but all over the nations. Even though some range in more harsher parts it still a problem we are facing every day. Women are still subjected to abuse and exploitation in different parts of the world. Negative and stereotypical portrayal of women in print ads and commercials is just one of the ways this is done.
ReplyDeleteAlong with many other forms of media here lately, I've never really thought about how men are portrayed in things related to cars or motorcycles. It's definitely true that more men drive trucks and motorcycles than women, however it isn't true that only men enjoy trucks and motorcycles. I've started seeing more and more women driving trucks, and I must admit I've laughed a few times, but it's only because I've been led my whole life to believe that a female driving a big jacked up truck is somehow weird. I really think most motorcycle riders are men because it's so dangerous, and women seem to be a bit better at judgment when it comes to those things, coming from a man. Part of why women aren't ever in advertisements driving trucks or motorcycles is because the companies don't want there truck or motorcycle to appear "girly" or "feminine" in any way. They don't want people referring to it as a "girl truck" as some probably would. Perhaps showing both a male and female driving is the way to go.
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