Commercials in Pink and Blue: Stereotyping gender in contemporary advertising

Abstract

By doing this research, I will show my reader how the commercial New Barbie Color Reveal Dolls, made by the company Mattel, affirms and empowers stereotypical ideology when it comes to centralizing and essentializing gender roles and femininity. My main research question will be: “In what ways do the visual aspects/signs of the commercial ‘New Barbie Color Reveal Dolls’ by Mattel affirm and empower stereotypical imagery?”. For me to answer this main question, I will have to find answers to two sub questions first: “Which signs are present within the commercial that visualize the role of gender?” and “In what ways do these signs relate to theories of gender stereotypes?”. These research questions will be answered through the use of combining a case-specific visual analysis and the method of semiotics to find out which images are used to affirm and empower a stereotypical ideology. By using theories of gender, stereotypical aspects, cultural identities, womanhood and burden of representation, I will be able to put the commercial in a different perspective and look at it from a critical angle. New Barbie Color Reveal Dolls is a commercial, created by the American cooperation Mattel, that is filled with signs based on stereotypical ideologies of womanhood. Therefore, the harmfulness in stereotyping the feminine, which is present in the commercial, should be analyzed and criticized in detail. By listing the different signs, that have to do with gender, and contextualizing them through the use of theories of gender, I will be able to deconstruct the commercial and make the hidden gender-based stereotyping visible and discussable.