ABSTRACT
How are women and men portrayed in the media and in advertising specifically? Do gender portrayals differ depending on the country? Have such depictions changed over time? This chapter will address these questions, first by providing an overview of the methodology typically used to investigate gender portrayals in the media. It will then outline temporary and cross-cultural trends in the ways men and women have been portrayed in advertising. As will become clear, advertisers have long used stereotypical depictions of gender. While there are some signs of gradual change towards more egalitarian gender portrayals in advertising, the overall picture still largely reflects Dolinski’s quote below.
