ABSTRACT
In previous chapters I have explored the links between advertising and society, the concepts of sex, gender and culture as well as the portrayal of gender in the media and in advertising specifically. While it has been established that the representation of women and men in the media is generally largely stereotypical there is a bigger question to answer. Does it matter? While much of the literature has focused on identifying and reporting the ways in which women and men are portrayed in advertising, the consequences of such portrayals for the audiences have been researched less often. This chapter discusses the various effects gendered content in advertising has on the audiences. It provides a thorough overview of relevant empirical studies and includes considerations of advertising effects on threatened identities, self-esteem, body image, aspirations, task performance and the ways these influences contribute to the social status quo. Overall the research reviewed here suggests that gender stereotypical media may have numerous negative effects on both women and men. In this chapter I return to Stereotype Threat Theory (Steele & Aronson, 1995, see Chapter 2) and will consider it as a possible explanatory framework for the negative effects in question.
