Maggie Colledge on 12.02.2010. 21:24

I believed initially that television adverts would not influence my child, but I have heard the jingles being sung away from the television and know that the information is getting in whether I like it or not.
Thankfully, I attended some of your lectures and can and do discuss the messages that the advertisers are trying to put across. Asking my son "Why is the music different to the advert before?" and he can understand (to a degree) what they, the advertisers are implying. This isnt going to protect him any more than it protects me because as you (I think) rightfully state girls can move within the gender divisions easier than boys. We only have to look at the amount of women wearing trousers compared to the amount of men wearing skirts to see this. Which is why my dissertation questioned 'What makes a man, a man"

Kijika on 01.10.2009. 10:05

Have you noticed the new Alpen advert where they suggest that it would be sexist to portray idealised images of only women, so they include shots of idealised men too. I find it telling that all the 'beautiful people' in the advert are tall and thin and white.

Matthew Jenkins on 28.11.2008. 11:23

There is a lot of pressure on children to conform to certain norms. This has always been the case, but advertising provides an additional external influence. It certainly reinforces the gender divide, making this divide seem greater now, especially for young children, than at any time in the past. Yet, at the same time society is supposedly promoting gender equality for adults.