Module #5: Gender Roles and Marketing

Many advertisers routinely purchase stock photography when they need an image of a certain kind of person to insert in an ad. Many photos of women reflect common stereotypes, ranging from the crisp businesswoman who wears a suit and glasses and holds a briefcase to the smiling mother who pours milk into cereal bowls for her kids at breakfast.

Sheryl Sandberg, the Facebook executive who is an advocate for women in business, started an organization called Lean In to promote leadership. Lean In has now partnered with Getty Images, one of the biggest stock photography companies, to offer an image collection that represents women differently. The new collection depicts women as surgeons, painters, bakers, soldiers and hunters. There are girls riding skateboards and women lifting weights  

 Look through a sample of current magazines and collect images of women. To what extent do they represent a range of roles? Categorize these images according to the type of product advertised and the situation the photo depicts (e.g., multitasking woman holding a tablet and a baby, happy homemaker, etc.). Based on what you find, what messages do our media give us about gender roles today?