The Selling of Gender Identity

There is good news and there is bad news. The good news is that print advertisements and television commercials have finally begun to respond to the needs of a culturally diverse population. The bad news is that despite some progress, the stereotyping of many groups based on gender, age, and race continues and leads to some serious consequences. All too frequently women are still portrayed as sex objects and in subservient roles. Sometimes, however, in an effort to target segmented markets, we see some strange attempts at depicting egalitarianism. For example, cigarette ads are now directed specifically toward working women ("You've come a long way baby"now you, too, can die of lung cancer at the same rate as men).