Television Commercial Observation

Media conveys a large number of messages about self identity and proper acceptable forms of self expression, gender and sexuality. Although the audience may have their own preconceived ideas about what their own traditional views may be, they very quickly may adopt or be influenced by the media's powerful suggestions. Its clearly evident that the general public's views of gender and sexuality, masculinity and femininity, identity and selfhood, are all in slow but steady processes of change and transformation. Common roles that we once saw all of the time throughout the media has slowly been replaced by more artistic gender "un specific" qualities and traits. Replacing these traits has served to lessen the gap between inequalities amongst the gender/sexes.

Of course media has a significant but not entirely straightforward relationship with people's sense of gender and identity. In the past messages were pretty much straightforward about the ideal types of female and male identities. Certain group features were more clearly promoted as desirable that others. Men were the macho, strong, mysterious "Marlboro Men" or "Mr Clean" types, conveying the image of strength, control and power. Women were caretakers, home makers, in family way. Just think of all the roles that you see the women play on television. In particular, they are the target audience who the commercials are being marketed to as typically they are the people who will be doing the shopping, the household cleaning or preparing the dinner tonight.