|
In her perceptive and critical analysis of more than 2500 advertisements, Sharada Schaffter focuses on some of the techniques used by advertisers to demonstrate her observation that media treatment of women works to the advantage of men at the expense of the well-being and dignity of women.
She makes her readers aware of the stereotyped images of woman as homemaker, sex object and silly, incompetent, inferior, dependent on man, and of man as the strong provider, deserving acclamation in every sphere.
She further unveils the unconsciously held beliefs regarding gender (which is a social construct of the biological category of sex) and the manifestation of sex-roles which are played out unthinkingly and also constructed prescriptively in a given society. She goes on to probe the unexamined ideological underpinnings of those beliefs.
Finally, presenting a new code of ethics, she challenges advertisers to re-examine their notions of gender, in order to uphold women`s inviolable right to be treated with respect and dignity, as human beings.
Dissecting advertisements in meticulous detail, she draws upon current literature in the social sciences with well chosen citations, to frame and support her essay. This economically presented and elegant book with a seminal bibliography can serve as a felicitous model for approaches and procedures to be used in disciplines such as women`s studies, gender studies, media analysis, advertising, ethics, development communication and television analysis. ISBN 9788185002361
|
|
Pages : 308
|