Media - Sterotyping

Representations & stereotypes of men and women in the media

In the 'Asda' Christmas ad for 2012, women are stereotyped as the dominate domestic adult. The video shows 'mum' choosing the Christmas tree; writing the cards; shopping; decorating the house and generally doing just motherly things, whereas the dad is only really seen doing the heavy lifting and lounging about the house. After all the preparation, the mother finally manages to get in a biscuit crunch and coffee before she has to get up and carry on. Its Christmas day and dad is sat at the head of the table with his cracker crown on, displaying his overall dominance towards the family, whilst mum perches next to dad on the only chair left, which is a bean bag. This displays how unappreciated she is within the house by her family, as dad doesn't even offer his seat up. 

Whilst finishing with the last of the chores, the mothers friend who is also a woman says 'nearly there', which shows how she's sympathizing with her because she understands how much effort and hard work was put in for one day. At the end of the night, mum manages to sit down with a glass of red whine whilst admiring the rest of the family having fun, to which dad remarks 'whats for tea love?' this rather comedic joke could be seen as genuinely serious due to the fact that no one in the advert laughed after wards. The advert finishes with, 'behind every Christmas there's mum, and behind mum there's Asda'.

I personally think this advert is very stereotypical because of the way it has perceived both mum and dad, it gives dads no credit whilst in some households this might not be necessarily true. Families could look at this advert and be offended to how it has assumed that dad's do nothing to help. The advert perceives dad as a clueless and unequal, because he only lends a hand with the physical tasks, or when he has been ordered to.

In Robin Thicke's 'Blurred Lines' the women are perceived as just dancing objects, used to entertain the male gaze. Pharell, Thicke and T.I are often caught staring at  specific body parts on the women whilst they parade around in skimpy clothing.None of the men actually look any of them in the eye. The idea of this music video is just stupid but it fits in well with Robin Thicke's rather pervy lyrics 'I know you want it', this phrase has probably been heard many times before outside of this song. He even states 'That man is not your man, and that's why I'm gon' take you' which seems very competitive, and makes the women out to be a trophy. My last point links well with the fact that Robin looks at the camera in a way that feels as though he's showing off what hes got (his trophy), in a 'laddish' way, he even points to the camera, whilst standing with his arms round his pals, as if to call men out and say 'this could be you'. 

The girls who decided to do this music video did themselves no justice, and didn't even get a chance to speak throughout the whole 4 minuets and 31 seconds of this song. One of the girls actually manages to say 'meow', which only reminds us that she is just a sex object, and an 'animal'. Robins use of 'Good girl' throughout the song suggests she is like a dog, or an 'animal' who is in need of rewarding when she has satisfied him. The video uses product placement to highlight the men's success and wealth, Remy Martin which is a rather expensive drink is caught on camera to display this message to the audience.