Date of Award

6-1-2000

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

Communication

First Advisor

Dr. Jeremy Lipschultz

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the various images of females compared to males in advertising shown during weekdays and weekends from 12:00-2:00p.m. Roles, settings, products endorsed and primary narrator were categories used to analyze and code the advertisements. Data collected were taken from three different networks - ABC, NBC and CBS. A total of twelve hours of programming was studied from the weekend advertisements, as well as twelve hours from weekday advertisements. There were 281 commercials that were not repeated during both advertising segments which were used for this research. The results suggested that males were portrayed more often in high-ranking, executive positions as well as physical labor positions. Women were portrayed more often than men in the home, cleaning and cooking; however, the parental role was shared equally during weekend advertising. Males also were shown taking part in the parental role during weekday advertising, although not as much as women. Men were the primary narrators during weekend advertising, while men and women equally narrated commercials during the weekday television advertising. Liberal Feminism Theory was the basis for this study, which claims thatwomen are traditionally devalued compared to men. This study suggested that when comparing weekday to weekend daytime advertising, liberal feminism theory was partially supported. Because stereotyping has been a significant part of television advertising, it was important to examine the images men and women are watching during the weekday as well as the weekend.

Comments

A Thesis Presented to the Department of Communication And the Faculty of the Graduate College University of Nebraska In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts University of Nebraska at Omaha. Copyright Jennifer M. Priest June, 2000

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