genderportrayalsandthegenderofnationsanextended.docVIP

Gender Portrayals and the Gender of Nations: An Extended Study in Asian Cultures Young Sook Moon and Kara Chan Introduction Advertising gender role stereotyping has been a prominent topic in the literature since the 1970s. This research interest follows a role changing movement when remarkable female employment gains occurred, linked to increasing rates of female obtaining college degrees, changing familial roles, and legal procedures (Fugate, Decker, and Brewer, 1998). Several studies suggest increasing gender bias and several other studies suggest gender role stereotyping does exist but seems to be decreasing over time. While gender stereotyping is considered to be a universal phenomenon, its intensity is expected to vary in degree from country to country (Huang, 1995). Psychological theories about gender (and sex) are often based on U.S. models and psychologists in other parts of the world often naively apply such theories to their countries’ situations where they do not apply (Hofstede, 2001; Slater, 1976). In an attempt to more fully understand gender and its relationship with advertising, some recent studies (e.g., Milner and Collins, 2000; Odekerken-Schroder, De Wulf and Hofstee, 2002) showed that gender role portrayal in advertisements could be an artifact of the cultures that frame the phenomenon being studied. Researchers, adopting Hofstede’s masculinity dimension as a framework, examined whether the extent of gender stereotyping is related to a country’s masculinity score, however, found mixed results on gender stereotyping in masculine countries. In addition, previous studies mainly focused on comparing the U.S. and some of European countries with a limited number of countries in the West or East (e.g., Gilly, 1988; Milner and Collins 2000; Sengupta, 1995; Wiles and Tjerlund, 1991; Wiles, Wiles and Tjerlund, 1995). Review of literature indicates there is a lack of studies on the topic in Asian cultures. The emerging markets in Asia are increasingly afflu