Everyday People: Exploring the Intersection of Gender Stereotypes and Class Hierarchy in Mainstream Print Advertising Images

Marketing, sociology, and communications researchers have long been concerned about pejorative representations of race, gender, and sexual orientation in print advertising. Emerging arguments assert that class inequity---not racial, gender, or other social inequity---lies at the center of social inequality. Yet, little research on class representation in print advertising exists, perhaps because of the difficulty with defining class in American consumption culture. This content analysis expanded Goffman's (1979) conversation on gender representation to a discussion of social and economic class representation in broadly targeted, mainstream print advertising. The study asked whether visual and linguistic markers for social and economic class difference existed in the dramaturgical scenes of ad images, in general, and among women, specifically, and if the images presented a class hierarchy among women according to race and sexual orientation. The results indicated the existence of class markers reinforcing Goffman's Relative Size, Function Ranking, and Ritual of Subordination frames for men and women; however, contrary to existing literature, class hierarchy according to race or sexual orientation among women was not evident. Application of Barthesian and Peircian semiotic theory assisted in illustrating derivation of meaning from the identified class markers. Implications of the study included evidence of representational ambiguities with regard to race and sexual orientation and an interpretable conceptual separation between social class and economic class ascribed by coders to ads featuring celebrities. Opportunities abound for future semiotic analysis on class representation in advertising, as shifting consumer demographics and evolving consumption behaviors obfuscate traditional class lines, compelling advertisers to view class as much more than income stratification.