Gender Metaphors In Advertising:a Perspective Of Critical Metaphor Analysis

Metaphors are not merely an objective reflection of the pre-existing reality but an active construction of it. Hence they can be used for disguise and concealment to avoid responsibility for what one says in influential types of discourses. Advertising discourse is a case in point. In order to impress consumers effectively and induce them to purchase, advertisers use ideological metaphors in their advertisement. The present study focuses on a concrete type of ideological metaphor, advertising gender metaphors.The thesis argues that advertising is never an instrument neutrally conveying information, but ideologically loaded. Gender metaphor is such a tool used by advertisers to promote their controversial ideology. The present study thus attempts to make a critical analysis of gender metaphors in advertising, aiming to unveil the mechanisms that perpetuate unequal gender relations in advertising discourse。In terms of the theoretical framework for the present study, the author utilizes a reshaped version of critical metaphor analysis (CMA) proposed by Charteris-Black (2004), i.e., an integration of cognitive metaphor theory and critical discourse analysis, and proposes a two-stage method for analysis, i.e., explanation and interpretation. Meanwhile, by following the categorization of gender metaphors by Velasco-Sacristan (2005), three types of gender metaphors are discussed within the theoretical framework, that is, universal gender metaphors, cultural gender metaphors, and cases of metaphorical gender. Correspondingly, as representatives for the three types of gender metaphors, some typical advertisements for perfume are selected for detailed analysis.The results indicate that in such advertisements, female images are generally depreciated playfully in a metaphorical way, portrayed as secondary to men, sexual objects and commoditized objects. This is deemed to facilitate the application of critical metaphor theory to practical discourse analysis on the one hand, and to help common readers/audience to develop some critical awareness of advertising discourse as well as language in general.