"The Gazed Female"-A Content Analysis On Women's Image In Television Commercials In China

Throughout the history of Chinese and foreign advertising development,advertisements containing characters have accounted for more than 90%,of which female images have appeared far more often than men.The image of women is not only used as a commercial symbol,but also as a society that meets a large number of advertisements.It can be said that it is one of the most important popular cultural phenomena in modern society.In China,the long-standing "historical" concept of discrimination against women has changed its face and put on a new coat of economy development and popular culture.Although new women who are independent and self-reliant emerge in an endless stream,and women's topics are increasingly being noticed.However,there are still a large number of obvious or covert discriminations against women.Mass media with misogyny discourses,objectifying advertisements might result in a widespread desensitization to its offensive nature.Therefore,what is the relationship between the role positioning of women in advertising and the situation of women in social real life?What kind of attitude does advertising culture have for women?How does this attitude affect our lives?What kind of female image are projected in today's commercials,especially on TV,as it is still a main form of publicity?These are the questions that the essay tries to answer.This research uses the 586 advertisements of TV stations in three major cities in China as a sample to analyse the image of women in TV advertisements in China.Research finding suggest there are about one out of three television ads have a sexist tendency.The main manifestations are:Character stereotypes and women degrading.The essence of such sexist advertising is the negation of women's independent personality.This research employ data analysis to figure out what women's image are like in Chinese TV advertising today.This article discusses the reasons why this patterning tendency is formed and suggest that it's due to the business culture which advocates young and beautiful,with the male culture perspective under the gestation of traditional culture,and the lack of female subjectivity consciousness;the article agrees that the female image appeal will increase their anxiety for women.With feelings of inferiority,there is no affinity for them and they cannot be touched.The article also propose three methods of reshaping women's images in television commercials,which is,demonstrating the rich personality of women to make it appeal to "new women" in the present era.In particular,showing the character of women's independent selves,understanding women's multiple roles in life,praising women's values and dedication,giving women the same gender respect as men,and so on.Despite widely discussion and research,the most recent of the studies that a literature search uncovered is based on a sample of commercials that is years old.What is missing is an investigation of the role of women in television advertising in present.The purpose of this article is to summarize the previous research regarding the portrayal of the sexes in television advertising and to report the results of a content analysis conducted on a 2018 sample of commercials in China.