1. What are your initial impressions about the advertisement?
- Directed towards parents + male focused
- Scholar, Future, Genius, His
3. What are the connotations and implied meaning of each key word used?
- Scholar + Genius- That GAP clothes will make you smart
- Future- That your child's future is determined by the clothes they wear now
- His- This ad is directed towards males and their futures
4. Positive, Negative, or Neutral connotations
- Scholar +
- Future +
- Genius -
- His
5. How does this affect you and your perception of the clothes being sold?
- It makes the viewer feel a sense of necessity to buy these clothes for their child
- If you do not buy them these clothes you are not advocating for them to have a bright future
6. What specific images are there of the child in the ad?
- Male
- Smiling
- Einstein graphic T-shirt
- Maturely dressed
7. How do those images affect your perception of the clothes being sold?
- The clothes give your children confidence
- The clothes demonstrate and consequently determine the intellectual abilities of your child
1. What are your initial impressions about the advertisement?
- Directed towards parents of young girls
2. List the key words that are used in the ad?
- Social, Playground, Her
3. What are the connotations and implied meaning of each key word used?
- Social- The GAP clothes will make you popular and likable
- Playground- The ad has a focus on children and their well-being
- Her- This ad is directed towards girls and their school status
4. Positive, Negative, or Neutral connotations
- Social +
- Playground
- Her
5. How does this affect you and your perception of the clothes being sold?
- It makes the viewer feel a sense of necessity to buy these clothes for their child
- If you do not buy them these clothes you are not advocating for them to have a good school life
6. What specific images are there of the child in the ad?
- Young Girl
- Looking stylish and cool
- Posed
7. How do those images affect your perception of the clothes being sold?
- The clothes give your children confidence
- The clothes demonstrate and therefore determine the popularity of your child
Part I:
1. What are the major differences between the advertisements?
The major difference between these two advertisements for the GAP is the gender associated with different characteristics of young children. While young boys are depicted as being scholarly and destined for a bright future, young girls are associated with what most would agree to be a less intellectual quality: popularity.
2. Did your perception of the GAP change after looking at and analyzing the second advertisement? Why or why not?
After viewing the second ad, the viewer is naturally inclined to believe that the GAP uses sexist stereotypes to sell their products. Using a male child in addition to specific "his" pronouns to promote an intellectual future brought on by their clothes, does not seem inherently problematic on its own. The sexist overtones of the advertising is made clear by the second ad. While the male was advertised to have intellectual potential and a bright future, the female child was promoted as being a "social butterfly". As they assign one gender to each advertisement, the GAP is inherently assigning one gender each characteristic demonstrated in either ad. In doing so, the GAP determines the interests and fate of a child based solely on their gender.
3. How do you think and feel about the ways boys and girls are depicted in these advertisements for clothes?
While clothing in and of itself should not be a determining factor of one's intellect or social skills, the ad uses it as a means of defining a person's traits. In addition, the ad demonstrates that these traits are more likely or rather, only to be apparent in one gender versus the other. Personally, I think it is a little ridiculous to appeal to a certain gender using qualities that should not be assigned one gender, especially in an advertisement for clothing.
4. Should anything be done with these advertisements? In other words, are you okay with them? Do you find them sexist or offensive? Or should people just lighten up? Why or why not?
I think that advertisements such as these have no room in our progressive modern society. While the ads themselves do not appear to be sexist in nature, when placed in sequence, the sexist implications of the advertisement shine through. This could easily be fixed by simply including a diverse group of children and replacing "his" and "hers" with "their". While the GAP probably meant well in their promotion of healthy personality traits, or at the very least, thought it to be good marketing, assigning anything to one gender often demonstrates ignorance and a lack of cultural understanding.
5. What, if anything, can be done about gender stereotyping in advertising, especially at such a young age? Or is it just something we have to accept?
Inclusivity can and should be incorporated not only in advertisements but into daily life. Marketing, consequently, has quite an impact on our daily lives and therefore in many ways shapes the opinions of viewers of all ages. By incorporating sexist overtones into ads marketed towards young children and their parents we implant stereotypes into the average human at a very young age. This spirals and causes self consciousness, unequal opportunity, and sexism to flourish. To accept this form of advertisement would promote the continuation and development of an intolerant society of unequals.
Part II:
In conclusion, when it comes to advertising the GAP appears to be, at its best, ignorant. While it may have had good intentions, the pairing of stereotypes with gender promoted sexist ideologies and, in turn, directly contradicted its own goals of appealing to the parents of a self-inspired future generation. While the GAP aimed to create a sense of self-worth in the youth of tomorrow, through the use of deterministic ideology and stereotypes it may have fueled a continuation and, therefore, a future of self deprecation and inequality.
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