A CONTENT ANALYSIS OF THE ROLES PORTRAYED BY WOMEN IN

The main purpose of this paper was to examine female roles portrayed by advertising. More specifically, the question that motivated this research project was: What messages about women have been given to society through advertisement? Have these portrayals been changed during the past decades? The study consisted of a systematic content analysis of Brazilian commercials from 1973 to 2008. A probabilistic sample procedure was employed. Ninety five pieces were selected. Our results have revealed that some specific images have changed over the years, however, the