Changing Gender Roles in Prime-Time Television Commercials in Malaysia and the UK?

This study focused on analyzing gender role portrayals in the Malaysian and the UK advertising industry and its relation to demographic and socio-cultural structures. The findings then were compared to previous studies done by Furnham & Skae (1999) and Bresnahan et. al (2001) to ascertain whether the trends portrayed in their studies still persist. The frequency of gender appearance in the commercials both in Malaysia and the United Kingdom, the portrayal of gender in term of general characteristics and sociocultural context and the conflicts between the gender portrayal and the present reality were analyzed. The extent of gender role stereotypes in television advertisements was explored by using a content analysis which was integrated with a textual analysis. Although the findings suggest that gender stereotypes still exist in most aspects of the study, new patterns were emerging in the portrayal of gender in commercials of both countries. Some significant differences could be noted in Malaysia, pertaining to some variables like setting and voice-overs. In the UK commercials, much difference could be noted in the total figures for male and female and the end comments. The striking differences were discussed and the rationales were analyzed by using a textual analysis