Battle of the Sexes? Perceptions and Interpretations of Gender Roles in North Cyprus

This study sets out to map the perceptionas and interpretation of gender roles by Turkish Cypriots living in the Northern part of the island. The study uses a Content Analytic approach to analyze advertisements generated and used by the BEKO company in 2012 with the aim of both understanding the embedded gender cues used and the perception and interpretation of such cues by the study participants. Findings reveal that while content analysis of the advertisements contain promotory messages, they also carry subtle gender related messages which re-affirm the society’s accepted posture towards the role of men and women. Hence reinforcing societal stereotypes regarding gender. Also, participant responses revealed that females perceived and interpreted the contents of the adverts under study from a gender representation perspective, while males reflected a gender role perspective