The Joy of Stereotyping

Stereotyping, there is so much to say about stereotypes. The first we could say is that stereotypes stem from the general public's view on people in general. However, when does it start to get offensive? It's hard to place the overall blame on media because a lot of that blame could go onto advertising. 

For as long as we could remember, advertising insinuated and implied many stereotypes on anyone and everyone. There are many current and past ads that cause all kinds of attention, but who is it for really? The product? Or the person using the product?
I want to start the focus on stereotypes with gender.

Starting from the 1950s, ads catered toward the narrow and conceptual view of women: which is vulnerable, oblivious, trophy wives. This "lesser of the two"outlook eventually changed as time and gender roles were modernizing. Now, we have ads that poke fun at women ironically, that were probably made by women. These two ads differ in the sense that they both portray roles and women with humor. However in this Schlitz ad, although it is only a product of it's time, it's also a very limited and a somewhat offensive stereotype. Often times in advertising or even in media, women are objectified. Women aren't necessarily seen as inferior, they're just seen as again, "less than." Because of this, it created a very gender specific label for women, which was again the typical house wife. Over time that changed, women aren't targeted for negative stereotypes as they were some odd 60 years ago. Obviously media as a whole created an expectation many have in women. Advertising creates an expectation which does end up becoming a stereotype. That expectation is what's used for racial stereotyping.

 Racial stereotyping has been around since people could see in color. Despite the change in racism, and societal views progressing, it can still be a bit off putting. There will always be a joke about specific stereotypes that are occasion are true, regardless of how society has moved forward. Racial stereotyping is again, a product of its time. Mickey Rooney getting yellow faced for the film, Breakfast at Tiffany's, was something that was allowed because it was expected. That was for a film, yet if you look at media as a whole, it is, was, and still expected. If movies make it okay to poke fun at races, it won't stop advertising because as a society we allow it to happen. Whether these are offensive or not isn't based on what we find offensive. It's based on what we allow as stereotypes. Should advertising companies have a more established and firm input in what goes and what doesn't on billboards and television? Yes. Advertising inspired a lifestyle that many try following, some people follow it blindly. It doesn't mean it has to be labeled, however, neither should people. People are their own brands, but they don't need to be labeled as a group. Advertising has changed to cater to a more individualistic society, but it won't change the stereotypes we established for ourselves.

Advertising advertises the product to the people using the product. The reason why they use stereotypes is because, they're universal. They're easy to identify and they're easy to associate with. It doesn't make it right, but it does sell a product. The only way advertising will change or reduce the amount of stereotypes is if society tries to minimize generalizations of people as groups.