The Portrayal of Men's Family Roles in Television Commercials [1] - Statistical Data Included

Sex Roles: A Journal of Research,  Sept, 1999  by Gayle Kaufman

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Analysis of Setting

Both women and men without children are more likely to be shown away from home rather than inside their homes. However, women are more likely than men to appear at home while men are more likely than women to appear away from home. Yet the most likely setting for men and women with both spouse and children is inside the home rather than away from home. In general, when children are present, women and men are more likely to appear inside homes than when no children are present. However, gender differences widen among men and women with children but no spouse. A gender difference that had not emerged among other groups of men and women is the difference in how often men and women with children but no spouse appear outside at home. While this is the least likely location for both men and women, men with children but no spouse are twice as likely to appear outside at home as are women with children but no spouse.

Analysis of Housework

Housework is rarely performed in commercials by either women or men. Table II shows gender differences in housework. Cooking is the most prevalent task and is still performed by only 7% of women and 3% of men. However, women are more frequently shown performing housework. Women are significantly more likely to be shown cooking, cleaning, washing dishes, and shopping. If we consider how housework is divided, the evidence indicates that women perform the brunt of the work (data not shown). For example, 72% of the cooking was done by women compared to the 28% that men perform. Women are assumed to be in charge of cooking, especially when it involves holidays and entertaining guests. This may be subtle, as in a commercial for gelatin in which a woman says, "[This is] refreshing, like when my sister-in-law said this year we should have Thanksgiving at her house." This woman probably has a male relation (brother or brother-in-law) but yet does not refer to his house or him "having" Thanksgiving. Instead, the woman of the house is supposed to undertake this gathering of family. Men do not organize these events.

A common portrayal is that of the husband and children being waited on. Often a woman is contemplating what to make for dinner, and boxed dinners can act as a solution for women with hungry families. Another scenario is one in which the husband and children are not satisfied with the food they are served. In these cases it is the woman's duty to please their families by cooking better food. One commercial has a husband attempting to cut tough porkchops and sarcastically thinking of a jackhammer. Another commercial asks, "Does cooking with less fat make your family less than enthusiastic?" With this prompt, a woman holding a casserole comes out of a kitchen and enters an empty dining room, with no sign of her family. Yet another commercial has a woman telephoning her female neighbor to tell her that she got the wrong parmesan cheese, while her husband, son, and mother/mother-in-law sit at the kitchen table waiting. All of these commercials are resolved when the wife gets the right product, and the outcome is a happy husband and children. The men in these commercials are not concerned with helping to improve the meals by cooking nor do they appear to be responsible for the products bought at the market. Instead, they are rather passive, just waiting to be served.