FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Mailed Wednesday, Jan. 14, 1998)
CONTACT:
Martin J. Waters
(860) 685-3703
RESEARCH AT WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY SHOWS GENDER BIAS PERSISTS IN MAGAZINE ADVERTISING
Racial Stereotyping Also Evident, Study Concludes
Advertisements in popular fashion magazines are showing more skin in recent years in their depictions of women, according to a Wesleyan University study.
The study found that the percentage of ads containing body exposure of women rose from 33 percent to 50 percent for white women and from 38 percent to 43 percent for black women. A content analysis was conducted of 1,800 fashion advertisements in six leading national magazines from 1985 through 1994.
The researchers developed specific definitions for scoring whether particular body areas commonly associated with sexual display were uncovered.
The report, published in the December issue of Psychology of Women Quarterly, suggests that gender and racial biases in magazine advertising persisted and in some cases increased between the mid-1980s and the mid-1990s. The study was conducted by Scott Plous, associate professor of psychology, and Dominique Neptune, a 1995 graduate of Wesleyan.
In suggesting further avenues of research that might be pursued in this area, they said, ìThe challenge now is to understand why this problem has been so resistant to change.î
The study covered fashion ads in a group of magazines that included those appealing to white women, black women, or white men: Cosmopolitan, Glamour, Ebony, Essence, Esquire, and GentlemanÃs Quarterly. No magazine with a predominantly black male audience was included in the study because none had a comparable circulation and fashion orientation, the researchers said.
The study found that in 1985 the average body exposure of black women exceeded that of white women, but by 1994 this trend had reversed as a result of significant increases in the body exposure of white women. During this period there were no significant changes in the body exposure of men. The study also found that white women were depicted in low-status, or subservient, body positions nearly twice as often as were other models.
In addition to a detailed analysis of gender depictions, the study examined racial factors in magazine advertisements. It found that with few exceptions, African Americans were underrepresented in white-oriented magazines. For example, in white-oriented magazines only 2 percent of the ads included black males, with no significant trend toward improvement during the period studied.
In addition, the study found ìa high degree of racial segregation along gender lines, and a near-absence of interracial couples.î
Plous commented recently that this set of findings differs from content analyses of television advertising. Minority representation in TV ads has increased significantly during the last 10 years, he said.
Another finding of the study was that black women wore the majority of animal prints, most of which were patterned after predatory animals. Although Plous cautioned that these findings are open to multiple interpretations, he said that they may ìyield partial support for the hypothesis that Black women are stereotypically portrayed as predatory and animal-like.î
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