Gender stereotypes in advertisements for male politicians: longitudinal evidence from Greece

Abstract

The present study employs a longitudinal approach in order to investigate the use of gender stereotypes in print political advertisements for male candidates for parliamentary seats in Greece. For the purpose of the research, a sample of 863 advertisements from 20 daily national and local Greek newspapers issued between 1993 and 2009 was content analysed. The results of the study indicate that the predominant gender stereotypes in political advertising throughout the period in question were those of the successful and the dynamic male politician. The study revealed, however, that a definite change in the predominant stereotypes took place over the course of the period, there being a gradual shift towards the presentation of gender egalitarian, male figures. While in commercial advertising gender stereotypes have been extensively examined, there is a dearth of research on their manifestation in political advertising.