Gendered representations in Lebanese advertisements: flawless white femininity, heteronormative patriarchal masculinity, and the erasure of local diversity

Abstract

ABSTRACT This study examines the representation of gender in Lebanese advertisements. By applying an intersectional feminist framework within a postcolonial country, the study examines the representation of men and women characters, the domestic or professional contexts in which they are situated, their ethnic and physiological traits, their apparent relationships and roles, and their power stances. The findings reveal differences in the pictures drawn of women and men, as advertisements render invisible many common characteristics of Lebanese society. The study concludes that advertisements in Lebanon are ageist and promote Eurocentric ideals that perpetuate the circulation of flawless white femininity and heteronormative patriarchal masculinity, thereby symbolically annihilating most of the population. Thus, gendered advertising in Lebanon offers a rich site for studying the interplay between local and global identities that produce hybrid identities structured by patriarchy, cultural imperialism, and capitalism.