Selling Gender. The Representation of Boys and Girls in the Italian Toy Commercials

Abstract

The article reports the results of a content analysis of 78 Italian toy commercials and 142 characters. The research aims to determine the level of sex typing in Italian television advertising directed to children. The analysis reveals a considerable difference in the portrayals of boys and girls, though more nuanced than in the past. Boys outnumber girls and are depicted in both major and minor roles, involved mostly in competitive group activities, accompanied only by male voice-over. They are dressed in various colours, are mainly in bright outdoor locations and play mostly with action figures, built games, and transportation and construction toys. Girls, instead, are still mostly dressed in pastel coloured clothes, are indoors and play mainly with dolls and animals, in collaborative interactions. They only build things in the presence of boys and are sometimes accompanied by a male voice-over. However, they are also more active, independent and in major roles than the boys. Hence, there are some differences in the representation of girls and boys compared to the findings of earlier studies. A, the portrayals of male and female characters in Italian commercials are still quite differentiated and are used to give gendered meaning to products, characters and viewers.