The Representations and Implications of Gender Stereotypes Portrayed in Three Selected TV Advertisements Shown in Bangladesh: A Critical Interpretation

Abstract

This paper aims at a precise interpretation of gender stereotypes portrayed in the three selected TV advertisements in order to find out their implications in Bangladeshi context. The analysis begins with Goffman's Gender Stereotypes Hypothesis, a theoretical framework to examine and justify the thematic features present in the ads. After critically examining the hypothesis, Kress and Van Leeuwen's Systemic Functional Analysis framework is used to analyze and interpret the semiotic features such as; the signs and symbols. After that, Fairclough's Discourse Analysis is used to find out the stylistic features and their implied meanings in the advertisements to search the social, cultural and political implications. Then the paper uses Pope's The Rape of the Lock and it's Cultural-Ecofeminist Analysis of Francois d'Eaubonne to connect the above mentioned frameworks from a contextual view-point. To give the interpretation of Stereotypes deeply rooted in the minds of both male and female, Freud’s Psychoanalysis is used. Both Qualitative and Quantitative Analysis are taken into consideration for exploring the Gender Stereotypes thoroughly. This research is basically a blend of Literature, Language and Gender along with other Disciplines to interpret Stereotypes from a holistic framework. To predict the future progression of the gender representations and their implications in the coming years in Bangladesh, an umbrella term “Multi-Disciplinary Framework” will be used to examine whether the changes in gender roles both at home and outside in the workplaces due to the changes in different socio-economic and cultural factors are reflected or not in the TV advertisements.