ABSTRACT

Feminist media studies have highlighted gender discrimination in advertising since the 1960s. Despite this focus and political attention on combating sexist stereotypes and prejudicial portrayals in advertising the problem persists. Few scholarly endeavours have thus far probed how the national agencies tasked with preventing sexism perceive and address such representations in marketing. To remedy this research gap this study investigates the Danish Consumer Ombudsman’s (DCO) definition of sexism and its evaluation of stereotypical representations of gender in marketing campaigns by Danish companies. The DCO is empowered to ensure non-discriminatory representations in advertising. Utilizing feminist critical discourse analysis as a theory and methodology the present study addresses two aspects of the institutional and discursive practices of this authoritative body, scrutinizing its latest Guidelines on gender-related advertising of 1 April 2012 and examining its application of these guidelines in adjudications of complaints against sexism. Applying the lens of post-feminism and sexism to the analysis, the article indicates how the DCO legitimizes and normalizes sexist advertising and offers significant insights into practices that perpetuate inequality in the media and its regulatory institutions. Ultimately, the article reveals how the very societal institutions established to safeguard gender equality reproduce gender discrimination.

摘要

女权主义媒体研究从1960年代就开始强调广告中的性别歧视。尽管对广告中的性别歧视定型观念和偏见进行了集中和政治关注，但问题仍然存在。迄今为止，几乎没有学术方面的研究探讨了负责防止性别歧视的国家机构如何感知并解决营销中的此类代表问题。为了弥补这一研究空白，本研究调查了丹麦消费者申诉专员（DCO）对性别歧视的定义及其对丹麦公司在营销活动中对性别的刻板印象的评估。DCO有权确保广告中的非歧视性表示。2012年4月1日发布的与性别相关的广告指南，并审查其在针对性别歧视投诉的裁决中的应用。文章将后女权主义和性别歧视的视角运用到分析中，指出了DCO如何使性别歧视广告合法化和规范化，并为使媒体及其监管机构长期不平等的做法提供了重要见解。最终，本文揭示了为维护性别平等而建立的社会机构如何重现性别歧视。