Gender stereotyping in advertisements in women's magazines

223 Pages·2013·6.6 MB·English

UNIVERZITET U BEOGRADU
FILOLOŠKI FAKULTET

SELMA KEŠETOVIĆ

RODNI STEREOTIPI U JEZIKU
REKLAMNIH PORUKA U ŽENSKIM
ČASOPISIMA ENGLESKOG I
BOŠNJAČKOG/HRVATSKOG/SRPSKOG
GOVORNOG PODRUČJA

DOKTORSKA DISERTACIJA

Beograd, 2012.
UNIVERZITET U BEOGRADU
FILOLOŠKI FAKULTET

SELMA KEŠETOVIĆ

RODNI STEREOTIPI U JEZIKU
REKLAMNIH PORUKA U ŽENSKIM
ČASOPISIMA ENGLESKOG I
BOŠNJAČKOG/HRVATSKOG/SRPSKOG
GOVORNOG PODRUČJA

DOKTORSKA DISERTACIJA

Beograd, 2012.
UNIVERSITY OF BELGRADE
FACULTY OF PHILOLOGY

SELMA KEŠETOVIĆ

GENDER STEREOTYPING IN
ADVERTISEMENTS IN WOMEN'S
MAGAZINES – A COMPARATIVE
STUDY BETWEEN ENGLISH AND
BOSNIAC/CROATIAN/SERBIAN
SPEAKING AREAS

DOCTORAL THESIS

Belgrade, 2012.
PODACI O MENTORU I ČLANOVIMA KOMISIJE:

Mentor: Dr.sc. Ivana Trbojević Milošević, docent, Univerzitet u Beogradu,
Filološki fakultet
Član: Dr.sc. Vesna Krajišnik, docent, Univerzitet u Beogradu, Filološki fakultet
Član: Dr.sc. Svetlana Stojić, docent, Univerzitet u Beogradu, Filozofski fakultet
Datum odbrane: 29.04.2013. godine
RODNI STEREOTIPI U JEZIKU REKLAMNIH PORUKA U ŽENSKIM
ČASOPISIMA ENGLESKOG I BOŠNJAČKOG/HRVATSKOG/SRPSKOG
GOVORNOG PODRUČJA

Rezime:

Cilj ove disertacije je da istraži odnose između jezika, reklame i roda.
Istraživanje je provedeno na reklamama koje se pojavljuju u ženskim časopisima
u engleskom i B/H/S govornom području. Skupljeno je ukupno 1241 reklama iz
američkog, hrvatskog i srbijanskog časopisa Kozmopolitan (Cosmopolitan) i
bosanskog Azra. Temeljita i detaljna analiza tekstualnog i vizuelnog dijela
reklame je provedena, a takođe je uspostavljena i veza između ta dva dijela. Dalje
je provedena kontrastivna analiza tekstualnog i vizuelnog dijela. Raspravljalo se i
o anglicizmima u reklamama u B/H/S govornom području.
Međutim, centar istraživanja predstavljaju rodni stereotipi, kao i reprezentacija
istih u medijima. Pokazalo se, na temelju istraživanja, da je zapadnjačko društvo
otvorenije i da je dostiglo viši nivo evolucije kada su u pitanju ženska prava od
B/H/S društ(a)va, koje je još uvijek tradicionalno i njeguje porodične odnose.
Stavovi prema tijelu i reprezentaciji istog su isti u obje kulture: ljudska vrsta se
mora reprodukovati/produžiti. Starenje i debljina su, s druge strane, tabuizirani i
o njima se ne raspravlja. Smatraju se znacima nemogućnosti reprodukcije ljudske
vrste i kao takvi su apsolutno zanemareni u medijima.
Anglicizmi su izrazito prisutni u reklamama u B/H/S govornom području. Uticaj
engleskog jezika je izuzetan u području leksike: riječi, izraza, fraza, idioma i
idiomatskih izraza.

Ključne riječi: rod, stereotip, reklama, kontrastivna lingvistika, morfologija,
sintaksa, semantika, pragmalingvistika, sociolingvistika, anglicizmi

Naučna oblast: Anglistika, Engleski jezik

Uža naučna oblast: Sociolingvistika, Kontrastivna lingvistika
UDK
GENDER STEREOTYPING IN ADVERTISEMENTS IN WOMEN'S
MAGAZINES – A COMPARATIVE STUDY BETWEEN ENGLISH AND
BOSNIAC/CROATIAN/SERBIAN SPEAKING AREAS

Resume:

The aim of this dissertation was to explore a possible relationship between
language, advertisement and gender. A research was conducted on
advertisements that appear in women's magazines in English and B/C/S speaking
areas. A total of 1241 advertisments were collected from the American, Croatian
and Serbian magazine for women Cosmopolitan and Bosnian Azra. A thorough
and detailed analysis of both verbal and visual parts of advertisements has been
conducted, as well as the connection of the two. Further, a contrastive analysis of
verbal and visual parts has been conducted also. The issue of Anglicisms has
been the subject of exploration as well.
The focus of this research, however, was on gender stereotypes and their
representation in the media. Western society proved to be more open and has
reached a higher level of evolution in favour of women's rights than B/C/S. The
latter is still represented as traditional and family-oriented. The attitudes towards
bodies and the reproduction process are the same in both societies: human
species must be prolonged. Ageing and being overweight, on the other hand, are
considered to be taboos. They are considered to be the signs of inability of
reproduction, and as such are absolutely neglected in the media.
Anglicisms are freqently present in advertisements in B/C/S speaking area. The
infuence of English in the area of lexis is extraordinary: words, expressions,
phrases, idioms and idiomatic expressions are often copied into B/C/S.

Key words: gender, stereotype, advertisement, contrastive linguistics,
morphology, syntax, semantics, pragmalinguistics, sociolinguistics, anglicisms

Scientific field: Anglistics, English language

Field of linguistics: Sociolinguistics, Contrastive Linguistics
UDK
TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. INTRODUCTION 1
1.1. METHODOLOGY AND CORPORA 3
1.2 ON COSMOPOLITAN 4
2. GENDER STEREOTYPES IN THE LANGUAGE OF 7
ADVERTISEMENTS IN WOMEN'S MAGAZINES IN
ENGLISH AND B/C/S SPEAKING AREA
2.1 GENDER 12
2.1.1. GENDER AND THE MEDIA 17
1.1.2. GENDER STEREOTYPES 18
2.1.3. GENDER AND LANGUAGE 21
2.1.4. GENDER AND ADVERTISING 24
2.1.5. GENDER STEREOTYPES IN ADVERTISING IN ENGLISH 25
2.1.6. GENDER STEREOTYPES IN ADVERTISING IN B/C/S 50
3. VISUAL ANALYSIS OF WOMEN'S MAGAZINE 67
ADVERTISEMENTS - IN ENGLISH AND B/C/S SPEAKING
AREA
3.1. VISUAL ANALYSIS OF WOMEN'S MAGAZINE 67
ADVERTISEMENTS - IN ENGLISH SPEAKING AREA
3.1.2. SEMIOTICS 67
3.1.3. COLOURS 75
3.1.4. COLOURS IN ADVERTISEMENTS FOR MEN 79
3.2. VISUAL ANALYSIS OF WOMEN'S MAGAZINE 81
ADVERTISEMENTS IN B/C/S SPEAKING AREA
3.2.1. COLOURS 83
3.2.2. COLOURS IN ADVERTISEMENTS FOR MEN 87
4. AN ANALYSIS OF TEXT IN WOMEN'S MAGAZINE 89
ADVERTISEMENTS - IN ENGLISH AND B/C/S SPEAKING
AREA
4.1. AN ANALYSIS OF LANGUAGE USED IN WOMEN'S 89
MAGAZINE ADVERTISEMENTS - IN ENGLISH SPEAKING
AREA
4.1.1. WORD-FORMATION 89
4.1.1.1. DERIVATION 89
4.1.1.2. COMPOUNDING 93
4.1.2. NEOLOGISMS 99
4.1.3. PHRASEOLOGY 101
4.1.4 SYNTAX 116
4.1.4.1. SENTENCE LENGTH 116
4.1.4.2. COMPLETENESS OF SENTENCES 117
4.1.4.3. SENTENCES TYPES 118
4.1.5. BRAND NAMES 121
4.1.5.1. PRODUCT NAMES 124
4.2. AN ANALYSIS OF LANGUAGE USED IN WOMEN'S 128
MAGAZINE ADVERTISEMENTS - IN B/C/S SPEAKING
AREA
4.2.1. WORD-FORMATION 128
4.2.1.1. DERIVATION 129
4.2.1.2. COMPOSITION 133
4.2.2. NEOLOGISMS 136
4.2.3. PHRASEOLOGY 140
4.2.4. SYNTAX 147
4.2.4.1. SENTENCE LENGTH 147
4.2.4.2. COMPLETENESS OF SENTENCES 148
4.2.4.3. SENTENCE TYPES 150
4.2.5. BRAND NAMES 152
4.2.5.1. PRODUCT NAMES 152
5. CONTRASTIVE ANALYSIS OF VERBAL AND VISUAL 154
ELEMENTS IN WOMEN'S MAGAZINE ADVERTISEMENTS
IN ENGLISH AND B/C/S SPEAKING AREA
5.1. LANGUAGES IN CONTACT 157
5.1.1. MORPHOSYNTACTIC CHARACTERISTICS OF 166
ANGLICISMS
5.1.2. SEMANTIC CHARACTERISTICS OF ANGLICISMS 169
5.1.3. STYLISTIC CHARACTERISTICS OF ANGLICISMS 172
5.2. INTERACTION IN ADVERTISING 178
5.2.1. IDENTICAL AND SIMILAR ADVERTISEMENTS IN 181
ENGLISH AND B/C/S
6. CONCLUSION 190
7. REFERENCES 197
1. INTRODUCTION

By using creative and inventive language and vocabulary, advertisers have always
attracted the attention of linguists, which makes the world of advertising a sourceful and
interesting field for research. The development of media such as colour printed
newspapers, magazines, TV, radio and especially the Internet and mobile
telecommunication not only changes the way of communication and language forms,
but also the status of language within the semiotic phenomena and human relationships
in general. The cultural and communicative framework of society has changed. Thus,
science has intensively embarked on dealing with the language of the media. Under the
influence of the new media, new languages are being created and as such are entering
everyday language.
Traditional borders between oral and written forms of communication, as well as
linguistic and non-linguistic forms are becoming blurred. It is possible, that in some
forms, non-material signs become the carrier and in this manner new language forms
influence the content of thought.
The subject of this dissertation deals with the language of advertising in women's
magazines within the confines of English, Bosniac, Croatian and Serbian1 speaking
areas. Although advertisements were used in ancient times, it is only in the 1960s that
they became constituting parts of contemporary society. Today advertisments are
present in all spheres of human life. Some authors proclaimed the 1980s and 1990s as
the eras of advertising but the 21st century is definitely a time when life without
advertisements would not be possible to imagine. Language is the mirror of human
thought and work. Advertising is a legitimate part of contemporary society. Thus,
research into advertising and the language that is used within it has become an
extremely significant field of study.
This thesis consists of six chapters. In the first chapter some introductory notes are
given. Methodology and corpora are described thoroughly. A brief overview of
Cosmopolitan magazine is also provided. Not only is this particular magazine the source
of our corpora, but it also presents the gender philosophy discussed in this thesis.
In the second chapter, stereotypes, the relationship of gender stereotypes and
advertising language in women's magazines in particular are discussed. First, some
1 In further text Bosniac, Croatian, Serbian will be given as abbreviation B/C/S.

1