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Gender stereotype

Gender stereotypes still exist in the world. Gender stereotyping can limit the development of the natural talents and abilities of girls and boys, women and men, as well as their educational and professional experiences and life opportunities in general.

There is no word in the advertisement, but we can image the whole story according to the vivid picture. In the living room, the wife is cleaning the floor by using a small vacuum cleaner. As she needs to clean the underneath of the sofa, she needs to uplift the sofa. However, her husband sitting on the sofa is reading the newspaper and drinking a cup of coffee. The woman is uplifting the sofa by one hand while another hand is carrying the vacuum cleaner. Her husband does not help her and just sit on the sofa. When the sofa lifts, the man loses his balance. The woman’s face is a little bit angry. The man’s expression seems that he is bothered.

This advertisement reflects the gender stereotype, which is that a woman is supposed to do the housework, and man is unwilling to help his wife. In the United Kingdom, many people advocate a campaign against the phenomenon that women receive gender discrimination in the advertisement. I would argue that men also receive gender discrimination. The advertisement companies have a stereotype that men do not do any housework. As a matter of fact, it is not absolutely true. I have some friends who like sharing housework with their mother, girlfriend or wife. I want to address this gender stereotype in my culture jamming.

My jammed version of the advertisement shows that women and men do the housework together. The man helps the woman to uplift the sofa.

This revision is not rare around the world. I have read some revised advertisement in China, exchanging the couple’s face. As a result, it would be the woman sitting on the sofa and the man is doing the housework without any help. These people think it fights for women’s rights. I would doubt it. From my perspective, gender equity means that men and women should have the same rights. Therefore, I choose to change the whole situation by creating two situations showing the couple do the housework and having time together. Besides, I keep the original two people as characters and produce the other two versions, which are using Asian and White characters. What I want to convey in my jammed version is that women and men should share the housework. Actually, today many couples have shared the housework, including sweeping the floor, doing the laundry, and so on. It is not fair for men and women that men do not do any housework at home. It is a gender stereotype from advertisement companies. This stereotype may let people who see the advertisement believe that the previous situation, which is that only women do the housework, does not change at all. Based on these thoughts, I create a picture that shows that the couple clears the floor together. It is important for a couple to share the housework. In summary, the ultimate goal of this jammed version is to advocate feminism. Feminism should absolutely involve men as well. I believe it can only be successful with the efforts of men and women.