Gender in Advertising

The major difference between the two GAP advertisements is that they portray the boy as a "little scholar" and imply that he will be able to come up with amazing new ideas, while they show the girl as being "the social butterfly" and say that she should wear their clothes because other people will like them on her. My perception of the GAP changed after analyzing the second ad. I felt that they were stereotyping boys as needing to be smart and girls as needing to be popular. I felt that this ad was particularly impactful because it showed very young children, who were probably just starting school. The ad implies that if they do not wear the right clothes then they will be labeled as the wrong thing from the moment they step through the doors on the first day. Young schoolchildren should have the opportunity to explore their interests and become their own person without being defined by the types of clothes that they wear. I feel that these ads are offensive and that they should not be taken lightly. Children are very impressionable, and if young girls see an ad re-enforcing the idea that their ultimate goal in life is to be popular, it will not do anything to support the idea that she can become anything that she wants. However, if GAP was to create more ads showing both boys and girls in many different styles of clothing and describe both groups as having the ability to be smart and social, the ads would be less offensive. To combat gender stereotyping at such a young age, parents can talk to their children and use offensive and sexist ads as a learning tool to show their children that shoving an entire gender into the category of "smart" or "social" is not okay.

Overall, I feel that GAP was not thinking when they produced these ads. I feel that their ultimate goal is to sell clothes, not promote self-confidence or social change. They were using an old and familiar idea of what gender roles are to catch people's attention and promote their items. These ads were probably aimed at parents, some of whom may have grown up believing these stereotypes. If the parents feel that their child needs to fit into these categories in order to be liked and accepted by their peers than they would probably want what they think is best for their children, even if it means conforming to old thoughts and ideas.

https://womenintheworld.com/2016/08/03/gap-comes-under-fire-for-sexist-back-to-school-advertisement/