Throughout this class, and other women’s studies classes that I have taken, there has been a lot of discussion about how women are portrayed in the media. We have looked at movies, television shows, magazines, and more, but one of the sources of media that continuously seems to be left out is the radio. People all of America listen to the radio everyday, some even more than they watch TV. It’s in your car, in the store you shop in, at the gym, and in your home. So why don’t we pay more attention to how it is treating women?
I began thinking about this because my mother works for a radio station. First I began thinking about just the advertisements, but after speaking with her I soon realized that it was not just the advertisements that are the problem. When a radio station is broadcast, they know the exact demographic that they are portraying to. For example, a radio station from my hometown is a country radio station. The same company also owns a sports radio station. The country station is geared more toward women while the sports radio station is geared toward men. This can clearly be seen by the “Hunk of the Day” on the country radio stations website and the “Babe of the Day” on the sports radio stations website.
http://www.1290theticket.com/cc-common/babes/
http://www.wdsd.com/cc-common/otd_pages/Hunks_NEW_otd.html
Radio advertisements generally seem to be fairly tame. I rarely hear an ad that makes me think “wow that was really sexist!” Perhaps this could be because I listen to the country station geared toward women. Many of the ads that are heard are emphasized that women only need material goods to be happy, etc. I collected a few ads that I think really portray women in a bad light.
Client: AUTOMOTIVE NEW CAR :30 Radio
“MUMMY’S MIDLIFE CRISIS 1”
MUSIC UP
MASSAGE MUSIC
FEMALE:
No cosmetic will do it.
No facial, no spa treatment…
only a hot sports car is guaranteed to take up to 10 years off a woman’s age. Fifteen if it’s a convertible…eyeliner, chemical peel,
MUSIC DOWN
FEMALE:
Puh-lease…when the mommy mobile goes and the convertible revs up…
SFX:
CAR REVVING
MUSIC UP
HOT
FEMALE:
…watch and feel the years melt away. A red hot (CAR MODEL). Not available at drug stores.
LOCAL ANNCR:
But very available at (CLIENT NAME/WEBSITE).
Client: BOAT STORE :30 Radio
“SHE ONLY WANTS”
JINGLE:
MALE SINGER:
She’s climbin’ on in her string bikini
Barely covering her rack
Diamond on her belly button
Tatoo on her lower back
Hands up high
Holdin’ on by squeezin’ with her thighs
I must be dreamin’ ‘cause she’s screamin’
Take me on a wild ride!
She’s got a need for speed
Go faster! Go faster!
Loves the edge like me
I’m thinkin’ I have her
But the next weekend
She’s out with my best friend
All along I thought she fell for me
She only wants my jet ski
LOCAL ANNCR:
Jet World. . . . in Burbank!
Client: Nightclub :30 Radio
“WOMEN WANT BIG SCREENS”
MUSIC UP
KINDA JAZZY AND LIGHTLY SEXY
FEMALE LOCAL ANNCR:
(Hip, 20s)
Why do men think wide-screen TV was created just for them? Don’t we have needs? Don’t we have desires? Don’t we deserve the big one? I mean you haven’t lived until you’ve seen a soap opera in cinema ratio. Or, watch a chocolate cheesecake being made from scratch in hd. Come on guys get real and share that big screen with us gals. I’ll be with the girls at (client) (address) in (area/city/town.) They know what you guys need…and what a woman wants too.
In general I think that radio does the best out of all the other types of media with their advertisements and portrayal of women, but that does not mean that there are still things that need to change. People just need to be more aware that radio can affect our lives too, and sometimes when we least expect it.
i never really stopped to think about how radio ads may or may not affect the way we think about the different genders in the media. i definitely think that some ads are directed more toward one gender rather than the other, but i'm not really sure that i could think of any ads of the top of my head that are overtly sexist. it's a really interesting thing to bring up becuase, as mary said, i really don't think that people think of the influence radio may or may not have on this subject
ReplyDeleteAfter reading this I thought about some of the radio stations I listen to back home. There's one in particular that came to mind because they always play a commercial from an adult entertainment store. They also have been known to have a lot of commercials and give aways that only pertain to males. The station plays alternative rock and some classic rock, but I know many females that listen to the station as well.
ReplyDeleteWhen we are asked to study how women are portrayed in the media, we often think to look at television, movies, magazines, and billboards, not radio; therefore, I think that this blog was interesting. After reading Mary's blog, I thought about some of the advertisements that I hear while listening to my usual radio stations. Indeed, it is not unusual for me to hear an advertisment for the "best" plastic surgeons in the Philadelphia area, who specialize in breast augmentation. There are other advertisements on my radio station that promote various kinds of diet supplements as well. The target audience for my radio station is 20-something single women and men, but I think that there is a bit more emphasis on the female audience.
ReplyDeleteLooking back to Mary's blog, I do think that some of the ads that she posted were pretty sexist. The ad that stuck out to me was the one for the boat store. I thought there was a lot of suxual innuendo. The focus was on the female body parts, not the woman as a whole being. I also think that the message was that women are materialistic and shallow: "she only wants my jet-ski." It should be interesting to listen more carefully to ads that I may hear about in the future on my favorite radio station.
I never really thought about the fact that some radio stations are gender specific. However, after reading this blog I paid more attention to the advertisments on the radio stations that I listen to and realized that some are more geared towards a specific gender.
ReplyDeleteWow, I did not realize the ways women were depicted on the radio. Women are seen on the radio, like in videos and movies as objects. They are depicted in roles that demoralize who they are as a person. This post was an eye opener!
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting to look at women in radio. I hate listening to the radio because of all the ads that interrupt the music so I also never really thought about how women are portrayed through this medium. But it is true - stations find their demographic and they want to appeal to that group via music AND the ads they air.
ReplyDeleteWhen I do turn on the radio, it is usually to classic rock or alternative rock stations and these types of stations seem to be geared towards men - older guys would maybe be most likely to listen to classic rock. This means that the ads you hear in between the songs are about cars and bars and Home Depot. It seems rare to hear an ad for cosmetics or department stores or something stereotypically "feminine" on Q104.3 (NYC classic rock station).
I think that looking at women in radio plays to the bigger issue - that it's not just what the radio ads suggest about women but what the music the stations play say about women also.