Stereotyping of women as a domestic being in Bangladeshi television commercials: A critical study of discourse

Abstract

Traditionally it is believed that men and women have different sets of gender roles (Giddens, 2006; Schaefer, 2010; Miaji 2010; Spencer, 1997; Rao, 2007). Parsons and Bales, two Functionalist theorists, say (in Schaefer, 2010), women should concentrate on domestic life and become anchored in the family as wives, mothers and household managers; on the other hand, men are supposed to focus on livelihood and become anchored in the occupational world outside the home. In Bangladeshi context, women are only responsible for doing household chores, cooking, washing and rearing children (Sultana, 2011; Balk, 1996). On top of that it is believed that women are not supposed to go outside for professional jobs (Balk, 1996). These gender stereotypes impede the development of a society as these destroy individual talents to some extent (Schaefer, 2010). At present these stereotypical beliefs have changed as nowadays women do not only keep themselves associated with household chores but also they are equally concerned about their career (Rao, 2007: 820). Belch and Belch (2006) say that women are depicted as preoccupied with beauty, household duties and motherhood in television commercials that debases the status of a woman. It appears that in television commercials stereotypical portrayal of women is still present. The aim of the research is to find out whether the stereotyping of women as a domestic being is present in Bangladeshi TVCs. This is a study from CDA perspective as CDA focuses on the hidden agendas of a society and makes people conscious about the hidden structures embedded in it (Haque, 2008). The research has adopted the three dimensional approach of Fairclough (1995) to analyze the data. The study focuses on whether women are portrayed as a domestic being in Bangladeshi TVCs, if this stereotyping is related to power and how this stereotyping reinforces social myths. As the data of the research, 40 TVCs were collected over a time period of five months (from January 2011 to May 2011) from all the Bangladeshi television channels except one. The findings of the study suggest that in Bangladeshi TVCs women are portrayed as domestic beings who are responsible for cooking, washing, rearing children; it seems that they love to lead a domestic life in home. These stereotypical images of women degrade the status of Bangladeshi women. In Bangladesh there is no proper law to control or regulate advertising (Urmee, 2011). Therefore, a regulatory commission, consisting of lawyers, women right activists, advertisers, media personalities and CDA analysts, might be formed to regulate the portrayal of women in Bangladeshi TVCs.