الفهرس 
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Abstract
Jean Kilbourne argues that advertising is an extremely powerful social force that should be taken
seriously (qtd. in Cortese 14). Advertisements create a powerful effect on people as everywhere people are
subjected to them. In particular, the persuasive language of advertisements convinces people of the
ideological constructs behind them as “they sell moral values and cultural images, such as concepts of
success, love, and sexuality” (Cortese 14). One reason advertisements are dominant is that they toy with
people’s desires to convince them to buy a product.
This thesis aims to study the representation of gender identity in selected television advertisements
by studying the values attached to femininity and masculinity and the role models for women and men
presented and how the social hegemony of capitalism reinforces societal gender roles through the use of
dialogue and language. Along with the verbal signs, the thesis investigates the nonverbal signs in
advertisements and the use of characters/actors to reflect gender identity. The selected television
advertisements represent the identities of women and men on multiple levels; therefore, the study designates
four main categories: “Man-up”, the “Domesticated Woman”, “Objectification of Men and Women”, and
“Breaking Gender Roles”.
The thesis attempts to answer the following questions: How do the selected television
advertisements represent women’s and men’s identities? What are the Egyptian role models for women
and men in television advertisements? What is the relation between the social hegemony of capitalism and
the reinforcement of social identities? How are both patriarchy and the social hegemony of capitalism
reflected in the Egyptian television advertisements? How does the dialogue in the selected television
advertisements serve in reflecting gender identity? How do the nonverbal signs in the television
advertisements help in reflecting gender identity? How do the characters in the television advertisements
aid in reflecting gender identity? How do the visual tools and the camera techniques aid in interpreting
gender identity in the television advertisements?
The thesis is divided into three chapters, each dealing with different categories of the selected
television advertisements. Chapter One defines the theoretical framework. The chapter is divided into two
parts, the first one defines gender studies and popular culture theories, and the second part explains the tools
of semiotics and visual studies. It interprets television advertisements using Dominic Strinati’s postmodern
contemporary popular culture elements. Understanding television advertisements needs cultural
contextualization so John Fiske’s theory of the manipulation and politicization of the body by imposing
meaning over it is utilized. Also, his ideas on the appropriation of marketplace language in relation to gender
are relevant. Gender representation is analyzed using Mulvey’s male gaze and Butler’s theory of gender
and performativity. The thesis uses three semiotic tools: verbal, nonverbal, and characters as signs to
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highlight the representation of constructed gender identities in the selected television advertisements. The
visual tools are the following: first, “breaking the fourth wall” by looking directly into the camera. The
second tool is camera movements, including tracking/dolly, panning, and tilting. The third tool is camera
shots: zoom in or out, close-up, wide, or medium shots.
Chapter Two examines the first and second television advertisements categories entitled “Man Up”
and the “Domesticated Woman”. The man-up category includes advertisements that encourage men to
become macho, that is to say: to behave in a certain way to become more masculine. If men do the opposite,
they are undermined and ostracized in the advertisements by associating them with women’s qualities. This
category has five television advertisements: (1) the non-alcoholic beer (Birell in the car), (2) (Birell at the
Barber’s shop), (3) (Birell at the office), (4) the ice-cream (Maxibon) and (5) (Chipsy Extreme). The second
category is the “Domesticated Woman”. The main idea in the following advertisements is that they only
address women when discussing cooking, cleaning, or household appliances. In effect, this reinforces the
notion that household responsibilities are women’s duty and role in society: (1) (Rawaby) ghee, (2) (Pril)
dishwashing liquid, (3) (Halwany) Chicken, and (4) (Ganna) butter “El Matbakh Lʿbitī”.
Chapter Three examines the third and fourth categories of the selected television advertisements
entitled “Objectification of Men and Women” and “Breaking Gender Roles”. Objectification of Men and
Women contains nine television advertisements dealing with the commodification of men and women: the
channel advertisement “Melody” ”Mīn Booby”, (Melody) ”El Ḥalawa Ḥalwet El Rūḥ”; Ahmed Ezz series
of television advertisements (Universal) for home appliances such as refrigerators, cookers and washing
machines; “Rondy ceramics” advertisement; “Juhynaa’s” ”the Dundū” for dairy products; the baked chips
“Bake Rolls” and “Mousa Coast” advertisement for resort. In this category, both genders are subjected to
objectification; they are expected to look attractive as both are treated as beautiful objects. The fourth
category is entitled “Breaking Gender Roles” and it features relative empowerment of women. The
advertisements in this category are considered a progressive step that brings about a relatively different
view of looking at gender. This category includes three television advertisements that challenge the
mainstream gender roles: “Always”/ “Girls Can”; “El Maleka” pasta; and “Downy” fabric softener.
The study has found that the stereotyping of women and men is evident and is related to
consumerism. For instance, the “Man-up” category’s main aim is how to become a macho man, and it is
said directly in advertisements such as “Birell” campaign and “Chipsy Extreme”. Moreover, all the
advertisements in the “Domesticated Women” category are found to sell the idea that a happy marriage, a
satisfied husband, and a good wife depend on a woman’s cooking with a certain butter (Ganna) or using a
certain dishwashing liquid (Pril).
The study takes it as a starting point that capitalism endeavours to gain profit for the powerful
institutions through the profit-guarantee means of television advertisements. As their main aim is profit187
oriented rather than value-oriented, capitalist institutions would produce any advertisement, whether having
a positive social message or a negative one (promoting harassment, stereotypes, and objectification of men
and women, etc.). This reveals the grotesque desire to sell regardless of values and ethics.
It is noticeable that the advertisements are not merely selling products, but they are selling attributes
of the joyful, successful men and women who need to adopt certain behaviours even if they involve toxic
traits. An example to this is the celebration of a man who is careless about his marriage and the
responsibilities of his son is shown in (Chipsy Extreme). Alternatively, the idea of becoming a man
according to Birell is by becoming aggressive and ready to fight. In these “Birell” and “Chipsy Extreme”
campaigns, women are excluded as the advertisement states that the products are for men only.
Dialogue is used as a crucial factor to reflect gender identities. For instance, using marketplace
language in the advertisements, such as undermining a grown man by calling him “son” or referring to him
by a female name as “Sawsan,” is associated with powerfulness and masculinity. However, using polite
language is often related to femininity and vulnerability, such as apologizing or calling one’s mother
“Mommy” as in “Birell in the Car”. The dialogue conveys the binary oppositions between the two genders
in terms of power and weakness. Judith Butler argues against this repeated history and tradition, which
assumes that all men are powerful and reflect a powerful attitude. The analysis, based on Butler’s ideas,
has proved that the celebrated gender representation of masculine power reflects toxic behaviour. For
instance, the presented masculinity is extremely harmful since the attributes linked to it are aggression,
bullying, rudeness, and aloofness, and often the usage of derogatory language.
The nonverbal element is the second important tool applied to illustrate the reflected construction
of gender identities, such as the body language, costumes, and props. Toxic masculinity is shown when
men are using their bodies to express readiness to fight or threaten women in the street. The body is used
as an important tool to convey confidence or weakness. Men repeatedly project self-confidence by looking
directly at the camera and straightening their backs.
The clothes also show that men in most advertisements are wearing suits to show they have just
come from work. However, women are most probably used as beautiful ornaments; they wear tight dresses
and flashy clothes. The camera plays a vital role in zooming into their body parts for two reasons: 1) to
evoke feelings of eroticism and pleasure. 2) to treat women’s bodies as a commodity, and handsome men
are used as role models, so people would purchase the product, feeling that they might acquire their
attractiveness.
In conclusion, the thesis has demonstrated, using the methodological and theoretical tools in its
analysis of TV advertisements, that gender roles confine both gender identities. Also, it has revealed that
“the images of men and women portrayed in Egyptian TV commercials are more traditional than realistic”
(Ishak 69). The evidence of objectification, sexism, chauvinism, and stereotyping was repeatedly shown in
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television advertisements, while few advertisements have been identified as attempting to speak differently
about women and to break gender roles