This document summarizes a presentation given by Paola Panarese from La Sapienza University of Rome on gender representation in Italian advertising. The presentation discusses advertising as an area of ethical concern, with a focus on how gender is portrayed. It notes that while codes of conduct exist, little research has examined how advertising practitioners develop gendered messages. The study interviewed 26 Italian advertising professionals to understand their perspectives on gender representation and the creative process. Key findings included that stereotypical portrayals of women are common but many feel client demands and the need for simplicity drive these portrayals rather than practitioner intent. Responsibility for gender representation was seen as shared between practitioners and clients.

1. A MATTER OF ETHICS?
ITALIAN ADVERTISING PRACTITIONERS’ CONCEPTUALISATION OF GENDER REPRESENTATION
Sevilla University – March 25, 2015 - Paola Panarese - La Sapienza University of Rome

2. Paola Panarese – La Sapienza, University of Rome
Advertising ethics
Advertising is not new to ethical
concerns.
It is perceived as one of the most
unethical areas in marketing
(Aaker, Day, 1982).

3. Paola Panarese – La Sapienza, University of Rome
Lacks
The literature on
advertising ethics still
appears “thin and
inconclusive in many
important areas” (Drumwright,
Murphy, 2009)

4. Paola Panarese – La Sapienza, University of Rome
Lacks
Little attention on the
perceptions of
advertising producers as
they develop gendered
messages

5. Paola Panarese – La Sapienza, University of Rome
Ethical implication
«Thousands of images
surround us every day of our
lives that address us along
gender lines.
Advertising seems to be
obsessed with gender and
sexuality» (Jhally, 1987: 135).

6. Paola Panarese – La Sapienza, University of Rome
Ethical implication
 The way in which gender
is represented in an
advertisement is not
neutral or devoid of
consequences

7. Paola Panarese – La Sapienza, University of Rome
 New codes of conduct
 New researches
 New campaigns
Recent attention

14. Paola Panarese – La Sapienza, University of Rome
To investigate where the ideas
for certain gender
representations come from
and who determines how and
what gender-based
advertising should be, a
qualitative approach consisting
of semi-structured in-depth
interviews was selected
Object and methodology

15. Paola Panarese – La Sapienza, University of Rome
 Respondents were selected
from among senior-level
advertising agency
practitioners working in Italy
 Snowball sampling
 Focused selection
Sample

16. Paola Panarese – La Sapienza, University of Rome
 Perception of
advertising
representation of
gender in Italy
 Description of the
production process of
gendered images
 Perception of the role
of professional codes
of conduct and
monitoring organizations
Thematic areas

17. Paola Panarese – La Sapienza, University of Rome
 Is there a problem in gender
representation in Italian
advertising?
At what stage of the
production process do any
distortions arise?
Are codes of conduct useful
to limit or eliminate the possible
problem?
Research questions

18. Paola Panarese – La Sapienza, University of Rome
 We interviewed twenty-
six respondents, fourteen
men, twelve women; fifteen
in creative role, eleven in
strategic role.
 Twenty-one agencies of
different sizes
Results

19. Paola Panarese – La Sapienza, University of Rome
 We can respond positively
to the first research
question
 Topical issue, although
not new
 Critical evaluation and
specific frame.
An ethical issue

20. Paola Panarese – La Sapienza, University of Rome
 Sexism and sexualization
 Women
 Imbalance
 Stereotypes
Frames

21. Paola Panarese – La Sapienza, University of Rome
The advertising images concerning women are the worst:
they are sexist, denigrating and offensive.
(CD12, female)
The gendered images generally confirm a scheme in which the
disparity is in favor of the male, although advertising
humbles and ridicules both genders.
(CD7, male)
In Italy don’t men almost always have the most important
roles? So too in advertising. In Italy don’t women almost
always take care of the home? So too in advertising. But if
you ask me whether I find it right, of course, the answer is no.
(CD3, female)
Frames

22. Paola Panarese – La Sapienza, University of Rome
Professionals have adjusted the figure of the man in the
woman, especially exploiting the male bodies as female ones
(GM1, male).
I saw the figure of the man become closer to the image of
woman. Roles of men and women often seem to be reversed:
the woman tends to "control" or uses an aggressive tone.
The man is feminized in his appearance (CD1, male).
Recently, I have noticed some campaigns using the male
body in a similar way. I do not think this is a step towards
gender equality. If anything, it is a step towards the
construction of a male stereotype. The use of undressed
males certainly does not represent an evolution (CD5, female).
Frames

23. Paola Panarese – La Sapienza, University of Rome
The mother preparing lunch, the father coming home from
work, the impatient teenager, the manager within the
suite (CEO1, male).
The objectified woman, but also the silly woman, not strong,
active or "with balls" (…) shown in their “natural” environment:
bathroom or kitchen (CD3, female).
For women, the most common roles are: seductive woman,
decorations, homekeeper, mannequins, in a “pre-orgasm”
moment (...), masculinized, or Lolitas.
For men, tough guy, gigolo, sportsman, manager, ugly but
nice, and beautiful and unreal, often gay, but always within
the cliché (CD5, female).
Stereotypes

24. Paola Panarese – La Sapienza, University of Rome
Technicalities
We need to empathize
in a short time with a
vast number of people,
and this leads to the use of
stereotypes. When your
target is huge and with
different interests, you
have to generalize.
(CEO1, male).

25. Paola Panarese – La Sapienza, University of Rome
If you have to be understood in three seconds, or even with
a scene, unfortunately you have to be stereotyped.
I’ll give you an example: we had to do a commercial for a
mouthwash for sensitive teeth. The commercial had to show a
dentist who worked on sensitive teeth from the inside of the mouth
of a patient. We used a male dentist because if we had used a
woman, the audience would not have realized she was a dentist, but
would have thought she was a dental hygienist or a nurse. It is
almost impossible, in two seconds, to show an iconic role
without stereotypes. If you see a woman at a desk, you rarely
think she's a CEO, but rather a secretary of a male CEO. If you see
her for a moment and she is not part of a story, you do not see a
woman CEO because you are not used to it (...) There will never be
a woman CEO in a few seconds of advertising, unless we can tell her
story (AM1, female).
Technicalities

26. Paola Panarese – La Sapienza, University of Rome
Mirror
How is that representation dissimilar from reality? Perhaps
we live in a society that is not too different from that
representation.
(CD1, male).
Advertising often chooses to communicate through clichés
and stereotypes because they are simple and
straightforward to understand, especially in a 30-second
commercial.
I do not think it is appropriate to blame advertising, although it
certainly has contributed to the creation or strengthening of many
stereotypes.
Let us remember that everything always starts from
society and its dominant culture (CD5, female).

27. Paola Panarese – La Sapienza, University of Rome
Old ways
Italian communication is equal to the communication of
the 1950s. We only changed the type of product. Rather than
promoting cakes or yeast, we now promote smartphones. But
the way we communicate is always the same.
(CD15, male)
Large international companies communicate with great
statements – Think different, Time is what you make of it, Good
things come to those who wait – that gain attention through a
shared message. In Italy, we continue to use women as
baits, with a primitive and Pavlovian mechanism. We
associate the message to “flesh”, so the bell sounds.
(CD8, male)

28. Paola Panarese – La Sapienza, University of Rome
Old ways
Lack of professionalism, lack of ideas, ignorance of those
who do the campaign and those who buy it. A culture that
considers it normal for sons to live at home until they are 50
years old, for wives to complement their professional life by
being mothers and housewives.
The culture of a country in which we elect showgirls,
escorts or entertainers as politicians, and not really
prepared people.
(CD 10, female)

29. Paola Panarese – La Sapienza, University of Rome
Advertisers have the ability to create effective messages
with a potentially huge impact on the psyche of people. In
addition, synthesis and repetition fix them in the audience’s
subconscious.
(CD12, female)
The effect of advertising is to reinforce the image of certain
roles as suitable for man or woman. And it is no small thing.
(CD5, female)
If the image spread by advertising is the image of a woman
who is physically perfect, but unintelligent, this triggers
dangerous frustrations, especially among adolescents.
(CD3, female)
Effects

30. Paola Panarese – La Sapienza, University of Rome
If there is a bias in gender images, it comes from the client's
brief. The client can say: I want a woman in the campaign,
because my target is a man, or – no one will ever say this so clearly
– "my product is weak and I need someone to sell it with a greater
force"
(CD1, male)
The client directs the creative choice. We do not have great creative
decision-making power. The company pays and decides how its
image will be and what they want to communicate.
(AM6, female)
Responsabilities

31. Paola Panarese – La Sapienza, University of Rome
I worked for telephone companies, and I was asked to
prepare lists of possible female endorsers classified as hot,
quite hot or not hot. I presented campaigns when client
comments were: "there are not enough boobs"
(CD3, female).
For a campaign in which we had to show the dreams of children, I
had many discussions with the client about the dreams of girls. He
wanted and imposed the dream to be hairdressers, beauticians
or mothers. I do not think that these occupations are unworthy,
but, fortunately, the choice for a woman is broader.
(CD5, female)
Experiences

32. Paola Panarese – La Sapienza, University of Rome
The advertising agency creates
a campaign, especially with the
account. But a bizarre idea
would remain in the trash can if
the client didn’t appreciate it. In
this pre-production process,
agency and client are both
responsible to the same
extent.
(CD11, male).
Shared responsibilities

33. Paola Panarese – La Sapienza, University of Rome
If we, hypothetically, divide investors and professionals into three
bands – low, medium and high – we can say that the gender
image distortions are more common in the low band: small
investment, small investors and small advertising
agencies. In this case, media planning chooses local media,
such as print, radio or billboards, that often contain images which
go beyond good taste, education and a number of issues that not
only affect the representations of gender (...). When we go into
the other two categories, where investments are more
important, the gap in the representation of gender is
significantly reduced.
(CD1, male).
The others

34. Paola Panarese – La Sapienza, University of Rome
I'm glad there are ethical codes, but they are not
sufficient. A cultural change is necessary, also – not only – with
the help of advertising. (CD5, female)
We cannot do without the rules, but they do not have a
miraculous role. The real change only happens in the field, in
actual practice (…) in a meeting room where a client and an
agency decide to get in touch with the real world, instead of just
creating a caricature. (CD7, male)
Codes are useful, but not sufficient. The role of filter of
negative images is up to the sensitivity and accuracy of each
practitioner. (CD4, female).
Codes

35. Paola Panarese – La Sapienza, University of Rome
I do not believe ethical codes are useful for advertising.
They serve to swell the pockets of lawyers and red tape. An
agency cannot afford to make mistakes for economic
reasons. So, I believe there is a natural self-discipline in
advertising agencies: when a client wants to use the body of a
woman in a campaign, in most Italian agencies, we point out he
is talking nonsense.
(GM2, male)
Codes

36. Paola Panarese – La Sapienza, University of Rome
Change
Things will change only through progress. Probably, in
many years, we have evolved as our British or Irish colleagues
(AM7, female).
There is no need for regulation of censorship. There is need for
widespread awareness that only culture can bring (CD12,
female).
Sometimes, the problem is in mothers, who raise children in the
wrong way, giving the idea that there are jobs for women and
men, things that women do and things that men do. It is
obviously a cultural problem. (AM1, female).

37. Paola Panarese – La Sapienza, University of Rome
Monitoring organizations
IAP arrives late. It censures and does not build. It is
made up of people who have never done the job of
creative well. (…) Talking and judging are of little use,
like in football: the IAP is like those people who think they
are fantastic national team coaches but they do not know
how to kick the ball. Do we need an institute to punish
stupidity, lack of common sense and good ideas of
creatives and customers? (CD10, female)

38. Paola Panarese – La Sapienza, University of Rome
Unwritten codes
There is an unwritten code of conduct implicitly
shared. We are all sensitive and we do not need to be
told what not to do
(CEO2, male)
We do not need a code of conduct because we are few. We
are all women with the same vision of the world
(CD2, female)
The guidelines are not written, but we follow the rule of
common sense. If you use a female body in a silly way,
the proposal does not go forward, because it is a bad job.
So, there is no need for written rules for good professionals
(CD11, male).

39. Paola Panarese – La Sapienza, University of Rome
Conclusion
 Autonomous practitioner
culture and ethical
concerns.
 Common professional
ethics.
 Women and creative roles
concerned with the
distortion of the images of
gender in advertising.

40. Paola Panarese – La Sapienza, University of Rome
Moral presbyopia?
Not moral myopia, nor
moral muteness
(Drumwright, Murphy, 2004).
Moral presbyopia?