Zeitschrift für Massenkommunikation und Journalismus

Gender Role Portrayals in Brazilian and Portuguese Television Advertisements

Abstract

Felix Neto

The purpose of this research is to compare gender roles portrayed in television advertisements at a comparable time in Portugal and Brazil on the basis of Hofstede’s masculinity dimension. This research reports on two studies conducted with similar methodologies, examining the way males and females are depicted on television (TV). One was performed in Portugal, where 253 TV commercials were content analyzed. The other was performed in Brazil where 169 TV commercials were content analyzed. This research constitutes the first endeavor to compare gender role portrayals in television advertisements between Brazil and Portugal. Both studies were based on the coding scheme devised by McArthur and Resko. In agreement with predictions a greater proportion of Portuguese advertisements feature women as central figures than Brazilian advertisements. However, in Portugal, nine of the ten content categories showed a significant gender role association, whereas in Brazil, six of the ten content categories showed a significant gender role association. Therefore, contrary to expectations, it was found that Portuguese advertisements did not show less significant differences in the ten categories examined than Brazilian advertisements. Limitations of this research are considered.