FOOD COMMERCIALS AND GENDER. A Comparative Analysis of Gender-role Portrayal in Swedish and Japanese Food Commercials

Abstract

The aim of this thesis is to investigate Swedish gender role stereotypes in advertising by analysing 82 different Swedish video commercials of the product category food and cooking and then conducting a cross-cultural comparison of earlier data from Japanese commercials. The commercials are categorised based on the setting that it takes place in, and examples of appearing roles and gender portrayals are described. The contents are compared against a theoretical framework of Swedish gender stereotypes in regards to cuisine and foodwork as well as official government data. The results show that the Swedish commercials do reflect real life gender stereotypes related to foodwork, particularly in professional settings.