Gender Roles and Stereotypes in Cosmetics Advertising - Is the future gender-neutral?

Abstract

The cosmetics industry has traditionally been perceived as feminine, and brands operating in it are often gendered based on normative sexual dualism. However, gender stereotypes and traditional gender roles are fading at an increasing rate, making gender-neutrality not only a tool for empowerment, but also a larger societal shift especially in many Western cultures. Although the social role of both genders has changed drastically in the past years, many cosmetics advertisements still portray women and men in traditional settings to promote brands and products. This new shift towards less gendered societies calls for changes in the way products are advertised to modern consumers in the cosmetics industry. Based on the existing literature I have studied these gender effects in cosmetics advertising in three cosmetics categories: personal care, fragrances and makeup, and found three alternative ways used by brands to become more gender-neutral: becoming unisex, targeting the other gender and selling lifestyles instead of genders. Additionally, I have examined the symbolic meaning of brands as gender identity markers and identified that when advertising traditionally feminine brands and products to male consumers, advertisers often use exaggerated notions of masculinity to decrease the level of incongruence between the consumers’ and product’s gender. I call this the hypermasculinity phenomenon. Overall, the findings of this study contribute to relatively narrow body of research in the area of gender-neutral advertising, offer comprehensive insights to advertising managers and form a basis for future research.