Portrayal of Women in Kenyan Television Advertisements

Abstract

This study is an assessment of the portrayal of women in television advertisements in Kenya. Specifically the study was interested in establishing if advertisers in Kenyan television use gender stereotypes in commercials. This was achieved by seeking to determine which type of products and services that women are featured mostly in television commercials, whether there are gender inequalities in regard to roles portrayed in the commercials and what type of portrayal of women is most prevalent in television commercials. The study adopted a descriptive research design. A code sheet was used to enter the data that was collected from commercials aired at prime time on Citizen Television over a one month period (April 1 April 30 th 2013). The data was analyzed using descriptive statistics and presentation of the findings was done in tabulated format. Findings indicated that women are portrayed stereotypically in television advertisements in conformity with traditional gender stereotypes more specifically as users of personal and household products, belonging to the home settings, parents and spouses, passive users of products and services and as decorative and sexual objects