The picture above is one of the advertisements from Kookai, an internationally known clothing

brand for women. This advertisement creates a visual when a man is given job of caretaking a

baby. In the advertisement poster, a man dressed in women clothes is holding a baby in a weird

position. From the facial expression of the man, it is obvious that he’s bored or even feeling

impatient. The way he carries the baby also suggest that he’s heartless with his given task.

Stereotypically, taking care of babies is the job of a woman as women are usually portrayed as a

softer and gentler group of individual. Naturally, society relates women to housekeeping and

child caring tasks. In the contrary, men are usually seen as tough and strong. They’re

traditionally the bread winners of the family and thus bread winners in present times by default.

By putting a man in the position of a woman the way it’s shown in the advertisement, it

automatically stereotypes men unsuitable to take a women’s job by the way the babies is carried

and also the look on the face. Hence, this advertisement from Kookai reflects gender

stereotyping in both men and women.

Additionally, the phrase “What would the world be without women” leads the mind to visualize

global chaos if there were no women. It conveyed a message that women are also playing

important roles in keeping lives in order for example: taking care of a child, although in present

times men are starting to take up roles as househusbands.

Gender stereotyping has become a norm in our society; women are usually seen stereotyped as

weak and gentle and hence causing the society to judge them weird when they do the job of a guy.

The first things that stand out in this advertisement are the ways that it uses gender stereotypes.

The woman is the one using the cleaning products to do her chores. This implies the traditional stereotype

that women are the ones doing the cleaning. The fact that the woman is dolled up with make-up on and

her nails painted is another stereotype. Not all women wear make-up and polish their nails, but the

traditional conception is that they should.

The Clorox advertisement also counters stereotypes. It shows the woman as a strong-type and one

would think that she can do it all herself. The phrase “get the power” can be interrupted two different

ways. The first is as empowerment to women, stating that women can be powerful. The other is as a

stereotype that women are not powerful. It can also be viewed as a slap in the face to women who want to

be powerful in other ways, not in just housework. The image of the woman does counter the stereotype,

as well. It shows her with her bandana on, and flexing her muscles, which is not normally how women are

portrayed.