Visual Advertisement Images in the Wanita Magazine: An Empirical Study Toward Women Stereotype

Abstract

The levitating number of working women has formed a cultural shift in Malaysia. The advertisers have reacted to this variation by designing innumerable contradictory images of women. There has been an escalating interest by researcher and practitioners in the subject of women task allocation because it is believed that task allocation directly impacts the pattern of society’s behavior. Hence, this empirical investigation examines the portrayal and the interpretation of women in classified advertisement published in Wanita, a Malay language magazine published in Malaysia. It is believed that the investigation plans to explore the issue of stereotyping women in current and traditional commercials. Even though Malaysia is now an emerging country with modern society, the classified ads still portray women as being conservative and stereotype.