Dishwashers play an important part in the lives of many families. They help save time on cleaning dishes after meals and cooking. Families can, thus, spend more time together rather than polishing plates with a sponge at the kitchen sink. At the same time, these instruments are notoriously difficult to clean. The advertisement in question features Finish and Jar dishwasher tablets. Though short and seemingly inoffensive, it reinforces gender stereotypes in several demeaning ways. First, the advertisement shows two women in the kitchen, handling the dishwasher (CEA Prague, 2017). There are no men present throughout the entire video. The absence of men enforces the stereotype that “women belong in the kitchen.” Conversely, the implied message is that men should leave taking care of the house to women, and pursue their ambitions and careers instead. It is further magnified by presenting one of the women as silly and incapable of washing or operating a dishwasher, implying low intelligence, to further cement the message above (CEA Prague, 2017). The suggestion is, thus, toxic to women and is spreading a message unacceptable in the 21st century.
The advertisement could have been made gender-neutral without losing any of its selling properties. One of the presenters could have easily been a male, and the absence of a female character purposefully made less intelligent would not have diminished the message that dishwasher tablets are superior to conventional liquids when it comes to cleaning. The 21st century is seeing a blur in gender roles, with more women taking up careers and more men comfortably staying at home to take care of the house and children. Effective advertising should reflect that instead of falling into an age-long paradigm of women being bound to their homes. I think that seemingly innocent videos like these are, bit by bit, delaying the achievement of equality between men and women.
Reference
CEA Prague. (2017). How to use a dishwasher [Video]. Youtube. Web.