Abstract

Advertising is today an inescapable part of people’s social settings. As such it is not surprising that the medium seeks to define women in relation to men, whilst the men are defined in relation to their work, their creativity or their play. Media images have circumscribed woman's body, mind and soul to serve male goals. The commercialization of media has been largely responsible for stereotyping women and moreover it has done immense harm to the image of women within society. This article the nature and the standards of advertising regarding the portrayal of women and is based upon the findings of a six month long data collection and subsequent data analysis of 150 commercials aired over different Pakistani T.V channels. Results reveal that the advertising is affecting the women in three ways: body image, sexuality and consumer spending habits.

Key words: Advertisement, women, Pakistani T.V. channels, portrayal, commercials, products.