Scope

This Research Guide covers female sex role portrayals in advertising media.

Overview

Women's Issues
College Library Reference Collection: HQ 1115 W6425 1997
Refer to: "Advertising" and "Stereotypes of Women"

The Feminine Mystique
College Library Women's Collection: HQ 1426 F844 1997

Putting On Appearances: Gender and Advertising
College Library Women's Collection: HF 5827 B37 1988

Finding Journal and News Articles

Below are links to databases that cover this subject area. The truncation symbol for all of them is an asterisk (*) unless otherwise noted.

Sample searches for databases:

sexism and advertising
women and body image
women and advertising
sex role and advertising

Recommended Databases:

Academic Search 1984 - to date (updated daily)
This library database indexes approximately 3,100 popular magazines and academic journals and provides the full-text articles from approximately 1,000 journals. Basic instructions for Academic Search

GenderWatch 1980 - to date (updated quarterly)
A women's and gender issues database with full-text coverage of most journals. Basic instructions for GenderWatch

Lexis/Nexis Academic Universe Dates Vary (updated daily)
Contains the full-text articles from U.S. and international newspapers (including the New York Times, June 1980 - to date), as well as some news and business magazines and trade journals. The truncation symbol is an exclamation point (!). Basic instructions for Lexis/Nexis Academic Universe

ProQuest Research Library 1988 - to date (updated daily)
Indexes over 2,000 general-interest and academic journals. Nearly 1,000 periodicals are full-text. Dates vary, but many full-text journals go back to 1988. Basic instructions for ProQuest Research Library

PsycINFO 1872 - to date (updated weekly)
Indexes 1,300 scholarly journals along with books and book chapters in psychology, educational psychology, and behavioral sciences. Basic instructions for PsycINFO

Readers' Guide Full Text and Retrospective 1890 - to date (updated monthly)
Indexes 240 popular magazines in a wide range of subject areas. Full-text coverage of 131 titles begins with 1994. Basic instructions for Readers' Guide Full Text

Social Sciences Full Text 1983 - to date (updated monthly)
Indexes more than 415 scholarly journals in economics, politics, public administration, public health, sociology, criminology, environmental and urban studies, psychology and anthropology. Basic instructions for Social Sciences Full Text

Finding Books

MadCat
Books on women in advertising can be found in MadCat, the UW-Madison library catalog.

Sample keyword searches:

"sex role"
"sex role" and advertising
"sex role" and "mass media"
women and "mass media"

Internet Sites

AmoebaWeb Psychology on the Web
http://www.vanguard.edu/faculty/ddegelman/amoebaweb/index.aspx?doc_id=854
Click on "gender and advertising" for a link to the British-based Media and Communication Studies Site (MCS). Click on "psychology of advertising" for articles about advertising and sex appeal. Site maintained at Vanguard University psychology department.

MCS-The Media and Communication Studies Site--Advertising-Gender & Advertising
http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Sections/advert04.html
Comprehenvisve British-based gateway and meta-index to Web resources useful in the academic study of media and communication. Site developed at the University of Wales.

AdCritic.com
http://www.adcritic.com
With an archive of 1,879 television commercials and 2.45 gigabytes of mostly Quicktime-encoded videos, AdCritic.com is the Net's largest repository of TV commercials.

National Organization for Women
http://www.now.org/index.html
NOW's Media Activism Web site.

University of Texas Advertising Research Resource Center
http://advertising.utexas.edu/research/Topics.html
Reseach aids provided by the University of Texas department of advertising. Includes online bibliographies, papers, information about law and ethics, and links.

About-Face
http://www.about-face.org
About-Face is a San Fransico-based media literacy organization focused on the impact mass media has on the physical, mental and emotional well-being of women and girls. Webite resources include facts, studies, books, lists of related organizations, and tools for community action.

About-Face's Body Image ... Some Interesting Facts
http://www.about-face.org/r/facts/bi.shtml
Offers quick facts about women, eating disorders, media and cultural impact.

Videos

Dreamworlds II: Desire, Sex, Power in Music Video [videorecording].
Written and edited by Sut Jhally. Northampton, MA: Media Education Foundation, 1995.
College Library Women's Collection: PN 1992.8 M87 D74 1995

Beyond Killing Us Softly[videorecording]: the impact of media images on women and girls.
Produced by Margaret Lazarus and Renner Wunderlich. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge Documentary Films, 2000.
College Library Women's Collection: HF 5822 K55 2000

Killing Us Softly [videorecording].
Created by Jean Kilbourne; Produced by Sut Jhally. Northampton, MA: Media Education Foundation, 2000.
College Library Women's Collection: HF 5822 K5 2000

Slim Hopes: Advertising and the Obsession with Thinness[videorecording].
Written and presented by Jean Kilbourne. Northampton, MA: Media Education Foundation, 1995.
College Library Women's Collection: BF 697.5 B63 S64 1995