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Fifty Shades of Pretty and Thin: Psychological Research on Gender Stereotypes in Media and Advertising

Fifty Shades of Pretty and Thin: Psychological Research on Gender Stereotypes in Media and Advertising

Andrea Carta (University of Pavia, Italy), Elena Carraro (Middlesex University, UK), Simona Adelaide Martini (Rocca-Stendoro Institute of Clinical Psychology, Italy), and Giulia Perasso (University of Pavia, Italy)
Copyright: © 2022 |Pages: 21
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-6684-5594-4.ch063
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Abstract

Today, gender representation in media and advertising could be responsible for creating and maintaining female stereotypes that have a negative impact on women's psychological and social well-being. From a psychological point of view, women have to face several issues including the objectification of their body, which could have negative effects on their mental, emotional, and physical health; furthermore, the portrayal of the female body as a sexual object could be associated with aggressive inclinations and behaviours against women, but also with cyber-bullying victimization in terms of body-shaming and revenge porn. Finally, it is relevant to consider how the use of gender stereotypes in advertising and media could lead to a distorted perception of gender roles, mostly based on outdated socio-cultural expectations of how men and women should behave and present themselves, that could be passed on to the next generations.
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Background

When the first installment of the Fifty Shades film trilogy, based on the E. L. James novel of the same name (James, 2012), hit the cinemas back in 2015, it was an incredible success. The movie tells the story of Anastasia Steele, a 21-year-old college graduate who begins a sadomasochistic relationship with 25-year-old businessman and billionaire Christian Grey. While the obvious power dynamics between these two characters might be attributed to the typical practices of BDSM, the depiction of Anastasia as a shy, helpless and (of course) very attractive young woman who is completely swept away and dominated by a rich, successful and confident man is a very accurate representation of the expectations that our society has towards women and of the way they are very often depicted in mainstream media. Basically, all they are supposed to be is quiet, pretty and thin. Thus, the stereotypes conveyed by the book inspired the title of the present chapter.

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