How TV commercials strengthen social roles

TV advertisements, originating as a product of cultural structure, remaineffecting that structure. These advertisements offer the audience artificial butpositive life styles. Advertisers, being aware of the fact that the consumptionattitudes are shaped within family, gravitate towards the family with a view to ensurerealization of consuming attitudessby targeting the family members. Commercials,creating characters which are not opposite to the characteristics of the social rolesreferred to the individuals, try convincing the audience that the audience need theproduct or the service being advertised. Advertisements tend to focus on the maleand female roles inside a family, in order to convince the consumers in this way.This study outlines that the Turkish society has a conservative structure,tough it is partly open to the changes. As a result of the modernization efforts allover the world, Turkish society has been experiencing changes which are reflectedin TV commercials through more modern images. Although the family structures,both in real life and in advertisements, carry some modern images, they imposedistinct roles on the gender identities. Female, significantly influenced by the genderdiscrimination since the first presence of humanity, also is the one who shouldersthe significant load inside a family. Inside a social relations net that is dominated bypatriarchal approach, woman is oriented as a wife or a mother, rather than as anindividiual on her own. Society shapes the female roles according to her being aswife and mother. Houseworks and child care are under the sole responsibility ofwoman. However, it is the social ideologies, not the biology, that actually determinethe gender identities. This study shows that the female identity in TV commercialsutilizing the family object is yet presented in a way being approved by the culture.In such a presentation, TV commercial carries not only the denotation, butalso connotations containing ideological elements. Advertisements compriseideological elements both as an indicator and discourse. Advertisements alsofunction as modern myths by expressing narratives about genders and family. Mythsexist by underlining the naturelness, not the historical or social aspects, of themeanings they broadcast. Mtyhs, through making the ideologies innocent, serve inpreservation of the social status quo. Modern myths of nowadays are stories tellinghow the male and female roles are shaping the family. TV commercials, just likemyths, not only present social roles as approved by the culture, but also ensureperception of the responsibilities of the roles as if they are fair, by creating adelusion that the sharp difference in those roles are actually serving both gender.It was observed that traditions are conserved in most of the TV commercialsbeing broadcasted. As long as the audience as the adressee of the advertisement,both male and female, internalize the mentioned social roles, they remain to beclosed to the progress. It is inevitable that the traditional ties weaken as themodernization efforts are ongoing. In order to keep in step with changes in theworld, TV advertisements utilize modern images as well. This, taking into accountthe result exhibited by this study, shall never be interpreted as a conflict. On thecontrary, these are two distinct process feeding each other. Interaction will nevercome to an end. Nevertheless, this study indicates that such an interaction wouldstrenghten the social roles. As the modernization grows in family structures, themale-dominant structure is also preserved concurrently. It shall not be consideredthat modern families become widespread as modern family images take place in TVcommercials more often. Change is inevitable, tough the traditions can not beignored that easily.The existing cultural codes are exploited in creating advertisement stories.Such a formation is considered to have a strengthening effect on the existingpatriarchal discourse. The dominant pathriarchal ideology, strengthened by themessages transmitted via TV commercials, will intensify the characteristics of socialroles in the same ideological context. The importance of this study lies under itsexhibition that the interactions among the society do not necessarily evolve in aprogressive and developing manner, they would, on the contrary, intensify theexisting social roles. Therefore, it is deemed necessary to further focus with anincreasing consciousness on the strenghtening effect of TV commercials on thesocial roles and to perform readings in light of this consciousness.