Representation of Women in a Contraceptive

Promotion: the Case of Television and Poster

Advertisements in Ethiopia

Yibekal Abate Birru

Injibara University

abateyibekal@gmail.com
Addis Ababa
Ethiopia
Abstract
With specific reference to Ethiopian television and poster advertisements, this research looked at
how women were portrayed in a contraceptive promotion and documented how different
representations of women were made in comparison to men. As a method of investigation for this
research, pragmatic analysis, and semiotic analysis were selected. Initial recordings and captures
included 20 videos, 35 posters ads, of which 11 videos, 22 posters advertisements, were selected
as the final sample. The posters were taken from four government hospitals in Addis Ababa, and
the videos were taken from primetime evening shows broadcast on EBC in Amharic. Every
commercial was first seen for the main character or figure, regardless of whether the main figure
was a man or a woman. Additionally, the advertising's main figures were each classified for the
following categories: Role, location, credibility, foundation for sexual imagery or sex objects
through language, and role. Analysis was done to find out how women are portrayed in the
contraceptive advertisements using these characteristics. The research found that women were
portrayed in stereotypical and degrading ways. The research discovered that stereotypes about
women were pervasive. Additionally, the research demonstrated that there is a widespread
tendency to portray men and women as having different roles, occupations, and behaviors. There
were advancements in some categories, where women were portrayed in a variety of positions,
even though they weren't overly exaggerated. It is advised to portray women in management
positions, decision-making capacities, life style accomplishments, and activities outside the house
in order to reflect a balanced and realistic portrayal of women.

Key Words: Contraceptive Advertisements, women portrayal, Pragmatics

Background of the study
The study highlights the significant influence of media on shaping societal perceptions and
behaviors through persuasion, information, and education. Gender representation in media,
particularly the portrayal of women, is a subject of debate due to issues such as unfair resource
distribution, low employment rates, discrimination, and negative stereotypes (Medhanit and
Sofanit, 2012). Advertising, a prevalent discourse type, not only promotes goods and services but
also reflects societal power dynamics and gender relations. Media often depict women in
undervalued roles while portraying men in high-status positions, reinforcing traditional gender
stereotypes (Kenaw, 2006).

The main objective of this study was to examine the various images of women as depicted in EBC
advertisements and posters contraceptive advertisements through language. Research on the
portrayal of women in advertisements reveals pervasive misconceptions and a lack of empirical
studies in regional settings, such as Addis Abeba, Ethiopia (Hawariat, 2008). The representation
of women in poster advertisements, especially for contraceptives, has received little attention
despite the increasing use of female images in various advertising contexts. The absence of studies
focusing on contraceptive advertisements, local representations of women in ads, and the exclusion
of posters as a form of advertisement have prompted the need for further research in this area.

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND THEORETICAL FRAMEWORKS

Empirical Research on Portrayal of Women

Kenaw (2006) conducted a study on the portrayal of women in Ethiopian Television
Advertisements using content analysis, selecting 94 ads out of 140 originally recorded from ETV's
programming in the Amharic language. The study coded each advertisement for factors such as
character mix, gender of the main character, product type, position, location, grounds for
credibility, voice-over announcer, and sexual imagery to analyze how women were depicted in the
ads. However, the current study differs as it focuses solely on a contraceptive advertisement not
included in Kenaw's research.
Hanania (2022) conducted a recent study on the portrayal of women in Ethiopian broadcast media
advertising, focusing on EBS and Kana Television. The research analyzed 200 advertisements
aired during prime time over a two-month period to examine how women are depicted in Ethiopian
television commercials using content analysis. The study aimed to identify the types of products
and services commonly advertised, gender disparities in women's roles in commercials, and the
most common portrayals of women in these advertisements. However, limitations exist in terms
of methodology, data, and disciplinary perspectives in the current study.

Hawariat (2008) conducted a study on The Portrayal of Women in Billboard Advertisements in

Addis Ababa, examining the representations of women in contrast to men. The current study
differs from Hawariat's research in terms of theme, methodology, and data collection methods.

Theoretical Frameworks
Theory of Pragmatics
Contemporary linguistic pragmatics is focused on a number of special relations between linguistic
meaning and context. Stephen (2002) echoes, on the narrower scope for pragmatics, concerned
with context dependent meaning, the following topics have come to be central: deixis,
presupposition, speech acts, implicature, and conversational inference, which are discussed briefly
in turn.

Deixis
Deixis, according to Fillmore (1997), refers to the phenomenon where certain linguistic
expressions rely on the context for their interpretation. The term "deixis" comes from the Greek
word for "pointing," while the term "indexicality" is derived from the Latin equivalent. For
instance, in the sentence "Put this book over there," the specific book being referred to and the
location it should be placed are determined by contextual factors outside of the sentence itself,
often indicated by gestures. The words "this" and "there" serve as placeholders for contextually-
defined parameters. A useful criterion for determining whether an expression is deictic or not is
whether the truth value of an utterance remains the same regardless of the speaker, addressee, time,
or place of utterance. For example, the statement "The square root of nine is three" does not contain
obvious deictic expressions, whereas the statement "We are coming soon" does.
Presupposition
Presupposition, a significant aspect of pragmatics, focuses on the implicit propositions that are
typically not explicitly stated or questioned but rather conveyed in a more subtle manner. For
instance, the question "Has he stopped bothering you?" assumes that both the speaker and the
listener are aware of the fact that he has been bothering you and seeks to inquire about the cessation
of this behavior. The traditional method of testing presupposition involves examining whether the
presupposed proposition remains valid when negated, as seen in the examples "He hasn't stopped
bothering me" and "He has stopped bothering me," both of which presuppose that he was indeed
bothering me (Stephen, 2002).

Speech Act
Speech-act theory, a subfield of pragmatics, focuses on the various ways in which words can be
utilized not only to convey information but also to perform actions. Over the past three decades,
speech act theory has gained significant importance within the contemporary theory of language,
largely due to the influential contributions of Searle and Grice. Searle's perspective suggests that
speakers can achieve five illocutionary points when making statements, namely the assertive,
commissive, directive, declaratory, and expressive illocutionary points (Richard, 2017).

Conversational implicature
According to Stephen (2002), the pragmatic inferences in these cases are triggered by the
semantics of the expressions. However, pragmatics also involves implicatures that are invited
rather than required by the semantics. It is common for synonymous expressions to have different
implicatures. In pragmatics, conversational implicature refers to the indirect or implicit speech acts
that go beyond what is explicitly said. H.P. Grice identified various ways in which these invited
meanings can be invoked, which are based on background assumptions about language use. Grice
formulated a set of maxims of conversation, including the maxims of Quality, Relevance, Quantity,
and Manner, which provide guidelines for effective communication.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
The research design of the study was both descriptive and explanatory. Descriptive research aims
to explore and explain a topic in detail, while explanatory research seeks to identify cause-and-
effect relationships. The study employed a qualitative research design, which offers numerous
advantages. Non-probability sampling was used to select the population for the study, as
qualitative research typically focuses on a small number of participants. Purposive sampling was
utilized to identify information-rich cases for effective resource utilization. Total population
sampling was employed for non-human participants, specifically in collecting data from videos
and posters related to family planning services.

The study primarily utilized video and poster advertisements as its main data sources, focusing on
nationally run television ads and posters developed by reputable organizations. Video recording
was used as the main data source, analyzing women's portrayal in relation to men's images in
advertisements. Photographs of poster advertisements were captured from various locations
known for delivering family planning methods. Data analysis methods included pragmatic
analysis, focusing on presupposition, conversation implicature, speech act, and deixis, as well as
semiotic analysis using Peirce's triadic model. Coding categories were adopted to analyze the
portrayal of women in contraceptive ads, considering main character, role, basis for credibility,
setting, sexual imagery, and language use.
CHAPTER FOUR: DATA PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND
FINDINGS

Images of women in contraceptive ads

Sexual image of woman
Images of female bodies are present in almost all advertisements, and advertising depends on the
presentation of provocative images of women who are partially or
completely naked. To market everything from food to
automobiles, the media heavily relies on women and women's
bodies. (Media Awareness Network, 2006). Women are
frequently portrayed in television shows and ads as decorative
objects, as well as objects of voyeuristic pleasure. The analysis
that follows serves as a broad overview of how sexuality has been
portrayed in posters and videos that promote contraception.

This is post pill or emergency contraceptive pill advertisement

poster developed by DKT Ethiopia. “Postpill is an emergency
Fig.2 Amharic Version
contraceptive pill recommended as a one-time contraceptive
method following unprotected intercourse. The woman image primarily depicted as users and
authority of the advertised products or services. At the meantime, the images portraying the
character primarily represented information about the products and services or demonstrated
decision-making skill or expertise on behalf of the
character regarding the products or services advertised.
As we clearly observe the poster, the woman or the
advertiser partially clad or with exposed breasts or
midriffs. We can imagine the person advertising the
product or service is selected because, she is a model or
a beauty contestant, and her physical attributes is a
marketing ploy. In another word, the relation between
representamen and interpretant is only the beauty of the
representamen. As Legesae cited by Hawariat (2008)
Fig. 1 English Version
states that, “Images of people are used to attract
attention. Especially images of women are used in this aspect. Because women are naturally
attractive, they are used in advertisements to capture the attention of those viewers. It’s a natural
thing, no one will bother to look at a man when there is an attractive girl around. When a well-
dressed girl walks by with a well-dressed man, definitely
everyone will be looking at the girl. Therefore, more women
than men are used to advertise things on different Medias”.

In this advertisement, the woman holding roles that does not

demand body portrayal but still we see an emphasis on physical
body. /jälɨtäsɛbɛwɨ sikɛsɛtɨ/ “When the unexpected happens….”
The motto of the poster, looking in the text as representation of
signs, despite the fact, it tell us sex has done unexpectedly. At
the spot, what was expected? As Catharine and Ellen (2000)
cited by DKT, argued that some people think that sex is a

Fig.3 Postpill ad 3 powerful and uncontrollable force that just happens, like
thunder or rain. However, the truth is that sex—having sexual
intercourse—is a deliberate decision. When you have sex, it is not nature overcoming you. You
make a decision. In fact, you make many decisions about sex: When? With whom? Why? Where?
How often? With a condom? Without? Sex is a big decision. Try to make sure that it is your
decision. Block out all those voices who say that "everybody" is having sex. Not “Everybody” is
having sex. Anyway, you are you. You are not "everybody."

Moreover, Fig.1, (the English version) as we see it, in the top right of the poster there is a sign
called Ethiopia and then a collection of signs (as pierce believed texts are a collection of signs)
when the unexpected happen… thus, is that mean or signified the name of the character is
Ethiopia? Or this pill is exclusively manufactured for Ethiopians? It seems vague and ambiguous.
Here Ethiopia as an interpretant can have several meaning or sense. Therefore, on what context do
the advertisers want to use it?

When someone look the woman picture and read the text or watch the poster at the first glance,
he/she confused what the poster is all about. Relatively, Fig.3 has some messages to convey. The
woman looks so terrified and exactly looks like she faced a grief. As far as Ethiopian culture is
concerned, after dealing with some sort of things, facing a grief and terribly worried is quite
common. The man, however we saw his partial face, also seem in a deep thought and look likes
worried with the so called “unexpected thing”. Still, the camera focus is on the woman. In fact, if
pregnancy happen, as the text explained unexpectedly, the primary effect came across the woman.
On the other hand, still the advertisements portray the woman as sex object.

Despite the fact, the ultimate goal of an advertisement is to persuade the consumer to use that
specific product or service. In this point, no matter what the advertisement looks like, no matter
how the poster transmit the message and no matter how the women portray: the number of
emergency contraceptive user grows dramatically.

Further, as far as punctuation is

concerned, we use an ellipsis when
we leave out a word, phrase, line,
paragraph, or more from a text that
is being quoted. Mostly ellipses
employs to save space or remove
Fig.5 Style oral contraceptive pill ad
material that is less relevant. In
reality, they help you get to the point quickly and without diversion. However, in our case, what
was the intention of the developer? Why he/she uses ellipsis after the phrase? Was that really less
relevant? In fact, using semiotic to decode advertising, as well as in the creation of advertising is
very interesting. For the advertiser semiotic works by helping them put in subtle cues that attract
the target audience toward the brand product or service. Therefore, the developers use the ellipsis
only to attract the viewer and to give emphasis to the picture of the advertiser.

Brozan (1987) explains, with new modifications being made to contraceptive devices on a regular
basis, advertisements are the most effective way to keep consumers informed and up to date on
the newest goods within the market.

Viewing the ingredients, starting form the background, it is decorated with white and pink. White
is associated with light, goodness, innocence, purity, and virginity. It is considered to be the color
of perfection. White means safety, purity, and cleanliness. As opposed to black, white usually has
a positive connotation. White can represent a successful beginning. In heraldry, white depicts faith
and purity. On the other hand, the color pink represents compassion, nurturing and love. It relates
to unconditional love and understanding, and the giving and receiving of nurturing.

According to Judy (2017) combination of red and white, pink contains the need for action of red,
helping it to achieve the potential for success and insight offered by white. It is the passion and
power of red softened with the purity, openness and completeness of white. The deeper the pink,
the more passion and energy it exhibits. Pink is feminine and romantic, affectionate and intimate,
thoughtful and caring. It tones down the physical passion of red replacing it with a gentle loving
energy. Therefore, this advertisement plays a significant role to attract and persuade women or the
beneficiary. However, the symbolic relation is arbitrary; this is a deliberate phenomenon that
developer uses to attract the consumer. In the meantime, the ad exploits the character as sex object.

Simultaneously, the pose that performs by the character: hands in the hip, most men called it teapot
stance. Studying the stance as assign, women perform this pose due to some reasons; first, when
they lean forward slightly, put their hand on their hip and angle it outward, it seem they had
skinny arm. Second, now a day modeling is a great deal of business and having such kinds of
poses, look attractive than the real images. Third, it looks sexier than the traditional poses. In the
last place, people always remember the product when they saw that kinds of poses.

As kenaw (2006) explained particularly when advertising is aimed at selling cosmetics, health
products, and anything that works to improve the appearance of the body, women are shown in
postures or positions of alluring sexual display. The woman whom holding roles is do not demand
body portrayal but still we see an emphasis on physical body. This is still depicting women as sex
objects. The partially clad wearing style, the pose and the discourse by itself are witness for being
the woman portrayal as a sex object.

Taking connotation in to consideration, the slogan jɛzɛmɛnäwinɛtɨ mɛgɛlɛtʃʼä “profile for

modernity” as a collection of signs might imply;

⮚ People who do not take the pill are not modern

⮚ People who only take this pills are modern
⮚ People who do not have such kinds of cloth are not modern
⮚ People who do not use lip stick and follow this kinds of hair style are not modern
 ⮚ People who use other methods of contraceptive are not modern

Therefore, we can merely conclude that the character has been chosen because of her modernity.
In an attempt to sell products and services, advertising often emphasizes sexuality and the
importance of physical attractiveness. As Gordon says, Women’s bodies are sexualized in
advertisements in order to grab the viewer’s attention. Women become sexual objects when their
bodies and their sexuality are linked to products that are bought and sold. This is mere portrayal
of women as sex objects.

Let us begin our analysis from the

background. Red as a sign is the color of
fire and blood, so it is associated with
energy, war, danger, strength, power,
determination as well as passion, desire,
Fig.11 Sensation ad 1
and love. In advertising, red is often used
to evoke erotic feelings (red lips, red nails, red-light districts, 'Lady in Red', etc.). The developers
choose this color wisely and thoughtfully. He/she connect protection and warning together. If you
use condom properly, you are safe on one hand and if you avoid using condom and practicing
unsafe sex, you are in danger on the other.

Following that, we look poses and looks created with our primary characters. According to Elçin
(2015), Advertising, marketing, and the fashion industry have created a new type of woman that
does not exist in the real world. You know here very well, but let's look at her main features:

⮚ This woman has no wrinkles, blemishes, or scars; her skin is perfect.

⮚ She has impossibly long, smooth, and shapely legs.
⮚ Her waist so small it would make a Barbie doll jealous.
⮚ Her ample breasts and buttocks are gravity-defying miracles.
⮚ She has a head of silky, radiant hair that looks like CGI.
⮚ Her eyes are dazzlingly bright.
⮚ Her teeth are beyond white. They are straight, perfect, and almost unreal.
In the above posFig.11, the characters, rather the models, viewed with attractive full dressing style,
the man put his hands to his trouser pockets, and the woman poses
hand in the hip or teapot stance. Still there is no relation with his or
her stance and the product as Pierce revealed the relation is binary.
Therefore, we can assume it is a deliberate portrayal of as sex objects.

In Fig.12 poster, people who look in the background with shadow

image look happier than the primary characters. We saw them
dancing in the background and we feel they really make their life
sensational. On the contrary, it is hard to identify the relation
between the condom they advertise and their poses: still representing
as objects.

Fig.14 trust implant ad Marketers have been notorious for creating the illusion of a world in
which a product can make a person happy. This new insight sheds a different light on what a smile
actually does to the viewer. In fact, it is the smile that puts a smile on your face rather than the
product (Ertep, 2007). While examining various advertisements, one can see that the female
models usually have what is considered today to be perfect bodies,
that is; they are tall, with large breasts, a flat stomach, and extremely
thin figures. Their skin is inhumanly flawless and their teeth dazzling
white, bright enough to make one go blind. It is no secret that before
appearing in magazines, posters and billboards, the pictures
accompanying such advertisements undergo heavy editing in photo-
editing software.

In this poster, (Fig.13) both the man and the woman look each other,
we feel their happiness, smile, and hugging that comes from their love. Fig.12 Sensation ad 2
In fact, we will doubt which one is their favorite. We can see seven
types of sensation condom beside them. The collection of signs that we observe in the poster, “on
that right time” is as representamen by itself ambiguous and vague. Sometimes it seems promoting
sex than promoting condoms. For instance, the slogan jänɨ gize “ at that right time” the connotation
meaning might refer;
 ⮚ Whenever you had such laugh and look use condom
⮚ Whenever you saw sensation condom had sex
⮚ If the girl laugh for you use condom etc…

In many of the advertisements, objectification of women occurs through the association of her
presence with her breasts. As Kenaw stated, women may be only depicted with parts of their
bodies, like their bare legs showing, or their chests and stomach while the men usually are fully
clothed. Despite the fact, in this advertisement, the woman wearing style is partially clad however,
a man viewed fully dressed.

Looking at the poster carefully, the way that the man hold the
woman looks like they are promoting pregnancy rather than
contraceptive. From this point, poster developers use such kinds of
photograph to promote pregnancy or related issues however the
reverse is true.

Looking the background, as Judy (2017) argued, Orange combines

the energy of red and the happiness of yellow. It is associated with
joy, sunshine, and the tropics. Orange represents enthusiasm,
fascination, happiness, creativity, determination, attraction,
Fig.16 Choice ad 1 success, encouragement, and stimulation.

Judy explains again, to the human eye, orange is a very hot color, so it gives the sensation of heat.
Nevertheless, orange is not as aggressive as red. Orange increases oxygen supply to the brain,
produces an invigorating effect, and stimulates mental activity. It is highly accepted among young
people (ibid).

The developers choose this color, to

address the young people, using their
favorite color is a wise decision. They
try to convey the message through the
color combination. The developer use
Fig.13 Snesation ad 3
red color for the name to give
 emphasis for the brand and catch the breath of the
viewer. The advertisement model smile plus the
background color creates a good mood for young
people and motivates them to use the product.
However, this is one of the way of representing
women as sex objects.

Dealing with the name, Ethiopian advertisement

proclamation commend such kinds of outdoor advertisement should prioritized the Amharic
version before the foreign language. According to the proclamation No.759/2012, “any outdoor
advertisement placed in accordance with this Article shall be written in local language or
alphabet, or if it is written in local and foreign languages or alphabets, the local language or
alphabet shall appear before or above the foreign language or alphabet.”

Coming to Fig.17, however the advertisement

brand is the same, starting from the background, Yellow is the color of sunshine. It's associated
with joy, happiness, intellect, and energy (Judy, 2017). Yellow produces a warming effect, arouses
cheerfulness, stimulates mental activity, and generates muscle energy. Yellow is often associated
with good mood. Developers use yellow to evoke pleasant, cheerful feelings. They choose yellow
to promote women's products and items related to leisure. Yellow is very effective for attracting
attention, so they use it to highlight the most important elements of their design.

Fig.17 Choice ad 2
The other important element we observe from the
two poster is Smile. Researchers found out that the smile appeal reaches its goal through emotional
contagion. It works, simply because we feel better when we see other people smile. The developers
use this psychological schema to attract the viewer and promote the product as well. In fact, if we
look closely, there is no relation with the smile and the product. Relatively, the women in this
advertisement hold fully dress style though the camera angles give emphasis to their smile than
the pill.

This a video advertisement developed by DKT Ethiopia to promote Style oral contraceptive pill
1 2 3 4

6 7 8
5
Fig.24 Snapshots of Style video ad

From Ethiopia cultural norm and expectation perspective, it is very unusual and almost taboo
viewing somebody properties without the invitation or permissions of the owner.

In this video, participant B and C, have no role and we can imagine the advertisement without
them. We lose nothing if the advertisement takes place without the involvement of these two
women. Courtney and Whipple (1974) defined sexual objects as, where women had no role in the
commercial, but appeared as an item of decoration.

According to Kenaw (2006), there are also adverts with women holding roles that do not demand
body portrayal but still we see an emphasis on physical body. This is still depicting women as sex
objects. In television advertising particularly, clothes, behaviors, positions and poses, camera
angles, language, audio track, and/or product placement can all contribute, implicitly or explicitly,
to sex object portrayal of women. A number of women characters depicted particularly with beauty
enhancing products can be evident enough.

Despite the video, we view Sex appeal movement, position, and camera focus on a particular
portion / big close up shot on the face to view the lipstick/ of the body is another issue constructed
by advertiser organization to persuade the audience.

From the pragmatics perspectives, taking context in to consideration, the illocutionary meaning of
the slogan “profile for modernity” might imply;
 ⮚ People who do not take the pill are not modern
⮚ People who only take this pills are modern
⮚ People who do not have such kinds of cloth are not modern
⮚ People who do not use lip stick are not modern
⮚ People who use other methods of contraceptive are not modern
⮚ People who do not walk and talk like the model are not modern etc…

1 2 3 4

5 6 7 8
Fig. 26 Snapshots of Sensation video ad 2

In this video, the man is responsible to shop and purchase house stuffs. However the woman is
responsible for her beauty. Some years earlier, this product was advertised by model Hayat and it
was criticized by some concerned bodies. Zerfu Kebede media web designer says to Hawariat:
“Whenever someone says Hayat’s name, the next thing that comes to his/her mind is Sensation.
Not because there is an association between the product and Hayat. But a very beautiful girl is
used to advertise a condom in Ethiopia. Can you believe it? It’s not even a female condom she is
advertising. Although the ad had successfully used Hayat’s physical attributes and popularity to
gain attention, I never understood the relationship between Hayat and the condom. What kind of
message it wanted to pass for me is a mystery” (Hawriat, 2008).

Same thing is happened here. From the very beginning, countries like Ethiopia who exercises a
collectivist cultural ideology it might be hard to have condoms in a bag and opened in a public
place. It might clash with the culture and norm that the society familiarizes. Even the question will
be arise what if the partner is not volunteer to use a condom what she did. Again, as far as this
advertisement is concerned, she is not a doctor, an expert in making condoms, or a direct user. So
it has been believed she was used to attract attention without any relation to the product. According
to Kenaw, (2006) there are also adverts with women holding roles that do not demand body
portrayal but still we see an emphasis on physical body. This is still depicting women as sex
objects.

The reason why the personal deixis is used in the video, to deliberately exaggerate the product or
the item the pronoun I used repeatedly. “I always take care myself with sensation”. We know that
women are not the primary user of male condom however, when the primary character uses this
utterance, people give attention to the advertisement. As we know, the ultimate goal of the
advertisement is persuade the public and made them the user of that good and service.

“I always take care of myself with sensation” the illocutionary meaning might implies

⮚ I have more than one sex partner

⮚ I use as a means of birth control method even when I had sex with my husband
⮚ I always had sex
⮚ It is my choice more than pills or other contraceptive method
⮚ Unless I have condom in my bag, I am always safe.

Relatively the man said’’ I almost finished, I need more” and it is fair enough because he is a direct
user of the product. On the other hand, it might implies or presupposed;

⮚ He had sex frequent time

⮚ He use much condom
⮚ He love to had condom

1 2 3 4 5

6 7 8 9 10

11 12
Fig.28 Snapshots of Hiwot Trust Condom video ad 1
The main character who sells boiled obsequious corn was the only woman in the area where the
advertisement took place until the yellow cab arrived from nowhere. Inside the cab, we saw a
young woman: a diaspora. We presuppose that she came from outside the country when we saw
her luggage and the yellow cab because we know these cabs works around Bole international
Airport.

Following the falling down of the barrel, the young stone crusher comes and holds her hand. At
the spot, everybody began to show Hiwot trust Condom.

It is common to watch women in a family environment and less in a work or social environment
in most television advertising. Women in many television advertisements are still portrayed as
holding lower jobs, often in relation to domestic work as if they were incapable of doing things
men do outside.

In this video, the woman portrayed as sex worker rather than a poor girl who went to sell
obsequious corn. We should have to underline, in the same sphere of context, the importance of
the cultural background and of the shared knowledge. In case of any type of communication, a
special attention must be paid to the elements that greatly influence the understanding of the
message.

The old man who is acting like excavator operator, in Ethiopia context it might be hard to believe
if he still using condom. Sometimes it is good to give emphasis of the cultural and societal norms
to get recognition.

The mainstream opinion in the media world is “sex sells- pretty much anything.” Sex does sell
indeed, though it might be through the image of the body, not through the actual physical act itself.
And when sex is used to sell a product, the gaze is pretty much always male. And the women in
such advertisements embodies a “to be looked at”-ness in which their subjectivity and personhood
is denied. They simply exist as sexual objects to provide pleasure to the male viewers. Women are
exploited and objectified by the media because their bodies sell almost anything and everything.
Such horrendous ads promote such ideas that women can be bought and sold, that women are sex
objects with the only purpose to bring pleasure to men, and the female form can be dehumanized
and still sell.
1 2 3 4 5

6 7 8 9 10

Fig.31 Snapshots of Condom video ad

Concisely, the woman portrayed as illiterate the man as literate and professional: the woman
portrayed as very poor and the man as capable of purchasing of goods and service

In Ethiopia context, how older brother and sister give permission and encourage their young sister
to had sex. As far as we know, in this decent society, it is almost impossible and far from truth
giving a condom and permit the young ones to commit sexual intercourse. Due to the fact, the
primary character is portrayed as commercial sex worker.

Relatively, in this advertisement, men wear fully or seen full clothed and almost all women look
partially clad. The women in this advertisement look when they wink men while they are dancing
with man. On the other hand, men look decent and shy even they do not respond for the women
wink. Still women are portrayed as sex driven persons, cheater, and men as honest.

Here in Ethiopia trend, all the family member sit and watch a television together. What is the
central message did the Youngers get from this advertisement and what will be the answer of the
older ones. As reported by Ullah and Nisar (2014), Advertisements do not only construct beauty
ideal but also normalize it as cultural standards. Feminist’s analysis of women representation in
television commercial indicates that [television commercials] often depict a narrow and often
unattainable standard of women physical beauty and links that standard with a woman’s sexiness
and worth.

Apart from portraying women often in domestic settings and activities; in using them as marketing
tools, advertisements also depict women as sex or decorative objects. An individual is considered
to be a sex object, when regarded especially exclusively as an object of sexual interest - used as
objects of attention, erotic/sexualized behavior (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2004, [CD-ROM])..

1 2 3 4

5 6 7 8
Fig.33 Snapshots of long act loop video ad

Looking in to the dressing, in the outside seen, snapshot number 8 we saw the man fully clothed
however, we saw the woman partially clad wearing style. She exposed her chest and leg. At the
spot, walking style of the primary character is also another issue that raised in this analysis. Some
like Tygart (2004) cited by Kenaw (2006) contend television advertisements have altered the
portrayals of women as homemakers into sex objects over time. Particularly when advertising is
aimed at selling cosmetics, health products, and anything that works to improve the appearance of
the body, women are shown in postures or positions of alluring sexual display. So, in this part we
can agree that the woman is portrayed as sex object.

Stereotyping images of women

Stereotypes refer to social classification of particular groups and people with highly simplified
and generalized signs, implicitly or explicitly representing a set of values, judgments, and
assumptions concerning their behavior, characteristics, or history. Stereotypes are essential in
order to process the vast array of information flowing around modern society. An individual cannot
personally experience the vast majority of events in which they might be interested and thus must
rely on their own mental maps in order to make sense of what is going on (Lippmann, 1995).

Stereotypes are not only necessary for an individual to understand their environment but central to
our ability to communicate with one another (Williams, 2003). However, stereotypes often involve
prejudice, emphasizing differences between individuals and groups, with a generalized, simplified
concept that usually implies negative consequences. Lippmann (1995)
 Research suggests that there are four broad themes of female
stereotypes in advertising: women in decorative roles, women in
traditional roles, women in non-traditional roles, and women portrayed
equal to men. These posters presented women in traditional roles. In
fact, the developer tries to convey the message that this contraceptive
is belong to breastfeeding mothers. However, the women portrayed
with traditional childcare activity.

Women are more sensitive to noticing stereotypes in ads than men are
Fig.10 Confidence and similarly women expressed more negative sex role attitudes
ad 3
towards portrayal in advertising. It was also found that older men and
older women exhibited more extreme attitudes, while younger men and younger women's
responses were more moderate. Researchers believe that this is because older women were
exposed to the feminist movement more so they have more extreme negative views; conversely
older men have more traditional views and responded more positively. Younger people tend to
have more moderate responses that may suggest that younger people are becoming used to these
portrayals in advertisements.

As in other traditional societies, Ethiopian women have

traditionally suffered from socio-cultural and economic
discrimination and have had fewer opportunities than men for
personal growth, education, and employment. Mostly, a woman's
worth is measured in terms of her role in the home setting, as a
mother and wife, for example. In urban areas, women are
employed for domestic work, child bearing, food processing, and
so on. In rural areas women are engaged in various activities in the Fig.9 Confidence ad 2
home and the agricultural sector. However, their work has been
erroneously documented as marginal, and they have been considered as consumers than producers
(Kenaw, 2006).

This (Fig.10) advertisement is also developed by DKT Ethiopia to promote Confidence injectable
contraceptive. This one is unique regarding to the non-existing of the Amharic version. Advertising
and media images that encourage girls to focus on looks and sexuality are harmful to their
emotional and physical health, a new report by the American Psychological Association says,
women develop the ideal of seeing their bodies as not their personal self, but as sexual objects.
That unhealthy train of thought can develop into recurring problems such as eating disorders, low
self-esteem, and depression. These problems are directly linked to sexualized images in advertising
and media entertainment such as this.

The slogan “be you” (Fig.9) as a sign might refers:

⮚ If you do not use confidence, you might be somebody

rather than your self
⮚ You will be you if and only if you use confidence
contraceptive pills
⮚ If you choose to use another methods, you will never be
you again

Afterward, characters were depicted primarily as users of the Fig.21 I plan ad 2

advertised product or service. Overall, in this advertisement, the women are portrayed on
traditional stereotyping way.

I-plan is a progestin–only oral contraceptive pill formula. I-plan is an excellent contraceptive

choice for breastfeeding mothers (dktethiopia.org, 2017). The color choose by the developer is a
purple. Purple combines the stability of blue and the energy of red. Purple is associated with
royalty. It symbolizes power, nobility, luxury, and ambition. It conveys wealth and extravagance.
Purple is associated with wisdom, dignity, independence, creativity, mystery, and magic (Judy,
2017).

Judy suggested that light purple is a good choice for a feminine design. As far as breastfeeding
mother is concerned, we are dealing about woman. The developer deliberately used a purple color
to create emotion in women mind.

In this advertisement, the woman portray in a traditional stereotyping way. Though the reason why
the picture of the kid included in this advertisement was to show that the woman is breastfeeding
mother however, she depicted stereotypically.
Fig.21, show us the same product with other characters. We presuppose the background is their
home and they are playing with their baby in the compound.

Fig.22 also an advertisement of the same product: I plan. In these advertisements, the developers
use the same color for all of the advertisements. This give an opportunity for the organization who
promotes the product and it will remain in peoples mind. People can identified it easily whenever
they saw the color. As most researcher agreed, color play a significant role to remind things easily
and associated with previous experience or schema.

In Fig.21 and Fig.22, there is slogans “for your (plural) plan, effective guaranty” in Fig.21 “for
your (singular) plan, effective guaranty” in poster threFig.22. May be the developers use a plural
marker because we saw both the husband and the wife in the poster. On the other hand, in Fig.22,
the developers use singular marker because of the absence of
her husband. However, in Ethiopia context, such kinds of
burning issue decisions cannot be decide by the wife alone. In
fact, she might have her own plan.

In all the advertisements, the main characters base for

credibility depicted as a user: when characters are depicted
primarily as users of the advertised product or service.

Viewing the slogan in detail, the developer seems they know

the characters plan. From persuasion perspective it might be
relevant and seem a bit convincing however, being certain in
Fig.22 I plan ad 3
the slogan seems quite difficult. This will be a good example of
stereotyping portrayal.
1 2 3 4

5 6 7
Fig.23 Snapshots of I plan Video ad

The first seen action takes place in a house (Bathroom) and the central character is a young woman
in her twenties with her baby. The analysis of the text indicates that this commercial reflects
the traditional beliefs concerning a woman’s domestic position in contrast to all the
progressive changes in the Ethiopian society.

One of the most strident criticisms of the way in which women appear in television and print
advertisements is that women are portrayed in an extremely narrow range of roles, with depictions
concentrated on the traditional occupations of housewife, a mother, and secretary.

In this advertisement, a woman is portrayed to be responsible for washing the baby,

considered as one of the main housework tasks. Although the meaning of the message is
presented as a norm, which seems “transparent‟ and neutral, in fact the video present
stereotypically, based on older patriarchal models and values.

The other seen show us the husband and the pharmacist. The husband bought the pill. In fact,
taking responsibility to plan and limit their family member is encouraged. However, on the other
hand, it might show still women are dependent on their husband. Still women are portrayed
stereotypically. Even after her husband arrival, he gave her the pills but she does not gave him the
baby and this might mean taking care of the baby is the duty of woman.

Lazier and Kendrick state: “In print advertising the results of more than a dozen of studies, most
conducted in the 1970s and many of them are considered as benchmarks, have shown the messages
of advertising to be astonishingly similar. Women’s place is in the home; women are dependent
upon men; women do not make independent and important decisions; women are shown in few
occupational roles. The issues and the findings from television content analyses were similar to
those found in the print studies” (1993: 202-203).

After four decades, still women are portrayed the same as 1970s. In this video, the woman decided
without consulting her husband to limit the number of the family. From pragmatics perspective,
the pronoun I might indicate; I am the one who decide the number of my family, my husband is
not part of this plan. However, the paradox here in this video, the woman decide to use family
planning without the consent of her husband. At the meantime, her husband went to pharmacy and
bought pills without consulting his wife though she is the one who took it. What if it is not her
choice? What if she wants to use loop or I plan?

Still the woman is portrayed compared with the man, she is dependent, and powerless even she
does not have the right to choose her favorite contraceptive method. On the other hand, the husband
is powerful and breadwinner.

The other important element we recognize from the video is presupposition. As we can understand
presupposition is usually not stated or questioned, but encoded in a more background way. When
our primary character told us she want to use contraceptives and when we saw the husband in the
pharmacy we presuppose they talked about it however, many question might be raised.

From speech act point of view, the locutionary act is contraceptive demand of the primary
character. Her contraceptive demands force him to buy the pill. In most of the conversation,
directive statement has been employed.

1 2 3 4

5 6 7
Fig.32 Snapshots of Trust Implant video ad
In this video, the women viewed with their family. We can barely look the primary character
physical appearance in her walk, talk and smile. As stated above this is one of the reviling of
stereotyping.

Considering the Ethiopia culture and norm in to consideration, it is very rude to interfere with
elderly talks. The primary character responds the comment that does not belong to her and this is
one of the stereotypical representation of women. In the conversation the personal deixis “we”
refers to the husband share the responsibility which mostly believe as it is the responsibility of
women.

Unlike the other contraceptive promotions, the elderly man do not try to persuade him about the
contraceptive type even he does not mention any of the contraceptive. Therefore, it is believed if
the young ones use any of the method because we know they decide without anyone interference.

1 2 3 4 5

6 7 8 9 10
Fig.25 Snapshots of Sensation Condom video ad 1

We presuppose from the text that they are lover. In this video the man, refresh himself at the
cafeteria on the other hand the women read magazine inside the house. As far as cultural context
is concerned, it is hardly possible a woman invite a man in her house. For the sake of this video,
let she invite him to come over her home but is that mean she want to have sex with him?

The discourse utter by the voiceover said that “at that pointing time” then the picture of sensation
condom appears. As far as context is concerned it might implies

⮚ Whenever they miss each other they had sex

⮚ Whenever they utter the word missing they know they are talking about sex
⮚ If a man went to a woman house it is just to have sex
Otherwise condom has other function besides preventing unplanned pregnancy and sexually
transmitted disease. Women as compared to men were portrayed mostly in house settings rather
than business settings. Women did not make important decisions and lastly women were depicted
as dependent on men and were regarded primarily as sexual objects.

As in other traditional societies, Ethiopian women have traditionally suffered from socio-cultural
and economic discrimination and have had fewer opportunities than men for personal growth,
education, and employment. Mostly, a woman's worth is measured in terms of her role in the home
setting, as a mother and wife (kenaw, 2006)

The recurring message the media sending is sticking over time lending to the negative effects on
society. They have created stereotypes amongst society: that we as a society focus on permissive
sexual attitudes, those men are primarily sex-driven, that women are objects of men desires, and
the appearance of men as being important as well.

Non-stereotypical images of women

These are loop advertisement poster developed by Family Guidance Association of Ethiopia (FGAE). To
start with, the background, Blue is the color of the sky and sea. It is often associated with depth
and stability. Judy (2017) states that blue is symbolizes trust, loyalty, wisdom, confidence,
intelligence, faith, truth, and heaven. Blue is
considered beneficial to the mind and body. It
slows human metabolism and produces a
calming effect. Blue is strongly associated with
tranquility and calmness. In heraldry, blue is
used to symbolize piety and sincerity. The
developers create a deep and mysterious
connection with the color and the message. The
Fig.6 IUD ad developers choose the color to transmit the
effectiveness, the durabilityness, and the trustworthiness of the contraceptive: the loop or IUD.

The primary character had the material /the loop/ in her hand. As an immediate object and
immediate interpretant, it can be seen from two different direction. On one hand, showing the loop
in the poster with clear view give the viewer good opportunity to see what loop really looks like.
On the other hand, care must take not to mislead the viewer that loop prevent pregnancy by
handling in hand.

The next occasion is the discourse: as a collection of signs. “To have a happy and planned family,
be a user of long term contraceptive method”. Still by combining contexts together the connotation
meaning might implies;

⮚ If you do not use long-term contraceptive, you will not get a happy and planned family.
⮚ Short term contraceptive method does not made happy and had less value to plan the
family. Happiness only found in a long-term contraceptive method.
⮚ If you do not use long-term contraceptive methods, your family will not be happy.

The second poster (Fig. 7) is also loop contraceptive poster developed by FGAE. It is similar with
content, message, and item. The first one background was light blue but this one is dark blue. As
light blue, dark blue also indicates trust, dignity, intelligence, and authority. The poster is develop
to represent and encourage young people to use long-term family planning methods.

The woman wears one of the many cultures of South Nation Nationalities and people region
traditional clothes. In fact, addressing the people with their own tradition and custom is a good
way of persuasion or marketing strategies. However, sometimes it seems portraying women in
stereotyping way.

On both posters, characters were depicted primarily as users of the advertised product or service.
Equally important, we can presuppose that both women are married and the smile that we look in
the women faces came from the loop. We can imagine how they are happy and how much they
planned their family. As far as woman representation is concerned, relatively, in these posters, the
women wear a full cloth and we can imagine they have been chosen because they are user of the
service.
This is an advertisement poster of four item in one; loop, Spermicide, Norplant and female
condom: which developed by Family Guidance Association of Ethiopia (FGAE). Revealing the
background color, Blue is the color of the sky and sea. It is often associated with depth and
stability. It symbolizes trust, loyalty,
wisdom, confidence, intelligence, faith,
truth, and heaven. Blue is considered
beneficial to the mind and body. It slows
human metabolism and produces a calming
effect. Blue is strongly associated with
tranquility and calmness. In heraldry, blue
Fig.15 wide choice ad is used to symbolize piety and sincerity. In
advertising, Judy (2017) suggested “white is associated with coolness and cleanliness because it's
the color of snow. You can use white to suggest simplicity in high-tech products. White is an
appropriate color for charitable organizations; angels are usually imagined wearing white clothes.
White is associated with hospitals, doctors, and sterility, so you can use white to suggest safety
when promoting medical products. White is often associated with low weight, low-fat food, and
dairy products”.

We have shared earlier a basic understanding of how critical color decisions can be in business.
These decisions are difficult because every individual filters color with conscious and
subconscious associations. Understanding these
associations within the audience for whom your
work, service, or product is intended is essential to
making smart color decisions and bridging the gap
between what you are trying to communicate and
what is actually perceived.

The developers combine white and blue and transfer

Fig.7 IUD ad2
the message what they thought about the product the
young girls promote. The developer reveal wisdoms of the characters, intellectual level, their
confidence, and truthfulness on attractive and dramatical ways of expression: using blue
background with white ray combination.
Talking about the characters, at the onset, let us deal about their smile. As we can see four of them
are smiling. The smile, what we already know from previous researchers, is that when people feel
good, it also effects their information processing and decision making as consumers. In this case,
it resulted in a more positive attitude towards the product. In other words, the positive affect
evoked by a smile spills over to the advertised brand.

In this poster, the base for credibility or the characters are presented as users and Authorities. This
means that the characters were depicted primarily as users of the advertised product or service and
characters were represented primarily as sources of
information concerning the product and service, or shown
demonstrating the product or service advertised.

The slogan “you have wide choice!” might connote;

abstain is not a choice at all. Despite young people, it is
recommended if they are not engaged in practicing sex
Fig.18 Long-term contraceptive ad 1
before marriage.

On the other hand, due to many reasons, some of the methods are not accessible. For instance,
female condom is not accessible like the male one: it is very expensive and hard to afford for
unemployed youths even the employed ones are also lack to buy it due to the scares of supplies.
Another instance, spermicide also hard to buy from a pharmacy though no prescription are needed.
However, when we advocate that there is a wide choice it is good to include the natural one which
does not have any Side effects. Although not a device or a pill, this is still a method of
contraception. Natural family planning relies on knowing the menstrual cycle (periods) so that
couples avoid having sex when the woman is fertile.

The elderly woman with attractive smile and traditional cloth, promoting permanent contraceptive
method called tuba ligation. It is good to portray elderly woman with cultural and traditional
clothes, it add value to the advertisement. The color of the cloth by itself tells us something.
According to color psychologists, white means safety, purity, and cleanliness. As opposed to black,
white usually has a positive connotation. White can represent a successful beginning. In heraldry,
white depicts faith and purity. The
background by itself tells us how the woman
is happy. In fact, the background color is
more expressive than the discourse.

The discourse “/zɛlɛk'etäwi jɛwɛlidɨ

mɛkɛläkɛjä tɛt'ɛk'ämi bɛmɛhone dɛsɨtɛɲä
betɛsɛbɨ mɛfɨt'ɛrɨ tʃɨjälɛhu/. The literal Fig.19 Longterm Contraceptive ad 2
translation is “I was able to create a happy
family as a long-term contraceptive user”. The concept of the advertisement tries to say is “because
I am permanent contraceptive method user, I created a happy family”. The thing is, because of the
violation of Amharic grammar law, the meaning is completely messed up. It stated that she creates
her family after she used the permanent methods of contraceptive: how on earth.

The second poster (Fig.19) is also advertisement of the same permanent contraceptive promotion
poster. In this poster, unlike the other contraceptive advertisement, rural woman has shown up
with her traditional cloth and organic smile. The background try to tell us for what specific place
is she belongs, from what kinds of background she came and to what extent contraceptive
information is disseminated. In all and all we can easily understand for what specific speech
community she is belong and easily identify her cultural identities.

Unlike the first one, this advertisement collection of signs is relevant and meaningful. “Because I
have enough family member, I used permanent contraceptive method”. The discourses also tell us
much things about the speaker: the woman. From the discourse, we can guess she married in her
early age, we can guess she has a know how about family planning issues and she has a husband
who can understand and support her.

The slogan “healthy mother for healthy generation” as a collection of signs also connote many
ideas. As a mother, by taking care of ourselves, and ensuring we are the healthiest we can be, we
are not only safeguarding the wellbeing of our children, but that of future generations. So there’s
no better time to get our health in check, than when we are planning or have just started a family.
 2 3 4
1

5 6 7 8
Fig.27 Snapshots of IUCD video ad

From the very beginning speaker A violate a maxim of quality she do not have adequate evidence
whether she is pregnant or not. Speaker B also violate a maxim of relevance her friend talked about
her grief and disconsolate but she asked her why does not she uses IUCD.

Relatively, this advertisement can be more expressive than some others can. Dealing with the
strength, the setting is outside the leaving room inside the gym. Watching these women inside the
gym gave us two good points. The first one, they are advertising IUCD witch is inserted in the
woman uterus. Despite the fact, it is implied that IUCD or loop does not affect any physical
exercise. The second one, it might imply they started taking care of themselves: they gave time for
their health and look. However, care should take when we utter in advertisement. The phrase
unwanted pregnancy, has a big challenge in sociocultural thought of the audience. Because due to
schema of the society, when unplanned /though the advertisement uses the word unwanted/
pregnancy happened, people immediately recall abortion. Therefore, the advertisement looks like
encouraging abortion rather than advertising contraceptive methods

Let us presuppose the husband and the wife talked about IUCD issue previously otherwise it is far
from the truth because he just get in to the pool house and directly start talking about IUCD /
without greeting/. Anyways, he again violating maxim of quality. He is not sure that all the things
said about IUCD are right or wrong.

Ellen (2010) indicates that research has shown that advertising can manipulate and distort images
of women in the media, to create a stereotype of women as sex objects. It has also been proven
that men usually appear fully clothes while women are constantly portrayed as wearing less
clothing, which comes back to the issue of women being portrayed more as sex objects than men
are.

We can find three of the deixical expressions in this video conversation. The first, personal deixis;
we heard the personal pronoun you and I frequently. We noticed in the conversation how and why
the pronouns are used. The pronoun I used by the girl who is asking about what IUCD is and the
pronoun you used by the girl who answered the question and explain about the contraceptive. The
second one is spatial deixis. We found to important spatial deixis in the video: the gym and the
pool house. Both are relevant for the advertisement. It helps to skip from criticizing about women
stereotyping portrayals. Most of television advertisement is vulnerable for women cultural
stereotyping representations. The last but not the least is temporal deixis. In the video, we
witnessed the time span that was engaged in the conversation. If the character, as she suspected is
a pregnant the advice given by her friend is irrelevant because the time is already passed.

1 2 3 4

5 6 7
Fig.29 Snapshots of Hiwot Trust Condom video ad 2

What we observe from this advertisement is prior Discourse. Everybody knows about Hiwot trust
condom and everybody looks eager to talk otherwise to hear about the topic. However, still the
cultural aspect or context is neglected. The young woman-showing condom taking out from her
bag is still questionable. The first thing is she is not primary user of the product meaning carrying
the condom with her bag is valueless because unless and otherwise the man is volunteer. The
second thing, she has it only because it has comfort to handle not because it used to prevent from
unplanned pregnancy and sexually transmitted disease.
What if the condom was female condom, did the men will have it on their pocket? It will be
something odd. Similarly, when women try to promote men condoms? It might hard to believe
what they are into. Even sometimes, it seems promoting sex than the condom. In fact, women
participation for the successful use of the condom is encouraged.

We found two of deixical expressions in this conversation. Begin with the personal one, the only
woman engaged in the conversation states that she loved the care of the owner of the condom. She
says, “I love your carefulness”, by uttering this sentence, she joins the conversation the deixis play
a significant role to participate in the talk. After getting attention, she used other personal deixis
and states that she loved it because of its comfort to handle. Leaving the floor to temporal deixis,
because of this deixis, we easily grasp the information that currently the cover of the condom
changed and came with the new look.

2 3 4
1

6 7
5
Fig.30 Snapshots of permanent Contraceptive video ad

In this advertisement, one of the assumptions of patriarchal division of responsibility is

apparently defamiliarized, using contraceptive is traditionally of feminine nature, but in this
advertisement, along with modernization of the interior of the house, the task apparently
belongs to the male polarity. Therefore, it tries to marginalize the tradition and set the
agenda of modernity, as women usually use contraceptive method in the context of the
Ethiopian society. The advertisement, in fact, is one of the most attractive and relatively outshines
contraceptive promotion. The advertisement uses an excellent drama and broadcasts with hilarious
way. The patriot is typically a representative of Ethiopian conservative fathers who died for his
honor. On the other hand, showing the women behind her husband is traditional because portraying
women in the back is stereotypical. Therefore, within this modernity, an implicit traditionalism is
also present while the woman is marginalized in the dominant discourse of this
advertisement.

Continue looking the advertisement from pragmatics perspective, the one who is acting as a child
of the patriot violates the maxim of relevance. He was asked what he really tie however he responds
that he has enough children. Again, that same person, meaning the son, violates the maxim of
manner. The old man who came to intermediate father and son was not known what the son was
talking about because the expression that the son uses was ambiguous and obscure. That was why
the old man asked repeatedly what he ties.

The role of “I” used by the patriot in the conversation gave us much information about his family.
First, we get a clue why and how he gave a name for his son. Second, we can understand he love
to hug and have his grandchildren as many as he can. On the contrary, the personal deixis “I” used
by the son have a very different meaning and role in the conversation.

In sum, to most extent, in this video women are portrayed as equal as man is

Women’s role in contraceptive advertisements

Aesthetic role of women

Aesthetic can be simply defined as primary characters depicted as deeply concerned with their
physical beauty, or as they strive to look physically good by beautifying or displaying their body.
In Fig.1 and Fig.2, the woman holding roles that do not demand body portrayals but still we see
an emphasis on physical body. The role performed by the Fig.5 primary character is an example
of aesthetic role. As Lazier and Kendrick (2003) explains, aesthetic can be simply defined as
primary characters depicted as deeply concerned with their physical beauty, or as they strive to
look physically good by beautifying or displaying their body. In addition to these, the role
performed by the primary characters in Fig.11, 12 and 13 were aesthetic: the developers give
emphasis to their body image rather than the product or the service.

In these adverts, Fig.16 and 17 women holding roles that do not demand body portrayal but still
we see an emphasis on physical body. The role performed by the primary character in Fig.27 was
aesthetic: this can be simply defined as primary characters depicted as deeply concerned with their
physical beauty, or as they strive to look physically good to attract the viewer.

Moreover, the role performed by the primary characters in Fig.25 was lied on aesthetic: it means
no needing of body emphasis however; the developers deliberately use these kinds of body
portrayal to persuade the viewers to use the product and service. All in all, this is one of
stereotypical representations of women in contraceptive advertisements.

Spouse/Partner role of women

Spouse/partner: this means to that, primary figures were primarily portrayed as husband or wife,
lover, or sexual partner. These roles define the character in terms of his or her relationship to
others.

The role taking by the primary character, in Fig.4 according to McArthur and Resko (1975), is a
typical example of partner role. The primary character depicted as lover of the partner. In Fig.8, 9
and 10, the women are hold Spouse/partner role: the primary figures were primarily portrayed as
a wife, lover, mother, or sexual partner. According to McArthur and Resko (1975), these roles
define the character in terms of her relationship to others. Afterward, characters were depicted
primarily as users of the advertised product or service.

Furthermore, in Fig.14, 18, 19, 24, 26 and 28 the role taking by the primary characters is
Spouse/partner relationship. As stated by McArthur and Resko (1975), when primary figures were
primarily portrayed as husband or wife, lover, or sexual partner, we can merely argued the
characters take spouse/partner role. These roles define the character in terms of his or her
relationship to others. In the meantime, it is also another stereotypical representation of women in
contraceptive advertisements.
Household chores role of women

Household chores role means, when central figures were depicted with any type of domestic
activity such as cleaning, serving food, cooking, caring for children, etc.

In Fig. 20, 21 and 22, the role taken by the

primary characters: Performing household
chores. We observe the primary characters
handling and carrying a baby. Fig. 23 show
us the primary character taken a role that
Performing household chores. She also is
taking care of the baby.
Fig.4 Hiwot Trust Condom ad
Conclusion and Recommendations

Conclusion
Focusing on examining the portrayal of women in a contraceptive promotion using videos and
posters advertisements, in this study 11 videos and 22 posters advertisements which featured 79
adult males and females as primary characters were observed and analyzed in terms of the three
categories, such as roles, credibility bases, and sexual images through language. The findings have
been discussed so far in light with other studies conducted on gender portrayal in the media in
general and particularly women’s portrayal in television and posters advertisements.
Overall, the findings indicate that stereotypical representations of men and women are primarily
present in television advertisements. While some stereotyping has been more overt than others
(e.g., roles, locations), the majority of advertisements present men and women differently, with
the majority of women being portrayed negatively and degradingly. However, differences from
earlier research outcomes have been found. Similar stereotypical roles and positions, items, and
situations that are historically associated with women and men are frequently shown in EBC
advertising. The results showed that while professional responsibilities are reserved for males,
housework and mothering are indisputable tasks that women must perform. Eventually, it might
become clear enough that this gender bias is pervasive based on the analysis's considerable
discrepancies and a few qualitatively presented advertisements.
In most of the analyzed videos advertisement reveals, developers use directive statements to
convince and persuade the audience: we look the characters when they ask or give advice. A larger
percentage of women in ads focusing on physical beauty outnumbered men. Female characters
were frequently shown as decorative, beautiful objects. Moreover, women were seen advertising
male condom products traditionally belonging to men. However, women in male condom ads were
not selected because they were users or had authority over them but it was because of their physical
attributes.
Furthermore, the finding in this study revealed women are often portrayed as users of these
products and men as figures of authority demonstrating objective decision making skills or
expertise. These findings would seem to show the traditional gender stereotype that men are
authorities, producers, etc. while women are dependent consumers of products produced,
explained and ordered by men. EBC seems to perpetuate this situation.
Recommendations
The discussion so far has demonstrated that there is a disparity between how men and women are
portrayed in almost every aspect that has been examined, with women typically being restricted to
the home, performing roles and holding positions that are clearly defined, and frequently being
portrayed as users. Despite the fact that some would say that how women are shown in TV and
Poster commercials is consistent with the culture and society, on the one hand, these
advertisements failed to account for the social changes that were occurring. As a result, the
stereotypical representation of women in commercials hurts how they are now viewed in society.
Therefore, a fair and accurate picture of women should be reflected in Ethiopian media and the
advertising industry. Thus, the following recommendations based on the findings.
 Portraying women in diverse ways of life, in multiple roles they have in various social and
economic sectors, as their roles now are not the way it was some years back. For example,
portraying their participation in management, decision-making roles, life style
achievements, etc.
 Showing women being active and engaging in activities outside the home. In other words,
showing women working in a wide variety of career settings.
 Depicting more women as working professional experts rather than only product users.
 EBC should implement the chapter which exclusively states about women representation
in it’s own advertisement manual
 In general, to reduce the existing gender stereotyping in EBC ads greater efforts are
recommended.
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