Gender Role Stereotypes in Toy Commercials : A Two-Country Comparison Based on the Level of Gender Equality

Abstract: A sample of 383 toy commercials aired on Nickelodeon Sverige were coded over the duration of two weeks concerning the type of toy, gender portrayal, number of children of both gender, the dominant kind of interaction, the dominant kind of setting and gender orientation. The results were then compared with findings from a previous study conducted in the United States that used the same method to determine a possible relationship between the way the commercials were designed and the two countries' levels of gender equality. In Sweden, the much more gender equal country according to Hofstede's dimension of masculinity/femininity, most commercials featured children of both gender and stereotype usage way more rare than in the United States where also most commercials only showed solely girls or solely boys. Judging from these findings a relationship could therefore be found.