Women, Persons of Color and the Elderly Underrepresented in Tech Advertising

(Source: Pixabay)Many major consumer tech companies underrepresent women, the elderly and people of color in their advertising, according to Subriena Persaud of George Mason University, lead author of a study in Springer's journal Gender Issues.

While not outwardly discouraging to women, the elderly and persons of color, their absence from the advertisements sends the message that the technology being advertised isn’t accessible to those who aren’t white and male, according to the study.

Studying the video advertisements featured on nine major consumer technology companies’ websites, Persaud and her research team looked at the gender and race of each character in the advertisements and how they were depicted.

In addition to being to being underrepresented, Persaud determined that women in particular were depicted as passive and far removed from both the creation and usage of technology.

"Instead, technology itself is portrayed in masculinist terms — powerful, fast, strong, active — thereby reinforcing this association," explains Persaud, who says that males are depicted as in control, enfolding others, taking and using products in the presence of others, and also being the provider of these products and services. "This is interesting in light of the fact that the devices advertised are inherently fragile and breakable, which could logically be deemed more appropriate to the culturally perceived delicateness and gentleness of feminine hands. However, the fragility of the technology has been converted into requiring not a delicate touch, but a competent, skillful hand."

According to Persaud, because the role of women, the elderly and persons of color are secondary (or nonexistent) in these advertisements, the product isn’t meant for them; instead it is for the white men who are taking center stage in the ads.

"These images reinforce hegemonic ideals and reinforce the association between technology and masculinity, as well as whiteness and youth," says Persaud.