Abstract

Sexism in commercial advertisements is a common phenomenon in our modern society. It is reflected not only in languages in terms of vocabulary, addressing terms and syntax, but also in female images that appear in commercial ads, which consequently has been exerting strong and adverse influence on the development of the society. This paper is intended to help people have a better understanding of sexism through a profound analysis and help to weaken the negative effect of sexism, thus making some contributions to constructing a more harmonious society.

Key words: commercial advertisements, sexism, sexist language, sexist images，adverse influence

摘要

当今社会，商业广告中的性别歧视现象屡见不鲜。从商业广告中的语言来看，性别歧视主要体现在词汇、称谓语、及句法句式三个方面；此类广告中的女性形象也反映了社会对女性的歧视。商业广告中普遍的性别歧视也会给社会的发展带来极其负面的影响。本文旨在通过深入的分析使公众对性别歧视现象有更深入的了解，继而为消除性别歧视及构建和谐社会做出贡献。

关键词：商业广告；性别歧视；语言；形象；负面影响

1.    Introduction
Sexism, an unfair social phenomenon, was originally created referring to the beliefs or attitudes that one sex is naturally superior to the other, conveying prejudice especially against women. With time passing by, it penetrates into almost every field of our society, not to mention the commercial advertisements. As a type of mass media appearing and developing in modern times, commercial ads in its nature are to maximize the benefits of businessmen. Gradually, they become quite popular among people ranging from the young to the old, from the intellectual to the common and have played a significant role in people’s life, thus inevitably exerting an impact on people’s ideas and behaviors.