Redefining gender representation in selected TV commercials : a multimodal approach

The aim of this study is to explore how gender representation is redefined in TV commercials. This is achieved through the employment of multimodal critical discourse analysis approach (Machin andMyer, 2012) and multimodal interactional analysis (Norris, 2004). Two commercials are selected for the analysis to show how verbal and visual communicative modes interplay to represent gender which reveals implicit messagesthat confirm the redefinition of gender representation in the advertising discourse. The results of the analysis uncover that through the integration of verbal and visual communicative tools in TV commercials, there is an attempt to change gender roles and gender stereotypes for both men and women.