The Difference Between Female and Male Roles In Car Commercials

The debate of equality between men and women has been argued for many years. As women continue to gain higher job positions, fight to lower the wage gap, and become a driving force in social and political issues, they have also earned more roles in advertisements. However, I have noticed that women are still not given roles in sports car commercials. Why is that?

Shown below, females are given roles in car commercials specifically for family units or traveling couples. In the Subaru commercial, the woman is portrayed as a new mother, ready to give birth at any moment, and eventually seeing her child grow up. In the Hyundai commercial, the woman is accompanied by her significant other as they travel to various locations together. Although both commercials embody real life experiences and moments, they do not show women in independent and sophisticated roles that are usually utilized in sports car commercials.

I find this funny considering how many strong leaders in the business and entrepreneurial field there are nowadays. Women are being recognized for having the ability to do what any man can do. Danica Patrick, for example, is the most successful woman in the race car driving profession. She is the only woman to have one and IndyCar series race. Yet she has not been chosen to advertise for a sports car commercial. However, soccer all-star David Beckham has even though his profession has nothing to do with driving cars at a insanely fast speed. 

Perhaps there isn't a high demand to see women in these types of commercials, but I think it would be pretty awesome if more of them were targeted towards females.