Board Game Ads and Gender/Sexuality

For this post I have decided to examine the role that gender plays in advertisements for board games. The first example that I have is an Ouija Board ad from 1968. Even though this ad is dated, and it is possible that the gender roles portrayed in the ad have since changed, I have chosen to use it because it sets the stage for discussion about more recent advertisements. In order to find out where we are, we must first find out from where we came.

The ad for the Ouija Board is a picture with one male and one female, both white, using the board. I think that it is safe to assume that these two people are friends of about the same age. Words have been superimposed over the ad. These words represent questions that the players might ask of the Ouija Board. The first question is about the car and if the kids will be allowed to use it. This question is floating over both kids. The next five questions are clearly associated with either the boy or the girl.

Girl questions:
Should I become a model or fashion designer?
Who's Debbie's date to the prom?
Are flying saucers for real?

Boy questions:
What college will accept me?
Should we go steady?

There is a clear difference in the types of questions that the girl is asking and that the boy is asking. The boy's questions are oriented around education and romance (sexuality). The girls quetions deal with subjects opposite of education: fashion, dating, extraterrestrial life. This ad makes the boy seem smarter and has strong heterosexual tendencies.

The second example that I have is for The Cd-Rom Game of Life. In this ad a man and a woman, again both white, are driving on a game board in a car. Anyone who has played this game can make the assumption that within the world of the game, the couple is married. The man (who is driving) is giving the audience a big suggestive thumbs up. He really enjoys this game and being married to the beautiful blond sitting next to him. On the other hand, the wife is sitting beside her husband in the passenger seat. Her happy smile is directed at her husband, not at the audience. This ad, like the Ouija Board ad, has a strong sense of male dominance and heterosexual sexuality.

The third ad that I will examine is for the game twister. All who have played this game know that it involves close physical movements, often leading to sexually suggestive moments. The ad for Twister does not stray from this common impression of the game. There are four people in the ad, three who are playing the game and one who is the "caller," dictating the moves the players must make. Of the three players one is make and two are female, they are of different racial backgrounds. The male player is the dominant person in the ad, with the female caller farthest in the background. The three players are entangled in what looks like a very fun game of twister, especially for the male player. The male player is looking directly at the audience with a small smirk on his face. The two female players are looking at the male player. The females are also smiling. The ad has a strong sense of heterosexuality of the strongest type: one male with two females. The male, as in the other ads, appears to be dominating the situation in which he finds himself.

I have looked at only three ads for three different games. I am not suggesting that all board game ads are sexist and homophobic. However, I do think it would be an interesting study. How do board game advertisements aimed at children and teens portray gender and sexuality? Are they fair in their portrayals?