SINGLES ADS - GENDER, SOCIAL-CLASS, AND TIME

The contents of 800 singles ads were examined. They were compared by t he gender of the advertiser, the year of appearance (1991 and 1986), a nd the SES of the target readership (affluent and general). There were very few advertisers who listed themselves as black, so these ads wer e not included in the study. Gender differences were most important. M en were more likely to offer financial security and seek attractivenes s. Women were more likely to offer attractiveness and seek financial s ecurity. The gender differences were in agreement with those reported for over a decade and from many geographical areas, although less than half of the advertisers mentioned either finances or attractiveness. Contrary to our hypotheses, the contents of mens' and womens' ads were more different in 1991 than they had been in 1986 and more in conform ity with sexual stereotypes. Ads in a paper with an affluent readershi p were more likely to mention educational and financial status while a ds in a paper with a readership throughout the metropolitan area were more likely to mention physical characteristics.