REPRESENTATIONS OF WOMEN IN ADVERTISING!

 

REPRESENTATIONS OF WOMEN IN ADVERTISING:

Read these extracts from an academic essay on gender in advertising by Reena Mistry. This was originally published in full in David Gauntlett's book 'Media, Gender and Identity'. Then, answer the following questions:

How does Mistry suggest advertising has changed since the mid-1990s?

Mistry has suggested tat since the mid 1990s, advertising has increasingly employed images in which the gender and sexual orientation of the subjects and markedly ambiguous. She mentioned that there are also an increasing number of homosexual images.

What kinds of female stereotypes were found in advertising in the 1940s and 1950s?

Women were suffering their own identity crisis. Prior to the war, feminists had been articulating the idea of women having their own plans and careers; but soon after 1945, women were made to feel guilty by warnings of the 'dangerous consequences to the home' that had begun to circulate. Looking at women's magazines in the 1950s, Betty Friedan (1963) claims this led to the creation of the 'feminine mystique': 'the highest value and the only real commitment for women lies in the fulfilment of their own femininity. The highest good is keeping house and raising children'.

How did the increasing influence of clothes and make-up change representations of women in advertising?

The clothing and cosmetics industries had resulted in images of women wearing makeup. A perfume advertisement featuring a "fair maiden" who uses the product and ends up with a man is used as an example. It is later revealed to be a dream, illustrating how a woman may experience this dream as a result of using the perfume.

Which theorist came up with the idea of the 'male gaze' and what does it refer to?

The theorist Laura Mulvey, came up with the theory of the male gaze. This idea refers to the adverts of women that are to be passively observed by men as they find a sense of enjoyment. This is also how many companies attract customers towards a product.

 How did the representation of women change in the 1970s?

The representation of women changed in the 70's when there was a new idea in place of men having the power to look upon women how they wanted to, the idea to advertisers to use women to appeal to them was seen as a way to market to them.

Why does van Zoonen suggest the 'new' representations of women in the 1970s and 1980s were only marginally different from the sexist representations of earlier years?

This is due to the deconstruction of an advert that was done in which was concluded that the woman is shown confidently stepping forward in a office but is not working rather the men who are working are looking at her being distracted by their work. Suggesting that women are the man's biggest distraction and that they may not be suitable for office work. 

What does Barthel suggest regarding advertising and male power?

According to Barthel, there is no genetic difference between men and women today; rather, people's attitudes towards one another and their points of view have changed, allowing women to break down the social barriers that have been put in place without offending their male counterparts.

What does Richard Dyer suggest about the 'femme fatale' representation of women in adverts such as Christian Dior make-up?

 In terms of feminism, there is still a desire for women to live independent lives free from objectification and stereotypes, which is still the case, but there are still women building their own identities in this generation's commercials who are still trying to end it.

Media Magazine: Beach Bodies v Real Women (MM54)

Now go to our Media Magazine archive and read the feature on Protein World's controversial 'Beach Bodies' marketing campaign in 2015. Read the feature and answer the questions below in the same blogpost as the questions above.

What was the Protein World 'Beach Bodies' campaign and why was it controversial?

The advert was arguably aimed first and foremost at the male gaze (an interesting way to get the attention of both sexes) but the question – and the subsequent advertising message – was definitely designed for women. The campaign was controversial because it sent the message across that you need to look a certain way to look "beach body ready"

What was the Dove Real Beauty campaign?

The Dove real beauty campaign included women of all ages, skin tones, showing them off in every way possible while conveying to the audience and the women that they were all beautiful.

 How has social media changed the way audiences can interact with advertising campaigns? 

Social media hold the power of how audience communicate with each other, it allows the negative and positive comments on campaigns be heard. The way the audience views the campaign can be very different on social media so it influences the companies to be ideal. 

 How can we apply van Zoonen's feminist theory and Stuart Hall's reception theory to these case studies?

According to their theories, the representations of how women are stereotyped in advertising in the beach bodies advert suggests that younger women should aspire to be this specific way, whereas the dove advert opposes this view and shows a form of encouragement to young, old girls and women to be happy no matter how different you are.


Through studying the social and historical context of women in advertising, do you think representations of women in advertising have changed in the last 60 years?

I believe that there has been a lot of improvements in women advertisements but there is still room for more, because when you analyse a campaign in depth there is still a form of inequality when it comes to gender.