Representations of women in advertising

 Representations of women in advertising

The following tasks are challenging - some of the reading is university-level but this will be great preparation for the next stage in your education after leaving Greenford. Create a new blogpost called 'Representations of women in advertising' and work through the following tasks.

Academic reading: A Critical Analysis of Progressive Depictions of Gender 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:

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

Since the mid-1990s, advertising has increasingly employed images in which the gender and sexual orientation of the subject(s) are markedly (and purposefully) ambiguous. As an ancillary to this, there are also a growing number of distinctly homosexual images - and these are far removed from depictions of the camp gay employed as the comic relief elsewhere in mainstream media.

2) 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'.

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

There was also a second major area of expansion in production/consumption - clothes and make-up- which led to women being increasingly portrayed as decorative (empty) objects.

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

Laura Mulvey's (1975) theory of the 'male gaze' is important here; she contends that scopophilia (the basic human sexual drive to look at other human beings) has been 'organised' by society's patriarchal definition of looking as a male activity, and being looked at as a female 'passivity'. Male power means that any social representation of women is constructed as a spectacle for the purpose of male voyeuristic pleasure.

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

From the mid-1970s there was a proliferation of distinct images that became labelled as the 'New Woman', and that were seen as representative of the 'changing reality of women's social position and of the influence of the women's movement'. The New Woman was supposed to be 'independent, confident and assertive, finding satisfaction in the world of work and recreation, seeking excitement, adventure and fulfilment'.

6) 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?

At the level of content analysis, the roles that women take on in these advertisements appear to be progressive (the employee, the active woman); however, with a more semiological approach, van Zoonen asserts that the New Woman 'only departs marginally from her older, more traditional sisters.' Deconstructing an advertisement promoting the 'Jenni Barnes Working Style' range of clothing, van Zoonen points to its claim that: 'A woman should look forward to dressing for the office.' Having a job is seen merely to provide 'another happy occasion for women to dress up and present themselves.'

7) What does Barthel suggest regarding advertising and male power?

Barthel notes that 'today's young women can successfully storm the bastions of male power... without threatening their male counterparts' providing we can reassure them that, underneath the suit, we are still 'all woman', that 'no serious gender defection has occurred'. In other words, that there is no real threat to male power.

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

There is still a lot that needs to be done in the media industry when it comes to feminist views as there is still a lingering for women to be independent life without being objectified and stereotyped, which there is but there are still women constructing their selves in this generation making advertisement 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.

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

The Beach Body Ready?’ campaign launched by Protein World this spring caused a real stir amongst the media and consumers. Launched in Spring 2015 on London Underground, the PR team were clearly courting the female market (19-30) into looking their best for the beach this summer. It was controversial because the ad was undoubtedly aimed for the male gaze and implied that women should care about their self imagine.

2) What was the Dove Real Beauty campaign?

The Dove 'Real Beauty' campaign featured women of all ages, skin tones, and characteristics showing off their bodies while conveying the concept that they were all beautiful.

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

 Advertisements  gain some type of publicity, social media allows people to voice their positive and negative comments on various campaigns. The audience reaction to a campaign can sometimes be so powerful on social media that it influences a company's decisions about being ideal to the audience.

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

According to Van Zoonen and Stuart Hall's theory, the representation 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 shows the opposite and encourages young girls to be happy in their own skin.

5) 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?

Overall, I think that the representation of women in advertising has improved over the previous 60 years. However, I still believe that there is room to improve as women are still being sexualised.