Advertising: The representations of women in advertising

 

Blog tasks: 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.

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

Advertising 'was calculated to focus attention on their domestic role, reinforce home values and perpetuate the belief that success as a woman, wife and mother could be purchased for the price of a jar of cold cream, a bottle of cough syrup, of a packet of instant cake-mix'.

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

Expansion in production/consumption of clothes and make-up led to women being increasingly portrayed as decorative and empty objects to look at.

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

Laura Mulvey, woman are portrayed for the mans eyes.

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' (van Zoonen, 1994:72). The New Woman was supposed to be 'independent, confident and assertive, finding satisfaction in the world of work and recreation, seeking excitement, adventure and fulfillment' (Cagan, 1978:8)."

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?

"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.' Indeed, a woman 'is portrayed stepping confidently towards the camera in an office environment observed by a male colleague from behind; but she is not portrayed actually working' (1994:73)."

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' (Barthel, 1988:124-125; Davis, 1992:50). 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?

"Richard Dyer however, claims that such images are something of a misrepresentation of women's liberation: '[advertising] agencies trying to accommodate new [feminist] attitudes in their campaigns, often miss the point and equate "liberation" with a type of aggressive sexuality and a very unliberated coy sexiness' (1982:186). Thus, all we are really left with is a woman who continues to construct herself as a spectacle and, just like the innocent maiden, is presented as a willing co-conspirator of men's sexual advances - and worse, believes she is 'liberated' in doing so."

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?

It was an advert promoting weight loss cream and it was controversial because it was saying if you don't look like the model in the picture.

2) What was the Dove Real Beauty campaign?

It was basically a campaign that features real women with real bodies of all races and ages.

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

Social media has made it possible for many people to express their opinions about what they believe to be right or wrong. It has also made it possible for communities to unite when they believe that a particular media source or advertisement has done or showed something wrong.

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

Stuart Hall's reception theory suggests that media texts can be interrupted in many ways and  that they are encoded by producers and then decoded by audiences, this can also be linked to beach bodies and that the meaning originally created by the producers was to attract the male gaze.

Van Zoonen's theory suggests that media products represent the female body as spectacle, we can link this to the beach bodies advert because the model in the advert is in a bikini with a pose that can be interpreted as aggressive and seductive.

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?

Most definitively. After the war women were advertised as house wife's and submissive. Shortly after that they were advertised as men's helpers and after that they were objectified.