Blog tasks: Representation of women in advertising

Blog tasks: Representation 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 'Representation 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:

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

1) How does Mistry suggest advertising has changed since the mid-1990s?
Mistry suggest advertising has changed since the mid-1990s because advertising has increasingly employed images in which gender and sexual orientation of the subjects are ambiguous. There is also a growing number of homosexual images and the meaning of their portrayal.

2) What kinds of female stereotypes were found in advertising in the 1940s and 1950s?
Female stereotypes that were found in advertising in the 1940s and 1950s were traditional ideals of masculinity being superior over femininity. Prior to war, feminist articulated the idea of women having a career. However, soon after 1945 women were made to feel guilty by warnings of the 'dangerous consequences to home'. In 1950, women's magazines led to something called 'feminine mystique'. This placed more importance on housewife chores and reinforced stereotypical ideals.

3) How did the increasing influence of clothes and make-up change representations of women in advertising?
The increasing influence of clothes and make up changed representations of women in advertising because it led to people thinking that women are objects who are used to be decorated. An example of this is the perfume advert-'fair maiden'. This is further reinforced when Janice Winship claims that women are encouraged to 'use commodities to serve men', which suggests that women are simply an object of pleasure and used to sell products to male audiences, this links to the idea of the 'male gaze'.

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

The idea of the 'male gaze' was introduced by Laura Mulvey in 1975. Mulvey contends that scopophilia has been organised by societies patriarchy, they are constructed as entertainment for male voyeuristic pleasure. This also views them as passive and marginalised by society. 

5) How did the representation of women change in the 1970s?
The representation of women changed in the 1970s because there was a proliferation of distinct images labelled as 'new women'. This was seen as a representative of the 'changing reality of women's social positions and the influence of women's movement'. The 'new women' were represented as independent, confident and assertive, by a more open and accepting society.

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 suggests the 'new' representations of women in the 1970s and 1980s were only marginally different from the sexist representations of earlier years because these images only undermined traditional female stereotypes by depicting it as superficial. Therefore, these women are being shown as more progressive by having a job, however in a more semiological approach.

7) What does Barthel suggest regarding advertising and male power?
Barthel highlights how 'today's young women can successfully storm the bastions of male power...without threatening their male counterparts' giving them assurance, underneath the suit they are still women, that 'no serious gender defection has occurred', so there is no 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?
In adverts like Christian Dior make-up women are shown that if they use their brand make-up, they will be sexually attractive and that her sexuality will be for her own enjoyment. However, Richard Dyer suggests that femme fatale images are something of a misinterpretation of women's liberation: 'Advertising agencies are trying to accommodate new feminist attitudes in their campaigns, often miss the point and equate of "liberation" with a type of aggressive sexuality and a very unliberated coy sexiness.'

Media Magazine: Beach Bodies v Real Women (MM54) Page 44-47

1) What was the Protein World 'Beach Bodies' campaign?
The Protein World 'Beach Bodies' campaign was launched on the London Underground, the PR team were clearly courting the female market into looking their best for the beach this summer. The advert featured a tanned, blonde female in a full-frontal pose, and caused a lot of controversy.

2) Why was it controversial?
It was controversial because it was making women feel self-conscious about their body size and shape and shame these women into thinking that they need a slimming supplement to feel comfortable wearing swimwear in public.

3) What did the adverts suggest to audiences?

The advert suggested to audiences that the model looked seductive and aggressive. The colours they used amplified the beach, yellow for sand and basically asking 'are you thin enough for the beach?'

4) How did some audiences react?
Some audiences reacted in extreme ways. One way was that two females stood in front of the poster wearing their bikini saying "How to get a bikini body, put a bikini on your body." Another way was that people protested-"grow your balls"

5) What was the Dove Real Beauty campaign?

The Dove Real Beauty campaign featured real women with real bodies of all races and ages. They created an interactive ad makeover campaign that put women in a dominant position, where they would choose what they saw as beautiful, not the advertisers. The campaign's mission is 'to create a world where beauty is a source of confidence and not anxiety.'

6) How has social media changed the way audiences can interact with advertising campaigns? 
Social media has changed the way audiences can react with advertising campaigns because it is a platform where people that can pass on their views and opinions, contradict the adverts. It also gives them a choice on what to do.

7) How can we apply van Zoonen's feminist theory and Stuart Hall's reception theory to these case studies?
Van Zoonen feminist theory can be applied to these case studies because she looks at the portrayal of women in advertising. The sexualised images of women are used to promote and sell the brand. She sees gender as negotiated and dependent on social and historical context, she also built on a theory with regards to how gender representations communicate their meanings to audiences and the medias influence constructs gender, these images could be seen as offering the male gaze.

Additionally, Stuart Hall's reception theory could be applied to this because these images have different interpretations. The producer has intended to promote and sell their brand to the public and targeting women.. This is the dominant reading. The negotiated reading would be that the audiences think that it is enforcing the male gaze, however don't fully disagree as they aspire to look like her. The oppositional reading would be that the audiences fully disagree with the advert because it makes women feel self-conscious about themselves and shameful about their own bodies.

8) 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 think that the representations of women have changed to a certain extent. This is because in the 1940s, 50s and partly 60s advertising focused on the stereotypical elements of women, such as the role of a housewife and being inferior to males. However, advertising has changed nowadays because women's roles are more liberating and they are seen independently.