Representations of women in advertising

 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?

There is increasingly employed images in which the gender and sexual orientation of the subject(s) are markedly ambiguous. There's is also growing number of distinctly homosexual images.

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

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'. 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.

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

The of expansion in production/consumption of clothes and makeup 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' shows how men oversexualise and objectify women. Male power means that any social representation of women is constructed as a spectacle for the purpose of male voyeuristic pleasure. Mulvey discusses this in relation to the narrative conventions of cinema, but it has been noted that she 'provided a theoretical framework to substantiate what many other feminists have been fighting for.

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

result, women learn

what creates voyeuristic pleasure for men - that 'men are drawn to a certain portrayal of femininity'

and thus 'women are drawn toward occupying that portrayal' (Fowles, 1996: 153). According to

advertisers, the appeal in the use of female attractiveness and sexuality to sell products to women is

its appeal to their exhibitionism

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?

He suggests that 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'  It was supposed to be 'independent, confident and assertive, finding satisfaction in the world of work and recreation, seeking excitement, adventure and fulfilment'.

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

Barthel illustrates that 'today's young women can successfully storm the bastions of male power... without threatening their male counterparts' showing that we can reassure them that we are still 'all woman', that 'no serious gender defection has occurred', 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 suggests that some images of women's liberation are misrepresented for example agencies trying to accommodate new attitudes in their campaigns, often miss the point and equate "liberation" with a type of aggressive sexuality and a very unliberated coy sexiness' . In reality 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?

The PR team were courting the female market into looking their best for the beach this summer. The advert that featured a tanned, blonde female in a full-frontal pose generated so much controversy as advert was arguably aimed first and foremost at the male gaze.

2) What was the Dove Real Beauty campaign?

The dove campaign was questioning women if they are thin enough for the beach causing an uproar in comments online and many protests about the stereotypical view points portrayed by dove. Are you beach body ready 'the weight loss collection' colour chosen on purpose to grab attention, especially in context when placed in underground setting where it is viewed by a variety of people.

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

Social media has been able to change audience interactions by making it accessible to everyone online. When people began to campaign against the poster’s sexist portrayal, there were many petitions and posts on social media. Some protesters responded visually by posing next to the advert in their bikinis, to offer a more realistic depiction of women’s bodies. They also complained about the campaign, the company’s Twitter response urged them to ‘grow some balls’ – an interesting response for a campaign supposedly directed at women. This shows the connections and responses from everyone just through technology and the amount that can be said in any platform by anyone.

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

Van Zoonen looks at the change in representation of women and in the case studies we are able to see as audience how the advertisements only reinforce ideologies towards stereotypical women. It doesn't reflect how technology has change the way we view women or how feminism and the waves have influenced us as a society to move away from these stereotypes. Stuart halls reception theory discusses the preferred, negational and oppositional readings of the producer. Preferred would be that audience would be more passive and agree with the women's body image, negotiated it that people would raise questions towards the advert but not express their options clearly and finally oppositional would be the audience completely against the idea of the ad even existing in our society as it reflects women in the wrong way.

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?

Looking through the case studies and comparing the social and historical context of women in advertisement I would be able to say the representation of women has stayed consistent and the same however there is some proof of its evolution in this society. Seeing how women are still being reinforced towards traditional stereotypes of being skinny and white in order to fit in only shows how close minded our society has continued to become where instead of moving forward to an active audience we are instead are presented with a more passive one. Even though there are many people, especially women expressing their opinions online on different social media platforms, there is still a huge gap in whether their representation in advertisements is correct and is targeting the women instead of a male audience. On the other hand, these vast platforms of social media are real life connections with other women who can highlight women empowerment and their options towards different matters. This is seen as easily spreading hates on advertisements that essentially put women into one stereotypical category forcing them to be a typical women instead of being themselves.