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?

Advertising has increasingly employed images in which the gender and sexual orientation of the subject are markedly (and purposefully) ambiguous.

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

Women after the WW11 were seen as domestic, dependent and focused on appearance.

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 the representations of women in advertising by women being represented as decorative (empty) objects.

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

The theorist that came up with the idea of the 'male gaze' was Mulvey and it refers to the idea that women are objectified and the idea that women are seen as passive and submissive. 

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

The representation of women change in the 1970's by a introduction of the 'New woman', where it was seen as representative of the 'changing reality of women's social position and of the influence if the women's movement. This allowed women to become more independent, assertive and confident. 

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 Zooned suggested that when advertising, 'a woman should look forward to dressing for the office'. However, in advertising a woman is indeed portrayed as stepping confidently towards the camera in an office environement with a man behind, observing her but she's not really portrayed to as working. 

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'.

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

Richard Dryer 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'.


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 Protein World 'Beach Bodies' campaign was about a weight loss supplement. It was controversial as it featured a slim model that asks "Are you beach body ready". The featuring of a slim body in the advert and the question might connote that to be ready to go to a beach a female's body should slim like the one on the advert.

2) What was the Dove Real Beauty campaign?

The Dove Real Beauty campaign was promoting a product of Dove where it's more diverse and it also shows how there could be different body shaped for women who can use the product as well as being able to feel as if the female audiences are part of a group.

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

The social media has changed the way audiences can interact with advertising campaigns as audiences can now be passive and active audiences. They can interact through user-generated content, they can feedback automatically by liking, commenting or sharing. 

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

We can apply van Zoonen's feminist theroy in the 'Beach Bodies' campaign as it shows how the media can construct the audiences, where the idea that audiences might consume this media negatively, that they might think or feel as though they should have that same body as the model to become beach ready. In addition, we can apply Stuart Hall's reception theory in the 'Beach Bodies' campaign, where the preferred reading could be the idea that women can get help in getting their dream body by taking the supplements as well as the idea that the slim model on the campaign is a positive result when taking the supplements. The oppositional reading could be the idea that it is controversial as the campaign is suggesting that females should have the same slim body to be ready to go to the beach, where audiences may have taken negatively.

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?

I think that representation of women in advertising have changed in the last 60 years to some extent as some advertisements women are becoming less sexualised and objectified, some shows women's independence such as the advert promoting a pen, where there was a female character used and she was in the office. In addition, some advertisements represents women as empowering rather than objectified.