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?

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?

creation of the 'feminine mystique'  1950s' boom in the economy - particularly in the production of domestic goods, such as washing machines and convenience foods.

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

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 and it refers to the objectification of women for the benefit of men

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

proliferation of distinct images that became labelled as the 'New Woman' and 'changing reality of women's social position and of the influence of the women's movement'

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?

Women's roles in 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.' this is because '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?

'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?

He claims that such images are something of a misrepresentation of women's liberation

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 advert – featuring a tanned, blonde female in a full-frontal pose. The advert was arguably aimed first and foremost at the male gaze (an interesting way to get the attention of both sexes) but the question – and the subsequent advertising message – was definitely designed for women.

2) What was the Dove Real Beauty campaign?

The campaign employed an FBI-trained sketch artist to draw women twice – first based on

their own self-perception, and then based on that of a stranger.

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

They're getting more personalized, interactive. Brand building and awareness: One of the most effective ways to use social media is to boost brand awareness.

4) How can we apply van Zoonen's feminist theory and Stuart Hall's reception theory to these case studies?
Audiences did not take the producers intentions and had an oppositional reading to the Beach Bodies advert. Van zoonens theory that producers enforce patriarchal views is reinforced as the Beach Bodies advert illustrated impossible body image of women


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 it has changed and has become less sexist and more empowering however, i believe that women in advertising are still sexualised and portrayed the male gaze