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?

There has been an increase in distinctly homosexual images.

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

women were meant to feel guilty for wanting to have their own purpose and doing other things, rather than just being a house wife; Betty Friedan (1963) explains this to be the reason 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?

This made women be seen as objects and not as people as they had to be change them selves to be presented in an advert,

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 Laura Mulvey's (1975),which means women are sexualised and seen as objects for the male pleasure, women are presented wearing make-up, revealing clothes for the male audience to enjoy.

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

They used the male gaze and figured out what and how they like the women to be portrayed and used that as a business technique.

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 suggest that Several  representations appeared that were called the "New Woman" and were thought to reflect the "changing reality of women's social position."

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

He suggest that Women can assure them that there is no genuine challenge to male power, and that "no serious gender separation has occurred." 

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

He suggest that women can wear can wear make-up and look good for themselves, however he thinks this mispresents women liberation, and thinks women still try to look good for male pleasure.

 

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?

this was for the 'Are you beach body ready? campaign which was for women to get read and fit to look good for summer.it was designed for women but it did get both sexes attention, it was a blonde, tan female posing.

2) What was the Dove Real Beauty campaign?

The Dove Campaign for Real Beauty is a worldwide marketing campaign launched by Unilever in 2004 aiming to build self confidence in women and young children

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

Social media ads are evolving to engage audiences more effectively by emphasising personalisation, interactivity, and authenticity. Marketers are using advanced targeting algorithms to deliver content tailored to users interests and behaviours, making ads feel more relevant.

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

Van Zoonen believes the media portray images of stereotypical women and this behaviour reinforces societal views.
Stuart Halls theory is that its main principal is that a text can have different meanings to different audiences. It is also called "reader response theory". The reader (or viewer) contributes to a text by interpreting it to what they think it says.

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 a bit but not completely as women are still presented sexually for attention, to catch the audiences attention, 'male gaze 'still exist but people can speak and give put their opinions freely.