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?

Since the mid-1990s, advertising has used more images where the gender and sexual orientation of the subject are purposefully ambiguous. In addition to this, there are also a growing number of distinctly homosexual images, which are unlike stereotypical depictions of the camp gay used as the comic relief elsewhere in mainstream media.

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?

This led to women being increasingly portrayed as decorative and empty objects. 

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

Laura Mulvey's theory of the 'male gaze' contends that scopophilia (the basic human sexual drive to look at other human beings) has been 'organised' by society's patriarchal definition of

looking as a male activity, and being looked at as a female 'passivity'. 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.

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

From the 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' (van Zoonen, 1994:72). The New Woman was supposed to be 'independent, confident and assertive, finding satisfaction in the world of work and recreation, seeking excitement, adventure and fulfillment'.

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?

The ability of these images to undermine traditional female stereotypes is superficial. At the level of content analysis, the roles that women take on in these 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.'

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'. 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?

Richard Dyer however, 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'. Thus, all 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 Real Beauty campaign was a worldwide marketing campaign focused around building women's self-confidence, featuring real women with real bodies of all races and ages.

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

Social media has enabled audiences to be able to directly engage with advertising campaigns and their producers and for companies to respond to audiences in real times. After the Protein World 'Beach Bodies' campaign, a change.org petition signed by 71,000 urged the ASA to take the adverts down. Some protesters responded visually by posing next to the advert in their bikinis, to offer a more realistic depiction of women’s bodies.

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

van Zoonen's work focuses on the representation of women in media, which can be applied to both of these case studies as the Protein World campaign depicts a traditional, objectifying view of women's bodies, suggesting that they must look a certain way to be appealing for others, whereas the Dove Real Beauty campaign offers an alternative way of looking at women's bodies realistically. 

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?

In the last 60 years, representations of women in advertising have varied massively, first being depicted as housewives with a focus on domestic help, then being portrayed in the workplace (while still being depicted as less competent and lower than men in the workplace), to being objectified with a focus on being attractive to sell products.