The representation of women in advertising is a vital area of study. We need to be able to discuss how representations have changed and apply these ideas to both unseen advertisements and our CSPs.
The notes from the lesson are below.
Jean Kilbourne: Killing us softly
Activist and cultural theorist Jean Kilbourne has been studying the image of women in advertising for over 40 years. Her series ‘Killing us softly’ highlighted the negative representation of women in advertising.
She went on to make further documentaries studying this issue and whether it was changing over time.
Liesbet van Zoonen: Feminist Media Studies
Liesbet van Zoonen was one of the first theorists to explicitly link gender, feminism and media studies. Writing since the 1990s, van Zoonen is a key figure in third wave feminism alongside theorists such as Butler and McRobbie.
Looking specifically at the representation of women in advertisements in the 1970s and 80s, van Zoonen questioned how much things had really changed. For example, women in adverts may be shown to have jobs but their appearance was usually still the vital element.
Liesbet van Zoonen: third wave feminist
Like McRobbie, van Zoonen was interested in the pleasures female audiences took from the women’s magazines that were heavily criticised by more radical 1970s-style feminists.
In a similarity with Butler, van Zoonen sees gender as negotiated and dependent on social and historical context. She wrote the meaning of gender is a “discursive struggle and negotiation, the outcome having far-reaching socio-cultural implications.” (van Zoonen, 1994)
Liesbet van Zoonen: constructing meanings
Van Zoonen also built on Stuart Hall’s reception theory with regards to how gender representations communicate their meanings to audiences. She suggested the media’s influence in constructing gender is dependent on:
•Whether the institution is commercial or public
•The platform (print/broadcast/digital)
•Genre (e.g. drama/news/advertisement)
•Target audience
•How significant the media text is to that audience
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?
As an ancillary to this, there are also a growing number of distinctly homosexual images -
2) What kinds of female stereotypes were found in advertising in the 1940s and 1950s?
Prior to the war, 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' that had begun to circulate
(Millum, 1975:73). Looking at women's magazines in the 1950s, 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. The highest good is keeping house and raising
children' (Millum, 1975:74). The motivation behind this mystique emerged (in part) because of a
sense of social crisis, but it was exploited and reinforced (and possibly created) as a result of the
1950s' boom in the economy - particularly in the production of domestic goods, such as washing
machines and convenience foods. It was presupposed that women would be purchasing such goods
for the household, thus advertising 'was calculated to focus attention on their domestic role,
reinforce home values and perpetuate the belief that success as a woman, wife and mother could be
purchased for the price of a jar of cold cream,
3) How did the increasing influence of clothes and make-up change representations of women in advertising?
- clothes and make-up which led to women being increasingly portrayed as decorative (empty) objects (Winship, 1980:8;
Busby & Leichty, 1993:258). A poignant example of where this occurs is in perfume advertisements;
according to Diane Barthel, one of the most common images here is that of the 'fair maiden'. Taking
Figure 1 as an example, the innocent female is equated with flowers and nature: 'what is
communicated is the sense that any rude contact with reality might spoil the maiden's perfection.
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' is important here;
she 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, but it has been noted that she
'provided a theoretical framework to substantiate what many other feminists
had been asserting for some years... much second wave feminist writing about
advertising and fashion had made connections between women's subordinate
role and the overdetermined emphasis on their appearance' (Gamman &
Makinen, 1994:172). Feminists who have taken up the male gaze framework,
such as Mary Ann Doane, suggest that because of this organised way of looking
(where women are accustomed to being looked at, thus conceiving themselves as objects), when
women observe representations of other women it is not a form of straightforward identification.
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' more power.
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?
As an ancillary to this, there are also a growing number of distinctly homosexual images -
2) What kinds of female stereotypes were found in advertising in the 1940s and 1950s?
Prior to the war, 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' that had begun to circulate
(Millum, 1975:73). Looking at women's magazines in the 1950s, 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. The highest good is keeping house and raising
children' (Millum, 1975:74). The motivation behind this mystique emerged (in part) because of a
sense of social crisis, but it was exploited and reinforced (and possibly created) as a result of the
1950s' boom in the economy - particularly in the production of domestic goods, such as washing
machines and convenience foods. It was presupposed that women would be purchasing such goods
for the household, thus advertising 'was calculated to focus attention on their domestic role,
reinforce home values and perpetuate the belief that success as a woman, wife and mother could be
purchased for the price of a jar of cold cream,
3) How did the increasing influence of clothes and make-up change representations of women in advertising?
- clothes and make-up which led to women being increasingly portrayed as decorative (empty) objects (Winship, 1980:8;
Busby & Leichty, 1993:258). A poignant example of where this occurs is in perfume advertisements;
according to Diane Barthel, one of the most common images here is that of the 'fair maiden'. Taking
Figure 1 as an example, the innocent female is equated with flowers and nature: 'what is
communicated is the sense that any rude contact with reality might spoil the maiden's perfection.
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' is important here;
she 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, but it has been noted that she
'provided a theoretical framework to substantiate what many other feminists
had been asserting for some years... much second wave feminist writing about
advertising and fashion had made connections between women's subordinate
role and the overdetermined emphasis on their appearance' (Gamman &
Makinen, 1994:172). Feminists who have taken up the male gaze framework,
such as Mary Ann Doane, suggest that because of this organised way of looking
(where women are accustomed to being looked at, thus conceiving themselves as objects), when
women observe representations of other women it is not a form of straightforward identification.
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' more power.
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?
According to Liesbet van
Zoonen, however, 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.' Deconstructing an advertisement promoting the 'Jenni Barnes Working Style'
range of clothing, van Zoonen points to its claim that: '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.' Indeed, a woman 'is portrayed stepping confidently towards the camera in
an office environment observed by a male colleague from behind; but she is not portrayed actually
working' (1994:73).
7) What does Barthel suggest regarding advertising and male power?
Similarly, 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'
(Barthel, 1988:124-125; Davis, 1992:50). 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?
Christian Dior make-up to make themselves sexually attractive - and that her sexuality is for her own enjoyment. 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' (1982:186). 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?
The ‘Are You Beach Body Ready?’ campaign launched by Protein World this spring
caused a real stir amongst the media and consumers. Launched in Spring 2015 on London Underground, the PR team were clearly courting the female market (19-30) into looking
their best for the beach this summer. The advert – featuring a tanned, blonde female in a full-frontal pose – generated so much controversy that in July 2015 the UK’s Advertising Standards Authority waded in: Although we understood the claim, ‘Are you beach body ready?’ invited readers to think about their figures, we did not consider the image of the model would shame women who had different body shapes into believing they needed to take a slimming supplement to feel confident wearing swimwear in public. For that reason, we concluded the ad was not irresponsible. 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) Why was it controversial?
It was controversial because it effects multiple people all around the world. and even men too and more men are now feminists taking a larger role to hep women gan the equality they deserve.
3) What did the adverts suggest to audiences?
The model looks simultaneously aggressive and seductive. The bold, black font accentuates this aggressive stance. The yellow and black contrast is reminiscent of a wasp; the colours have been chosen on purpose both to attract your attention, and to warn you – especially when seen in the context of the drab underground setting. The yellow background and bikini suggests sand.
To the right hand side The Weight Loss Collection further amplifies the subtext of this question – basically: are you thin enough to hit the beach? The advert attracted much criticism
for playing on female consumers’ insecurities. Its message is clear: if you use our weight loss supplements you too can look like this. And it seems that plenty of women are willing to pay £62 in the hope of transformation. Protein World have been quick to put down criticism and claim that their campaign is about health, rather than just looking
good. Note the words by the model andalso the words used to describe her:Renee Somerfield – the 23-year-oldvegan model who appeared in the adverts
4) How did some audiences react?
Consumers chose to disagree though, as shown by the sticker placed on the model’s
stomach (page 47). When people began to campaign against the poster’s sexist portrayal,
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. When angry consumers contacted Protein
World, complaining about the campaign, the company’s Twitter response urged them to
‘grow some balls’ – an interesting response for a campaign supposedly directed at women. The men behind the campaign seemed to find all the media uproar bizarre and the insinuation was
that the great British public couldn’t take a joke.
5) What was the Dove Real Beauty campaign?
Dove Campaign for Real Beauty – one of the most successful of the digital age. The campaign features real women with real bodies of all races and ages. Dove created an interactive Ad Makeover campaign that put women in charge of the advertisements, where they themselves would choose what they thought was beautiful not the advertisers. The campaign’s mission is to create a world where beauty is a source of confidence and not anxiety.
6) How has social media changed the way audiences can interact with advertising campaigns?
- Better Understanding of the Audience’s Needs
- Monitor & Measure Simultaneously
7) How can we apply van Zoonen's feminist theory and Stuart Hall's reception theory to these case studies?
Van Zoonen- Gender is constructed through what we see. Women's bodies are like objects and people study it and end up being like that. culture has shown people view the male body differently from those used to objectify the female body. This is definitely what is shown through the campaign where women are perceived in this way through advertising for example and its become a socialised norm. stereotypes. if women keep on being shown with limited clothing than this whole discrimination and perception will never go away because we make society.
Stewart Hall- The Encoding/decoding mode. What does the producer intend for them to see and what do they really see. Well the aim was for men to see these and like it but instead women decode it as being like that and wanting to be like that. Also women decoded it as a negative thing and spoke out about it as shown by the campaign.
8) 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?
Zoonen, however, 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.' Deconstructing an advertisement promoting the 'Jenni Barnes Working Style'
range of clothing, van Zoonen points to its claim that: '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.' Indeed, a woman 'is portrayed stepping confidently towards the camera in
an office environment observed by a male colleague from behind; but she is not portrayed actually
working' (1994:73).
7) What does Barthel suggest regarding advertising and male power?
Similarly, 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'
(Barthel, 1988:124-125; Davis, 1992:50). 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?
Christian Dior make-up to make themselves sexually attractive - and that her sexuality is for her own enjoyment. 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' (1982:186). 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?
The ‘Are You Beach Body Ready?’ campaign launched by Protein World this spring
caused a real stir amongst the media and consumers. Launched in Spring 2015 on London Underground, the PR team were clearly courting the female market (19-30) into looking
their best for the beach this summer. The advert – featuring a tanned, blonde female in a full-frontal pose – generated so much controversy that in July 2015 the UK’s Advertising Standards Authority waded in: Although we understood the claim, ‘Are you beach body ready?’ invited readers to think about their figures, we did not consider the image of the model would shame women who had different body shapes into believing they needed to take a slimming supplement to feel confident wearing swimwear in public. For that reason, we concluded the ad was not irresponsible. 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) Why was it controversial?
It was controversial because it effects multiple people all around the world. and even men too and more men are now feminists taking a larger role to hep women gan the equality they deserve.
3) What did the adverts suggest to audiences?
The model looks simultaneously aggressive and seductive. The bold, black font accentuates this aggressive stance. The yellow and black contrast is reminiscent of a wasp; the colours have been chosen on purpose both to attract your attention, and to warn you – especially when seen in the context of the drab underground setting. The yellow background and bikini suggests sand.
To the right hand side The Weight Loss Collection further amplifies the subtext of this question – basically: are you thin enough to hit the beach? The advert attracted much criticism
for playing on female consumers’ insecurities. Its message is clear: if you use our weight loss supplements you too can look like this. And it seems that plenty of women are willing to pay £62 in the hope of transformation. Protein World have been quick to put down criticism and claim that their campaign is about health, rather than just looking
good. Note the words by the model andalso the words used to describe her:Renee Somerfield – the 23-year-oldvegan model who appeared in the adverts
4) How did some audiences react?
Consumers chose to disagree though, as shown by the sticker placed on the model’s
stomach (page 47). When people began to campaign against the poster’s sexist portrayal,
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. When angry consumers contacted Protein
World, complaining about the campaign, the company’s Twitter response urged them to
‘grow some balls’ – an interesting response for a campaign supposedly directed at women. The men behind the campaign seemed to find all the media uproar bizarre and the insinuation was
that the great British public couldn’t take a joke.
5) What was the Dove Real Beauty campaign?
Dove Campaign for Real Beauty – one of the most successful of the digital age. The campaign features real women with real bodies of all races and ages. Dove created an interactive Ad Makeover campaign that put women in charge of the advertisements, where they themselves would choose what they thought was beautiful not the advertisers. The campaign’s mission is to create a world where beauty is a source of confidence and not anxiety.
6) How has social media changed the way audiences can interact with advertising campaigns?
- Better Understanding of the Audience’s Needs
- Monitor & Measure Simultaneously
7) How can we apply van Zoonen's feminist theory and Stuart Hall's reception theory to these case studies?
Van Zoonen- Gender is constructed through what we see. Women's bodies are like objects and people study it and end up being like that. culture has shown people view the male body differently from those used to objectify the female body. This is definitely what is shown through the campaign where women are perceived in this way through advertising for example and its become a socialised norm. stereotypes. if women keep on being shown with limited clothing than this whole discrimination and perception will never go away because we make society.
Stewart Hall- The Encoding/decoding mode. What does the producer intend for them to see and what do they really see. Well the aim was for men to see these and like it but instead women decode it as being like that and wanting to be like that. Also women decoded it as a negative thing and spoke out about it as shown by the campaign.
8) 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 significantly. 60 years ago was very different. women are seen as more of themselves and strong and powerful. however on the other hand, women are still photoshopped and while women are speaking out, magazine ads are still making them look skinny and all it proves is that it works. if women in ads still portrayed and too skinny and showing a lot of skin, it means that its selling therefore ads do not want to change. its us that construct this ideology- van zoonen.
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