Advertising: The 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?

She suggests that advertising has moved away from traditional stereotypes and has moved forward to more diverse and complex representations.

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

Women were seen to be stereotyped as domestic housemakers who held the role of a homemaker.In advertisment their roles focused on nurturing and motherhood.

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

It shifted the focus from women doing domestic work to them showing off their physical apperance and beauty.Women were then looked upon their beauty rather than the work they do.  

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

Mulvey and they suggested the male gaze refers to the way visual arts and literature depict the world and women from a masculine heterosexual view which shows women as sexual images.

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

There was a second wave feminist movement which helped girls representations be shaped more positively and allowed there to be a change in how girls ambitions were .

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?

They argue that while women were shown in positive new roles they still face sexism because they were defined by their attractavness to men.

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

Advertising reinforces male power by linking masculinity to control,independence.

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

It uses a womens sexuality as a source of mysterious and dangerous power.In the advert the representation suggests that by using the product a women would cling to a man.

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 beach bodies campaign was an advertising campaign which was made in 2015 and it was used to promote a weight loss supplement called 'slender blend.It was controversial because it lead to high accussations of body shaming,promoting unrealistic body standards

2) What was the Dove Real Beauty campaign?

The campaign was launched in 2004 and it aimed to challenge traditional beauty standards used in advertising and to promote the idea that every size is perfect and that there is no ideal body shape.

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

Audiences can respond instantly,campaigns can go viral quickly and easily,audiences can create their own content,audiences can infulence campaigns

4) 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?

Through studying social and historical contexts I can see that there are high changes in advertising with women.This is because nowerdays women are now being represented positivly and are being less sexualised.Furthermore women are now being accepted for who they are rather than being seen as a sex symbol.