Gender and Advertising

Gender in Advertising

1. What sort of images of women and men dominated advertising pre-1970s? Why was this the case?

Before, the 1970s, images of women in stereotypical roles, such as the 'smiling secretary' or hairdresser were more occurent. Referring to the theories of Gunter (1995), the number of 'housewife' images began to decline after the 1950s, possibly due to the war and the fact that women emancipation gave them more rights. Women were more than twice as likely as men to be seen inside the home, and when they were seen in paid work environment, they were signified as being subservient to men. However, men were most likely to be seen in more authoritative roles, and were ten times more likely than women to provide a dependable voice over. Men could be constructed in this way, as they were stereotyped as the breadwinners of the family and were more responsible. Therefore men were stereotyped as being more dominant due to their behaviour and strength.

2. How did the advertising of the 1970’s continue to perpetuate the stereotype of women, despite depicting women in a greater range of roles?

Despite depicting women in greater roles, advertising in the 1970s still perpetuated the stereotype of women, as they still were stereotyped as housewives and mothers. Though, the opportunity and freedom for women to work, seemed to give women a more alternative representation, though advertising seemed to abide by the traditional stereotypes of women, as they were still expected to look after the family and be expected to cook. However, the range of opportunities for women in work seemed to raise fears for men, as the patriarchal values were deteriorating, therefore, advertising in the 1970s would try to perpetuate the stereotype of women, in order to maintain the status quo and affirm women's status as the housewife or provider.

3. Can Gaye Tuchman’s quote regarding under-representation and the ‘symbolic annihilation of women’ still be applied in 21st Century advertising? If so, how?

In many ways, Gaye Tuchman's quote regarding the 'symbolic annihilation of women' could still be applied in 21st Century advertising, as more advertising is targeted at a male audience, with alcohol advertisements subordinating women and giving degrading representations of women. Alongside this, an analysis by Coltrane and Messineo (2000) found that characters in ads 'enjoy more prominence and exercise more authority if they are white, or men," this therefore shows how hegemony and patriarchal values are still instilled in adverts and signal the symbolic annihilation of women. As well as this, women are seemingly represented as being incompetent, with the Fiat ad's tag line stating, ' When I'm not lying on cars I'm a brain surgeon,' this connotes that women seem attractive, but are dumb, giving men a more dominant representation. In many cases, the myth of the dumb blonde is true in adverts targeted at men.

As well as this, Tuchmann argues that the symbolic annihilation of women is signified in all forms of media, as magazines seem to under represent women immensely. With the use of technology, magazine companies such as Cosmopolitan, Grazia and Vogue seem to construct the image of a perfect woman, by enhancing their appearance and making models seem aesthetically perfect. As a result, young girls and women are injected with an idea of being beautiful, in order to follow the dominant representation of famous female models such as Naomi Campbell. Also, the numerous amount of thin models on the catwalk led to women being inject with the belief that beautiful women are thin, which leads many girls and women wanting to be thin.

4. Do you agree that adverts, such as those for the 1990’s Boots No. 7, ‘It’s not make-up. It’s ammunition.’ campaign, are post-feminist (thereby representing women as better than men?). Explain your answer.

The Boots No 7 advert ' It's not make up. It's ammunition', is seemingly post feminist and seemingly empowers women over men, as it reacts against the subordination of women in advertising. The use of the word ammunition, connotes warfare and conflict, as the mascara is a sign of attraction and seduction . Though the audience could have oppositional readings of the advert, as it signifies how women are more predatory and competitive when attracting men. In accordance to this, women seem to be fetishized, as they use beauty products, such as the mascara to cause a 'lusty gaze' on men. In many ways, the Boots advert challenges rival beauty products, as Boots No 7 represents women as being more dominant, who make men the prey and since in contemporary advertising, men use their looks to get women, there is less to complain about, as there is no competition.

Though, the advertisement seems to still represent women as more passive, as the mascara connotes beauty and is mediated in the advert, as being a weapon which women use to attract men. The adverts denotations attract the audience to buy the product as it will guarantee confidence and power.

5. Is the representation of women by the media accountable for the results of a survey in which ‘women were up to ten times more likely than men to be unhappy with their body image’?

It can be argued that the representation of women by the media does affect women's body image, as the constant exposure of beautiful, idealistic women in the media, seems to inject women with a need to be thin. Therefore, women are self objectified and are constructed in advertising in order to be physically perfect. By using thin models, the media constructs a stereotype of the thin women, which results in many women turning to radical diets and exercise programmes, in order to be physically attractive. Women in numerous fashion magazines are air brushed in order to look younger and admirable, therefore women could be indoctrinated and more conscious about their appearance. This exposure of the perfect image of beauty in society and the vast range of beauty products in covert advertising such as (billboards, posters, television adverts) could raise unhappiness and make women feel abnormal

On the contrary, the media may not be to blame, as women could be pressurised by peers or friends to become thin, which could result in unhappiness and anxiety. As well as this, the obession with beauty and vanity seems to cause women to alter thier bodies; for example breast enlargement, lip suction and other medical adjustments seem to be an alternative to being unhappy, which most women turn to.

6. Is the contemporary representation of men in advertising perhaps also a negative one where they too are treated as sex objects?

The contemporary representation of men in advertising is more negative, as they are mediated and subjected to be more physical and strong. However, adverts such as Dolce and Gabbana seem to fetishize the male body, as the men are more thin, which results in men being forced to conform to the media's image of the perfect man. The modern representation could also subordinate men, as they are often mobbed my women and are only adored for being stereotypically strong and attractive.

Similar to women, men are constructed in magazines and other forms of advertising as being self objectified and are altered to look more young and suave, yet are also in the gaze, as their appearance in magazines would result in them being sex objects, as women crave men that are strong, have a toned physique and are seemingly Proppian heroes. By being beautiful, men will be the basis of much competition from women, who adore men for their looks