Advertisements and Depiction of the Woman Image: A Critique on Feminism (original) (raw)

Reification of Women - A cultural product of Mass Media : A Critique

Abstract Functionally it has been always observed that mass media always perform the priming and framing of any meaning and message content at large. Even if we consider the analysis by Cultural theorists of Frankfurt school we are on a line to consider mass media as the producer of some cultural elements and manufacturer of meaning. If it is so then what happens to the lady appears in an ad wearing or holding or “ Promoting” a particular product or a service ? Apparently it is proclaimed that the non- living entity that is the Product or the service or rather the meaning of the message which the producer wants to emphasis or” promote”…… is promoted in effectively by the MODEL that means the lady .. the subject. From Structural point of view The Product which is the non living object and The Model that is the living subject both remain in a same frame but stand as individual signs with their individual meanings rather signifiers. What the producer is expected to perform is juxtaposition of both the signs on a common serving point where the former compliments the later and in a way the formation of a new psychic condition takes place . However, in reality the equation does not work in such oversimplified manner . If it comes the effect of any message and generating meaning out of that message, it depends on the cognitive mapping and sense of interpretation of the receiver towards that message . The purpose of the producer here remains as the superstructure which is well executed in this but the difficulties start with base that gradually affect the Social condition and lead to a more complex as well as vulnerable state indeed.

The Portrayal Of Women In Advertisements: A Critical Analysis Of The Role, Participation, And Empowerment

Journal for Educators,Teachers and Trainers, 2023

The study qualitatively explores several past and recent advertisements that have evolved, conflicting and defeating women's roles in society. The study further discusses how advertisements have accelerated the concept of 'emphasized femininity' (Patterson et al., 2009) through the inevitable maledominated population discussed by Brule (2020). It contributes to an ever-expanding challenge of gender disparity, stereotyping women and docile responsibilities, thereby propagating inequalities through the digital and printed advertising world. The objective of the research is to purposely select regular advertisements and their symbolic representation that might have promoted women's engagement, their struggle, either responsible for identity stagnation or an expansive identity. The paper has strategically reviewed popular content that uncovers to transform societal myth and women objectification in restoring their equal natural existence. The study concludes the usage and abuses of advertisement concordant to inter-disciplinary inquiry into the laws, policies, and sociopolitical activities within a democratic state.

New Trends in The Representation of Women in Contemporary Media Culture: A Critical Analysis of Three Women Empowering Advertising Campaigns

Unlike previous scholarly research which has examined women representation in the media by highlighting the point that women have long been depicted as passive and dependent on men thereby reproducing traditional gender roles, this research aimed to discover the newly emerging trends in the women's media representation, in which over the last decade women have been represented in empowered and liberalized manner. Through social semiotic and critical discourse analysis of ALWAYS: Like a Girl (2014), CoverGirl: Girls Can (2014) and Gillette Venus: Use Your And (2015) advertising campaigns' representational practices about women in the example of campaigns' video commercials, this research concluded that while these campaigns' visual texts construct the meaning of empowered women as independent and powerful by way of producing the myths of contemporary women as physically active, multidimensional, authoritative, darer, courageous, funny, success-oriented and unstoppable, these representations strive to promote women's empowerment rhetoric to reach advanced consumerism targets of commercial companies through encouraging women to consume recommended brands as a sign of their independence and feminine power. Résumé Nouvelles tendances dans la représentation médiatique des femmes au sein de la culture contemporaine: Une analyse critique des campagnes de publicité pour l'autonomisation des femmes

Media and women image: A Feminist discourse

Journal of Media and Communication Studies, 2014

Female bodies have been exposed to a maximum possible extent through print and visual media globally. The physical impression of women body has been used to sell several consumer products, viz., food to floors, from creams to cars, from perfume to popcorn. The standards of beauty being imposed on women by external sources are much debated and complicated process and need to be understood within the age old socio-culturally milieu. In addition, the political economy of 'women image' and its commercial exploitation by selling and purchasing 'beauty' and consumption of it also requires serious attention. Hence, a theoretical discourse is developed being based on content analysis to cross-examine the representation of women around the patriarchic cultural notion of 'beauty' and its commoditization in commercial space through media. The paper further explores the social dynamics of 'female body' and reconstruction of 'femaleness' through socio-cultural process of 'gendering' and 'popular media'. The discourse revolves around how and whether the 'reconstruction of female body' could be dissected in search of 'real image ('Changing the 'image of beauty' in real sphere of womens' life and life style) of a woman' with a special focus on Indian society.

Changing perception of women in advertisements: A new socio-economic prospect

The status of women undergoing change in educated societies, more than feminism, advertisements promote concept of women in a media age. The power of commercial advertisements not only influence younger generation, but also evens the gender role education. The advertisement factor more than diffusing attitude, invariably contributes in transforming social and economic fabrics of traditional societies. Besides biological, even cultural status and role defines the concept of women in society. Moreover, changing concept of women has a role to play in social and economic development. This paper aims at analyzing how advertisements contribute to changing concept of women and how that influence socioeconomic prospects developing societies. The secondary research methods glean into research papers and Meta-analyze the subject to understand the strategy of advertisements to reinforce the gender empowerment. As noted by American writer John gray, Men are motivated and empowered when they feel needed. Women are motivated and empowered when they feel cherished.

A STUDY ON PORTRAYAL OF WOMEN IN ADVERTISEMENTS AND IT'S EFFECT ON CULTURAL VALUES

Today everyone needs to advertise their products to inform the customers about the product, increase the sales, acquire market share, and attain top position in their respective industry. Every business spends lot of money for advertising their products but the money spent will lead to success only when the best techniques of advertising are used for the product. In recent years, advertising has witnessed a significant transformation in attracting customer to buy/use their products/services. The need for advertisements has risen to great levels in print and visual media. One among the transformation is the way women are depicted in advertising, with changing times, reflecting the transformation taking place in society. Advertising is one of the major media that affect our daily life consciously and unconsciously and are responsible to play a significant role in shaping the society in a much broader perspective. Women today are no longer consolidated behind kitchen walls. Their aspiration for stepping out in the world made society to think differently. Marketer wisely utilized this transformation process to launch their product and advertisement strategically. This paper is a part of research work and the report will seek to define the portrayal of women in advertisements and its effect on cultural values. Survey research method is used for the analysis on the basis of gender and age. The literature review indicates that the women are portrayed mainly as an object of attraction. The results argue that the portrayal in advertising is changing the concept of respect about women, spreading uncultured values and also indicate women's physical beauty as an instrument to induce the products demands.

THE IMPACT OF MEDIA ON YOUNG PEOPLE IN THE GLOBALIZATION PROCESS (A critical semiotic approach to the women’s photos which represented in magazine advertisements)

As we know the mass media reproduce social relations and broadcast it in society. It's a fact that cannot be denied. Hence, the media can be read as a map that can be providing clues about the community. On one hand media can be determined by the economic, political and social dynamics in society. And on other hand the media has a potential that has to change these dynamics. So the media reflect power relations in society and the same time the media has an ability to produce them again, to change, to develop, and to stick them to other formats. Therefore the media reflect the dominant ideology in society and beside of that the media force other social phenomenon to make obeisance of this ideology. On the other hand, the media contemporary youth in modern society by providing examples of models in front of young people create and forces them to look like this model. Hence, an aim of this thesis is considered to identify the women images which have been presented in the media and to analyze these images by semiotics.

COMMODIFICATION OF FEMINISM WITHIN NEOLIBERALISM: THE NOTION OF FEMVERTISING

Commodification of feminism within neoliberalism: The notion of femvertising / Neoliberalizmde feminizmin metalaşması: Femvertising kavramı, 2020

In this thesis, which examines divergent appearances commodity feminism takes within the context of femvertising, first the historical development of feminism was discussed with a focus on the differences and similarities between major feminist currents in terms of rhetoric and practice. Then changes brought in feminism during the neoliberal phase of capitalism were evaluated with a view to the effects of postmodernism, consumer culture, and culture industries on feminism. After that, the question of how femvertising leads to the commodification of feminism was discussed. Building on the literature review, three commercial films that went on air in 2018 in Turkey, Selpak's Let's Erase Prejudices, ABC Detergent's Thanks to You Everything is in Proper Place, and Elidor's What Would Everybody Say, each of which hosts a different feminist discourse, were chosen by purposive sampling as cases to be studied in the thesis, which was designed as a comparative case study. As the method of analysis, the multi-layered semiological framework developed by John Fiske (2001), "codes of television," was employed. As a result of the research, it has been observed that the three commercials differ in the way they construct their audiences. Additionally, these commercials appropriate the discourses, slogans, and symbols of feminist movements that diverge from and even conflict with each other while building their messages. Finally, despite all the diversity they host and their indisputable contribution to increasing the visibility of feminism, femvertising commercials empty the political content of the feminist discourses, symbols, and slogans they contain. In all the three commercials analyzed, feminist discourses, symbols, and slogans were manipulated to increase/sell the awareness of the product/brand, and they themselves became disposable commodities.

The woman in pieces: advertising and the construction of feminine identity

This article aims to analyze the representation of the feminine identity in advertising. It explores the notion of social identity as a category that is experienced in the tension between classification and value. It also discusses the logic by which ads elaborate an image and, while in this process, transform the woman into a silent and fragmented body. In this article, I follow the anthropological tradition of symbolic systems analysis, and with it contribute to the debate concerning social representations throughout mass communication in general and, particularly, in advertising.

Exploring the Sexual Portrayal of Women in Media Adverts: A feministic perspective

This paper aims to explore the sexual representation of women in media adverts. It focuses on negative portrayal of women often in social media using them as a sex object. They display female body in order to sell a product. It is quite difficult for viewers not to be affected by the strong appeal made by media to present women as sex object. This paper is also a comparative analysis of different adverts in which women are negatively portrayed.