What are the different representations of women in adverts and how are they signified?
The representation of women can be positive: challenging the roles and expectations of women or negative: reinforcing a patriarchal society. This essay questions how and why these representations are constructed in an advert for Gucci Guilty Perfume and Stella Artois beer.
Firstly the Gucci advert is in widescreen which connotes a dramatic cinematic experience to engage its audience. More attention is gained by the female character first seen in the text and her protagonist is signified through this. The protagonist has female dominance which is signified through the use of colour- everything is in black and white while her hair is gold/blonde. This colour connotes gold, power and divinity signifying her importance in the text.
The use of intertextuality in this text will appeal to a particular audience. The film references a great deal to the neo film noir Sin City, with the use of colour and the female dominant femme fatale character. Sin City appeals to a male audience due to the action genre, this trailer could also appeal to the same audience due to the intertextuality. In terms of the Uses and Gratifications theory, a female audience might realise and accept the protagonist in the text is a form of escapism and also a male gaze, by theorist Mulvey, and therefore might aspire, from Young and Rubicam's 4Cs, to be the object of male gaze too.
Though the protagonist is an object of male gaze, it could be suggested that she sexually objectifies herself to tease the audience. The protagonist puts her leg into the frame of the shot. As she puts into the frame, it signifies self objectification, allowing the audience to fetishise her body. Another shot, a high angle, of their sexual activities signifies CCTV and spying which is voyeuristic. The fact she is on top signifies her control of the situation for both the male character and the audience.
Not only does the protagonist exert her feminity through self objectification she also presents herself as an anarchic character signified by adopting male stereotypes. The advert begins with a long shot of an unknown character speeding down the motorway, which stereotypically would be expected to be a male character. However, the audience's expectations are challenged when a medium shot of the driver shows to be a female.
In contrast, women are negatively represented in the Stella Artois text. The most obvious editing technique used in the advert is the split screen: one side shows the female getting dressed and the other side is of the beer getting "prepared". This use of split screen signifies that neither the beer nor the woman know they have been placed side by side. This puts the audience in position of control as they can voyeur the woman, in a socially acceptable way. Audiences may identify this control as patriarchy, and also identify with the unknown male character whose presence is felt within the text. This text then reinforces the idea of a patriarchal society and that women are subordinated by men.
Not only does the female share the screen with the beer, but the screen is split equally between the two "objects" which connotes the woman is equally objectified to the status of beer. It is suggested the audience is male due to the female and beer subject. Though the advert is targeted at men, it also negatively stereotypes men as people who have little respect for women which however is a dominant representation.
A range of close up shots of the female are used to fetishise her body. There is a close up shot of the female's leg slowly and elegantly rising from the bath tub. On one hand this could signify femininity and her control over it which is the oppositional reading. However, the more dominant reading is that her legs are an important part of the female body and connotes a male audience who can voyeur her body.
The text near the beginning of the trailer says "the preparation" which is an enigma code as the audience question "what event is the preparation for?". It is signified through the shots that the woman and beer preparation is for the male through the use of action codes. Action codes of both the preparation of the woman and the glass of beer are the same.
Women are represented as people who prioritise their looks and appearance, and this ad reinforces this ideology. Action codes including close ups of her: brushing her hair, doing her make up and putting on heels strongly represent women as image conscious. It could be said that the advert reinforces this representation, which is always seen in the media. Funnily enough, it could also be said that the media itself is the cause of this representation as this ideal, perfect woman is always represented in the media, and women feel they have to aspire to it.
In conclusion, both texts females are the protagonists and are sexually objectified for male audiences to fetishise and vouyer their bodies. However, while Gucci’s advert’s protagonist controls her sexuality through self objectification, the Stella Artois’ protagonist is objectified by an unknown but present male character.
In the Gucci’s ad, there are many examples in the text that signify the protagonist’s female dominance, but it is arguable whether this could be seen as a positive representation. The dominant reading is that the protagonist exerts her female dominance over the male challenging the historical patriarchal society and even subordinating males as easily manipulated and easily tempted by women and sex and this would favour feminism. However the oppositional reading which would favour the ideologies of the Stella Artois advert, might be that females can control their sexuality, but it is still for the male gaze and male dominant society.
Wednesday 15 December 2010
Clarifying Concepts: Post Feminism
A more positive look at post-feminism:
In raising these questions, I am only at the beginning of figuring out what a more positive kind of post-feminist account of religion and family might look like, and so have no compelling summary to offer, let alone a call to a specific research agenda. In my own work, I do want to take some feminist insights for granted. But I explicitly reject the idea that strong feminist critiques have had their day and must now give way gracefully to approaches that favor a consensual and functional, or even communitarian, interpretation of the good society. I am feeling more combative, or at least constructively critical, about theories that neatly divide society into a “public” and a “private” realm, while systematically devaluing those feminine things (religion, family) assigned to the private (cf., Warner 1999). I am not sure where it will lead, but it feels right to begin pushing back the boundaries of post-feminism by asking a different set of questions.
Post-feminism as backlash to feminism:
What the hell is postfeminism, anyway? I would think it would refer to a time when complete gender equality has been achieved. That hasn’t happened, of course, but we (especially young women) are supposed to think it has. Postfeminism, as a term, suggests that women have made plenty of progress because of feminism, but that feminism is now irrelevant and even undesirable because it has made millions of women unhappy, unfeminine, childless, lonely, and bitter, prompting them to fill their closets with combat boots and really bad India print skirts.
The ambiguity of the prefix “post”:
I’ve come accross the term used in the way Lurker describes, similarly, in academic circles, and for academic reasons I don’t think anyone should use it. The problem lies in the ambiguity of the prefix “post”, because post can mean since something commenced OR since something concluded. So, while technically a “post-feminist society” could mean a society since feminism began to be an influence, there will always be people who think you mean since feminism ended.
Post-feminism as a colloquialism:
It’s about deeply held political convictions, not to mention strategy. If there’s a wad of people out there extolling postfeminism and meaning “I think feminism is flawed and I’d like to see some goal-shifting, fresh tactics, and revisiting of contentious topics,” this isn’t just an issue of what’s going on in a speech group that doesn’t overlap with mine. It’s about defending feminism’s ground. Feminism is already doing the work that these (as I have come to think of them) non-evil postfeminists think comes with their prefix. And it’s beyond obvious that feminism suffers from its terrible reputation and from the vast misunderstandings that stunning numbers of people still have about it (no matter how many times it happens, I will never, ever get used to being asked if I hate men). I can’t help but see even the non-evil usage of “postfeminism” as a rejection of and attack on feminism, and an implication that the movement is finished. And that means I need to challenge it at every turn.
A more positive look at post-feminism:
In raising these questions, I am only at the beginning of figuring out what a more positive kind of post-feminist account of religion and family might look like, and so have no compelling summary to offer, let alone a call to a specific research agenda. In my own work, I do want to take some feminist insights for granted. But I explicitly reject the idea that strong feminist critiques have had their day and must now give way gracefully to approaches that favor a consensual and functional, or even communitarian, interpretation of the good society. I am feeling more combative, or at least constructively critical, about theories that neatly divide society into a “public” and a “private” realm, while systematically devaluing those feminine things (religion, family) assigned to the private (cf., Warner 1999). I am not sure where it will lead, but it feels right to begin pushing back the boundaries of post-feminism by asking a different set of questions.
Post-feminism as backlash to feminism:
What the hell is postfeminism, anyway? I would think it would refer to a time when complete gender equality has been achieved. That hasn’t happened, of course, but we (especially young women) are supposed to think it has. Postfeminism, as a term, suggests that women have made plenty of progress because of feminism, but that feminism is now irrelevant and even undesirable because it has made millions of women unhappy, unfeminine, childless, lonely, and bitter, prompting them to fill their closets with combat boots and really bad India print skirts.
The ambiguity of the prefix “post”:
I’ve come accross the term used in the way Lurker describes, similarly, in academic circles, and for academic reasons I don’t think anyone should use it. The problem lies in the ambiguity of the prefix “post”, because post can mean since something commenced OR since something concluded. So, while technically a “post-feminist society” could mean a society since feminism began to be an influence, there will always be people who think you mean since feminism ended.
Post-feminism as a colloquialism:
It’s about deeply held political convictions, not to mention strategy. If there’s a wad of people out there extolling postfeminism and meaning “I think feminism is flawed and I’d like to see some goal-shifting, fresh tactics, and revisiting of contentious topics,” this isn’t just an issue of what’s going on in a speech group that doesn’t overlap with mine. It’s about defending feminism’s ground. Feminism is already doing the work that these (as I have come to think of them) non-evil postfeminists think comes with their prefix. And it’s beyond obvious that feminism suffers from its terrible reputation and from the vast misunderstandings that stunning numbers of people still have about it (no matter how many times it happens, I will never, ever get used to being asked if I hate men). I can’t help but see even the non-evil usage of “postfeminism” as a rejection of and attack on feminism, and an implication that the movement is finished. And that means I need to challenge it at every turn.
Do alternative representations exist of male and/ or female roles in the hip hop genre?
Yes there are very much still alternative representations of both male and female.
There may not be as many alternative representations as there are dominant, but there are still role models and figures for both men and women, such as Alicia Keys, Missy Elliot, Justin Bieber, Sean Kingston, Neyo, Trey songs and more.
Alternative Female - Missy Elliot
Missy Elliot is an example of an alternative female in the hip hop genre as she’s not typically skinny, voluptuous, model like, such as Rihanna and Nicki Minaj. She’s more dominant in the way she portrays herself as she’s plus size and usually fully clothed or well covered in her music videos. She would not consider herself as a sex object, she may contain lyrics that are referenced to sex, yet she doesn’t degrade herself by showing her body and dancing seductively for men.
Also stereotypical females in hip hop usually portray themselves with a male figure who they either lust after or whom they dominant, where as Missy Elliot does not always have a lead male in her videos. In her video gossip folks She is wearing a full length tracksuit which would not be linked to or shown in any sexual way which is what stereotypically any female would try to do in her video. Although as the tracksuit is pink, it does show that she is feminine but not in any sexual objectifying way.
she also changes to a cheer leaders outfit which is usually part of the male fantasy (male gaze) for when they voyeur over women, although she doesn’t attempt to make it look sexy, she just simply uses it to connote the theme of the video. Also an interesting fact is that she still dances in her videos despite not being slim or fit as some would say. This shows her alternative side as she does break dancing and dances that would not be typical or seen as in any way seductive or alluring to men which other female hip hop artists do in their videos such as Rihanna – rude boy.
Also in her video of (Gossip Folks) she wears bling and jewellery which would usually be associated to males in hip hop, this shows her to be a role model as she is showing that females can wear jewellery and expensive items to show they too have power as well as men in hip hop. In her video ‘’pass that dutch’’ she begins the song dressed in all white connoting her innocence, and compared to how someone like lady gaga would dress, Missy Elliot doesn’t show off her body or use sex appeal to attract viewers, she instead uses powerful and meaningful lyrics. Another outfit in the video that she uses is a farmer’s outfit, which could be a male fetish for some viewers, yet she wears it in a manly and rugged way which would show her to be as dominant.
Also which is funny and ironic is in the same video She is in a car full of other plus size women who are enjoying themselves and having fun regardless of their image, and the pull in a male into the vehicle who they dominate and are portrayed to have eaten as the next shot is of them throwing out bones of a flesh. Which connotes to them being ‘’man-eaters’ and aggressive and domineering which is not what most females in hip hop would refer to themselves as.
Yes there are very much still alternative representations of both male and female.
There may not be as many alternative representations as there are dominant, but there are still role models and figures for both men and women, such as Alicia Keys, Missy Elliot, Justin Bieber, Sean Kingston, Neyo, Trey songs and more.
Alternative Female - Missy Elliot
Missy Elliot is an example of an alternative female in the hip hop genre as she’s not typically skinny, voluptuous, model like, such as Rihanna and Nicki Minaj. She’s more dominant in the way she portrays herself as she’s plus size and usually fully clothed or well covered in her music videos. She would not consider herself as a sex object, she may contain lyrics that are referenced to sex, yet she doesn’t degrade herself by showing her body and dancing seductively for men.
Also stereotypical females in hip hop usually portray themselves with a male figure who they either lust after or whom they dominant, where as Missy Elliot does not always have a lead male in her videos. In her video gossip folks She is wearing a full length tracksuit which would not be linked to or shown in any sexual way which is what stereotypically any female would try to do in her video. Although as the tracksuit is pink, it does show that she is feminine but not in any sexual objectifying way.
she also changes to a cheer leaders outfit which is usually part of the male fantasy (male gaze) for when they voyeur over women, although she doesn’t attempt to make it look sexy, she just simply uses it to connote the theme of the video. Also an interesting fact is that she still dances in her videos despite not being slim or fit as some would say. This shows her alternative side as she does break dancing and dances that would not be typical or seen as in any way seductive or alluring to men which other female hip hop artists do in their videos such as Rihanna – rude boy.
Also in her video of (Gossip Folks) she wears bling and jewellery which would usually be associated to males in hip hop, this shows her to be a role model as she is showing that females can wear jewellery and expensive items to show they too have power as well as men in hip hop. In her video ‘’pass that dutch’’ she begins the song dressed in all white connoting her innocence, and compared to how someone like lady gaga would dress, Missy Elliot doesn’t show off her body or use sex appeal to attract viewers, she instead uses powerful and meaningful lyrics. Another outfit in the video that she uses is a farmer’s outfit, which could be a male fetish for some viewers, yet she wears it in a manly and rugged way which would show her to be as dominant.
Also which is funny and ironic is in the same video She is in a car full of other plus size women who are enjoying themselves and having fun regardless of their image, and the pull in a male into the vehicle who they dominate and are portrayed to have eaten as the next shot is of them throwing out bones of a flesh. Which connotes to them being ‘’man-eaters’ and aggressive and domineering which is not what most females in hip hop would refer to themselves as.
Print
Newspapers such as The tabloid newspaper The Sun and The Daily Mirror have been the major players in the uk with The Sun being the biggest seller in the UK in 2010, selling nearly 3 million copies. The total daily readership is approximately 7,700,000.
It is the 10th biggest newspaper in the world, It reaches 2.9 million readers in the ABC1 demographic and 5.0 million in the C2DE demographic, compared to the 1.5 and 0.1 million respectively of its broadsheet stablemate The Times. It is published by News Group Newspapers of News International, itself a subsidiary of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation.
The News Of The World is the biggest selling newspaper in the world and contributes alot to the UK. The News Of The World is reffered to the sister paper of the sun and is also owned by News Corp and Rupert Murdoch.
Broadcast
Tv channels 1- 5 all show the news at regular intervals and times
BBC News and ITV news are the major players in terms of news providers with Channel 4 News trailing them
The BBC is not only the largest broadcaster in the UK but also the largest in the world apparently. It is a public service provider that is government funded and run.
E- media
Online there are a variety of sources of news providers. The likes of MSN today, The Guardian online, The Sun online, BBC news online ofcourse.
The website, guardian.co.uk, is one of the highest-traffic English-language news websites. According to its editor, The Guardian has the second largest online readership of any English-language newspaper in the world, after the New York Times. Its owned by the Guardian Media Group and its editor is Alan Rusbridger.
Newspapers such as The tabloid newspaper The Sun and The Daily Mirror have been the major players in the uk with The Sun being the biggest seller in the UK in 2010, selling nearly 3 million copies. The total daily readership is approximately 7,700,000.
It is the 10th biggest newspaper in the world, It reaches 2.9 million readers in the ABC1 demographic and 5.0 million in the C2DE demographic, compared to the 1.5 and 0.1 million respectively of its broadsheet stablemate The Times. It is published by News Group Newspapers of News International, itself a subsidiary of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation.
The News Of The World is the biggest selling newspaper in the world and contributes alot to the UK. The News Of The World is reffered to the sister paper of the sun and is also owned by News Corp and Rupert Murdoch.
Broadcast
Tv channels 1- 5 all show the news at regular intervals and times
BBC News and ITV news are the major players in terms of news providers with Channel 4 News trailing them
The BBC is not only the largest broadcaster in the UK but also the largest in the world apparently. It is a public service provider that is government funded and run.
E- media
Online there are a variety of sources of news providers. The likes of MSN today, The Guardian online, The Sun online, BBC news online ofcourse.
The website, guardian.co.uk, is one of the highest-traffic English-language news websites. According to its editor, The Guardian has the second largest online readership of any English-language newspaper in the world, after the New York Times. Its owned by the Guardian Media Group and its editor is Alan Rusbridger.
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