Advertising Women: Has It Changed?

Portraying women in media has been characterized by images that usually say more than the ad itself. Since advertisements have plunged into mass media, they are more likely to have a direct effect on people as well as specific groups of people (i.e., children, men, women).

I meant to analyze how women are portrayed in the advertisement world. I aim not to select one media advertisement but to analyze a pattern that has been constantly shown and public. As stated on the film Killing Us Softly: “Men basically don’t live in a world in which their bodies are routinely scrutinized, criticized, and judged whereas women do.” It is true, I think, that women have constantly been subjected to perfectionism and beauty with ads that highlight how being in shape always counts.

Image 1: L'Oreal's homepage. Excessive attention is paid to women's look and perfectionism.

In this matter, there has been a clear tendency of direct action message (Hanson, 386) which serves to bombard women with the idea that they have to be constantly worrying about her look and ways to keep it as it is suggested by society—perfect. This ads, as I aim to demonstrate have been in the public media for quite a long time.

Image 2: (*) Elizabeth Arden's advertisement published in the New Yorker magazine (p 50).

The advertisement ‘Elizabeth Arden,’ calls for women to do a treatment so that their skin becomes “naturally clear, fine and smooth,--lovely without the need of artifice.” This is the type of media we see in TV commercials and more but what is more important to mention is that the ‘Elizabeth Arden’ advertisement above shown was published in the New Yorker magazine on July 27^th 1927 (page 50). Has media changed in portraying women as needed to be perfect in shape? I think not. Likewise, other advertisements used clear sentences to target women in this same sense. A hair advertisement published on the same magazine as the ‘Elizabeth Arden’ ad (but on page 52) reads: “When Hair Falls—Youth Fades” and also “Keep your hair and stay young.”

Image 3: (*) Advertisement published on the New Yorker magazine on July 27th 1927 (p 52). Not only images but also direct sentences are targeted to women: "When Hair Falls--Youth Fades" reads this ad.

Image 4: (*) New Yorker magazine cover of the September 19th issue, 1925. An implicit way for attracting women to look like the the girl on the media.

This type of advertisements have placed clear stereotypes on women. It is usually thought that women are not as capable as men in doing any given thing. With inequalities in different fields, women are thought of as inferior when compared to men. As a clear example for this is the case of Sarah Palin. During the last election campaign, Palin arrived in the United Nations headquarters in New York City and was suddenly banned from being questioned by reporters at the site because she was thought to be incapable of handling the situation—answering tough questions. A YouTube video (at the end of this post) reports on this issue in more detail.

Are there any consequences to the way women are presented in media? I think some qualify as repercussions. Debrahlee Lorenzana, a 33-year-old single mother, was fired from Citigroup for looking too sexy as to distract her employers. The issue was based on her figure which was noticeably curved even when she wore pencil skirts and turtle necks. She, then, “filed suit against Citigroup, claiming that she was fired in August from the Citibank branch at the Chrysler Center for looking too sexy” says Maureen Dowd in the article “Dressed To Distract” published in the New York Times on June 4^th 2010. This can be an example of the excessive emphasis of beauty on women.

In a different instance, my niece (unconsciously) showed another example. She was watching the show iCarly on TV. This is a show for kids in which one of the characters—Carly—tries to make the other—Sam—more girly-like (Episode: iMake Sam Girlier). The story goes in making Sam wear skirts and be more “soft and vulnerable,” as Sam says, as well as doing her hair in a special way and wear more make-up when going out in a date.

Image 5: (*) Advertisement published on the New Yorker magazine on December 29th 1945 (p 10).

Do media do the same with men? Apparently not, but stereotypes are not fading away either. As also indicated in the film Killing Us Softly, stereotypes applied to men are less body-related. As depicted in the add shown ‘She’s after my money, like I care.’

Image 6: Stereotypes attributed to men are less body-related.

Image 7: (*) Advertisement published on the New Yorker magazine on December 29th 1945 (p 55). Business as well as decision making-related issues have usually been attributed to men more than to women. Though that has changed in the past years.

Image 8: (*) Cartoon published on the New Yorker magazine on October 2nd 2000 (p 109). Beauty or body-related issues are not usually attributed to men; as this ad suggests: can't men be determined to loose weight?

In sum, I think advertising women has always been in one direction—showing and highlighting beauty and external appearance. Is this bad? I think not, but that must definitely not fade away women’s capacity to do things equally well as men do. Amy Schriefer, discusses the use of women portrayed in classical music album covers in the article Selling Sex And Symphonies: The Image Of Women In Classical Music. There, the use of women is questioned as a strategy to sell more music. Such instances are clearly representing this point then—women must not be portrayed as objects for marketing but instead as capable of doing any given thing.

Video: Sexism against Palin during the election campaign, must she be treated as a delicate flower?

Resources:

Click here to read the Dressed to Distract article on the New York Times.

Click here to read the Selling Sex And Symphonies: The Image Of Women In Classical Music article.

(*) Note about the New Yorker images: The images from the New Yorker come from my own collection.