Representation of Women in Advertising

Advertising is an interesting area to look at when studying the representation of a group of people, because it does two thing:

• Advertisements tend to represent the status quo of society at the time and any hegemonies that may exist (e.g. that football is our countries sport).
• Advertisements represent an ideal that  people must aspire to 

In a series of Fairy Liquid advertisements from the 1960s to the present day, we discovered that women are represented in a traditionally idealistic way, for example in the 1960s adverts  they all present the idealistic at home mother, looking after her little girl (who will also grow up using Fairy Liquid) and doing the washing up. They are all set in the kitchen at the sink, with the emphasis on how the product makes your hands soft, as if this is a priority for women. The mother is shown doing educational activities at then end of the advert with the little girl, such as playing with building blocks and reading nursery rhymes/fairy tales. The actors in the adverts are extremely 'well spoken' and and use received pronunciation, this emphasises that the people who use the product are have high standards and therefore the product must good quality too. 

In the more modern Fairy Liquid advertisements, a little boy is introduced, rather than having a girl, this shows that the demographics have widened out as more types of people are shown. This continues in the 2012 advert where a mum, dad and son are shown, however it is still the mother who is presented to be doing the washing up as in the 1960s advertisements. The adverts also become much more interesting in modern times. In the advert from 2009, where the little boy was introduced, it becomes more humorous as a dishwasher is shown, with the boy trying to fit his bike into it, as he sees how clean the dishes are when they come out after using the new fairy dishwasher tablets. In the 2012 advert there is no longer any actors talking, there is a clear male voiceover, however the focus is still on the mother as the voiceover says 'for mum to build an athlete', therefore there is still a clear focus on women in the home, rather than men doing the washing up, Fairy still, even today stick to their stereotypical advertising, of traditional roles in the home. 

Nowadays, this has become such an established product that in 2013 the company produced an advertisement showing a montage of classic advertisements from the 1960s to the present day. All of them reflecting the very traditional, perhaps now old fashioned values of women in the home. This could be effective as it promotes that the product is long standing, long lasting and reliable. 

All these Fairy Liquid advertisements are seen to be romanticising the past and presenting a 'golden age' of which we can all aspire to.

British Cinema

We are looking at the way that women are represented in cinema over time. We have watched 'Vertigo' (Alfred Hitchcock- 1958), with a view to apply Laura Mulvey's theory of the Male Gaze (see this post. 

We are now looking at contemporary British cinema, and the ways British films construct, reinforce or challenge notions of identity. We are looking at 'the burden of representation' and the conflict between successful commercial films and cultural UK films. 

We watched the trailers for 'Notting Hill' (1999) and 'Bend it Like Beckham' (2002) which were commercially successful films but also challenged the representation of women through a humorous representation of stereotypes. 

We are considering the dilemma that film makers have between making films that are commercially successful and might attract an American audience and social realist films by directors such as Ken Loach which are critically acclaimed but give a much bleaker representation of society in general.

We are also looking at the representation of women in contemporary films such as 'Fast Girls'(2012), 'The Kings Speech' (2010), 'The Angels Share'(2012) and 'Its a Wonderful Afterlife' (2010).

Representation of Gender in Films, TV and Youtube

Judith Butler states in her book 'Gender Trouble', that 'gender should be seen as a fluid variable which shifts and changes in different contexts at different times'. This is relevant to the recent film 'Divergent' (2014), as male and female characters are seen as equal, and their lives depend on their personalities and character traits rather than the importance of gender. Women are in top leadership positions in the film, which presents the key theme of gender empowerment. Boys and girls sleep in the same room and use the same bathroom facilities without that devolving into sexual tension. Self-control and sexual equality are simply a fact of life in the post-modern era in which the film is set.

Divergent also defies the parameters of traditional gender roles. The actor Theo James, who plays the supporting role of Four in the film said that “We’re in a world where masculinity, especially with these big spectacle movies, is often pushed by rippling six packs and forcing an image down someone’s throat trying to prove masculinity. Whereas I think true masculinity comes from having a strong sense of self,”. This agrees with Butler's idea of 'gender as a performance' and that you don't have to conform to society, despite having the seem conformist in the film, you can choose how to identify yourself, as a masculine or feminine character. Butler emphasises how gender is staged. This is true for the protagonist Tris who acts in a much more masculine way in order to fit into the conforming society of the Dauntless (courageous) faction. However, throughout the film there are sections where she is presented as a true girl as loving beautifying herself, such as getting dressed up and her hair done. However a following scene contrasts this where she gets a tattoo, which is seen as something more masculine. Tris must conform to the male lead society in order to be accepted into her new life. 

Queer Theory- Judith Butler and David Gauntlett

Following our study of the Hunger Games, I looked into Judith Butler's theory of Gender Performance, which she addresses in her book Gender Trouble (1990)through David Gauntlett's book 'Media, Gender and Identity, An introduction'(2002). This is described by Sandra Lee Bartky as 'The most authoritative attack to date on the "naturalness" of gender'. The Hunger Games applies to Butler's theory of Gender as a Performance as Katniss must act very differently when in the public eye as to when she isn't being shown on TV. Suzanne Collins creates a world which is completely governed by the media by using the Hunger Games as a way to distract the members of the public from creating an uprising and war. 

 Other satirical looks at gender performance: - Ja'mie, Life of a private school girl - Conchita Wurst- Eurovision winner