Depiction of women in the advertisements from 1950 to 2005 - Essay Example

Chapter 3: 1950-2005 This chapter deals with the period which has seen more upheavals than those of the other two sections put together. Revolutionary changes in communications and technology, the huge success of the Women’s Liberation Movement, relative peace and stability in governments as well as breakthrough advances in conceptions of gender and equality have made transformations in this period that are too many in number and too much in its impact to be even briefly hinted at within the scope of this paper. Yet, it is hoped that this section will provide details regarding certain important aspects of women’s portrayal in advertisements and the sheer range of visual examples provided will leave the reader with a taste of the contemporary scene. Statistics One of the earliest studies of womens portrayal in magazines was undertaken by Courtney and Lockeretz (1971). Regarding portrayal of women in 1950, they found out that advertisements featured most women in non-working roles and often at home. When working, women were shown as low-income earners, in secretarial, clerical or blue-collar positions. 1 Look at the details below: Occupations of Women Shown in Advertisements Business Executive 1958=0% 1970=0% 1983=4% Professional 1958=0% 1970=0% 1983=15% Entertainment/sports 1958=11% 1970-58% 1983=33% Sales/Midlevel business 1958=6% 1970=8% 1983=33% White Collar 1958=72% 1970=17% 1983=4% Blue Collar 1958=0% 1970=17% 1983=4% It was found out that often the presence of women was not substantially related to the product being advertised. It was also seen that it seemed from advertisements as though women have limited purchasing power, since they were shown as decision makers only for small-ticket items for the home. It was found out that in 1970, advertisements emphasised that a woman’s place was in the home, though there were 29 million women in the labour force at that time. Women were shown as independent only when inexpensive items or simple decisions were involved, sending the message that women do not make important decisions or do important things. It was observed that Women were generally isolated from their sex within the ads, thus signalling that women are dependent and constantly require men’s protection. In addition, Women were often found in decorative roles having little relationship to the product, thus saying that men regards women primarily as sexual objects and are not interested in them as people. In contrast, the portrayal of men (Lovdal, 1989) was as independent people who are intelligent and fully involved in a career. Men, shown in authoritative positions, were depicted 78% of the time in out-of-home settings. Belknap and Leanord II (1991) analysing womens magazines from 1940-70, discovered that the feminine ideal was one of child-bearer, child-rearer and homemaker, with the advertisements depicting women as possessing characteristics of passivity and dependency. For example, in the advertisement shown here, the quote runs, “you trust it’s Quality”, implying that the woman as a nurse or helper is someone you can trust. Even in MS, a more progressive magazine, Ferguson (1983) found that "a womans nurturance role and seeking after men was a pervasive goal." In a study conducted on the relationship between women, health and advertisements (Hagiwara, 1992) it was found that women and men both appeared in photographs, women were generally placed in the passive/submissive positions. In National Fitness Trade Journal and Natural Body Fitness, more than 80% of the photographs placed women in passive/submissive positions. It was also discovered that of those photographs displaying both men and women, in no cases were men placed in passive/submissive positions. Further, in a majority of photos, women were placed in inactive poses, that is, they were shown "posing". 2Shape and Natural Fitness provided the highest percent (28%) of the women in active or exercising behaviour. There were no ads in Men’s Fitness portraying women in active or exercise behaviour. It was also found out that approximately 40% of all ads either focussed or unnaturally emphasized specific body parts of the models. The National Trade Journal had the highest percent (45%), while Shape had the lowest percent (33%). As regards to the appropriateness of appearance of the models featured in the advertisements, the majority of photos displayed women in inappropriate exercise apparel or with an overuse of cosmetics. 95% of the ads in Men’s Fitness displayed women in inappropriate exercise apparel or with an excess of cosmetics. Visual Imagery The use of hands, facial expressions, body positioning and relative size of men and women in print advertisement provides another way of prying into gender and gender roles (Belknap and Leonard II, 1991). It was discovered that women were shown as using their hands and fingers to trace outlines of an object, cradle or caress it two-third of the time, conveying delicacy as opposed to the more realistic manner of handling objects by grasping, manipulating or holding them. The latter was seen to be the privilege of men. Thus, while women caressed and touched themselves, men grasped. The largest percentage of category representation for females was canting posture and smiling. It was also found that men were portrayed as taller than women in as much as 88% of the advertisements - an image that intimates of differential "social weight". Women (and children) were more often depicted in prostrate or seated positions. The persona of males captured an air of confidence, competence and authority, whereas females persona were more often childlike and deferential (Belnap and Leonard II, 1991). It is also worthwhile to look at the use of male and female voice-overs in advertisements. Studies reveal that over the past 15 years, men have been given over 90 per cent of the voice-overs, contributing to the idea that men are more convincing, credible and knowledgeable than women. In the cases where women were given the authority to speak (9%), they were often speaking to a thing or someone subordinate like cats, dogs, babies and women dieters. (Lovdal, 1989) Whatever be the product, it is always useful to have it advertised by someone who seems to be knowledgeable about it or uses it constantly. Looking at the number of times men and women are shown for particular categories of products or in particular settings, reveal certain stereotypes as well. Thus the study by Lovdal in 1988 reveals that more than half of domestic product representatives were women whereas as much as three-quarter of non-domestic products featured men. While men were shown in domestic settings less than half of the time, women were shown in non-domestic settings only in one-fourth of the advertisements. They also found out that men have a three-fold chance of being shown in a variety of roles and occupations, as compared to women who are much stereotyped in their appearances. In relation to stereotypes, it was also found out advertising tends to reflect and even capitalize on sex role stereotypes (Courtney and Whipple, 1983) where men are often portrayed as serious and estranged but women are portrayed as light-hearted and spontaneous. Yet another study about bodyism (or the depiction of body) by Hall et al. in 1994 (through analysing 40 beer commercials) showed recurring themes of men portrayed as engaged in physical labour, spending much of their time either outdoors or in a bar, and remaining confident, cool and detached in relationships with women whereas women were most likely to be admiring onlookers. Chest shots of women were twice as frequent as the same for men and women wore leisure clothes or bikinis whereas men wore work clothes. Men were always macho in these ads and women looked as though they were waiting to be picked up. Rudman and Verdi (1993) say that consistent patterns of sexual exploitation of the female body persist regardless of the type of print media. In general, female models are placed in sexually exploitative and compromising positions, sexually submissive postures, and with sexually connotative facial expressions. Media definitions of sexual attractiveness promote either extreme thinness or a thin waist with large hips and breasts. Smoking and Dieting, Food and Body-Image Most fashion models are thinner than 98% of American women. The average American woman is 54" tall and weighs 140 pounds. The average American model is 511" and weighs 117 pounds. Although the glorification of slenderness is sometimes defended in the interests of health, for most women it is anything but healthy. Almost 40 percent of women who smoke say they do so to maintain their weight; one-quarter of those will die of a disease caused by smoking.(Wolf, 1991)  In one scientific study, researchers found that womens magazines contained ten times as many advertisements and articles promoting weight loss as mens magazines-corresponding exactly to the ratio of eating disorders in women versus men.(Andersen, Arnold E. & DiDomenico, Lisa, 1992) And recent studies have suggested that it may sometimes be healthier to be overweight than to repeatedly gain and lose weight through "yo-yo dieting." On any given day, 25 percent of American women are dieting, and another 50 percent are finishing, breaking, or starting diets." The Glamour survey found that 50 percent of respondents used diet pills, 27 percent used liquid formula diets, 18 percent used diuretics, 45 percent fasted, 18 percent used laxatives, and 15 percent engaged in self induced vomiting." While women have purged and starved themselves, the diet industry has grown fat. The cycle of self-loathing and dieting begins early. In a survey of 494 middle-class San Francisco schoolgirls, more than half thought they were fat, yet only 15 percent were medically overweight. And preadolescent dieting has increased "exponentially" in recent years according to Vivian Meehan, president of the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders.(Wolf, 1991) (Jacobsen, Michael F. & Mazur, Laurie Ann, 1995) Richins (1991) found that exposure to idealized images lowered subjects satisfaction with their own attractiveness. Stice and Shaw (1994) studied subjects reactions to pictures of thin models in magazines. Their results indicated that exposure to the thin ideal produced depression, shame, guilt, body dissatisfaction, and stress. Stice et al. (1994) found a direct relationship between media exposure and eating disorders symptoms. (About-Face Facts, n.d.)3 Food in advertising rarely makes an appearance as simple nourishment. Instead it acts as a substitute for love or romance, a reward (for "good" behaviour), a guilty secret/pleasure, an erotic encounter, a consolation prize, a source of and cure for anxiety. Advertising that links food to so many other needs and desires (while simultaneously promoting the thin-ideal body image), can encourage eating disorders, especially in relation to empty-calorie, high sugar and high fat content foods like chocolate. (J. Retzinger, 2004.)4 Conflicting Images Dove, Unilevers largest beauty brand, challenges the concept of beauty in popular culture in their newest Campaign For Real Beauty, the copy reading, “Half Empty? Half Full?”. They gathered information from 3,500 women in several developed countries to find correlations between beauty, body image and the media. Yet, we notice that the women shown in the advertisement looks no different in her body size from other popular models. The advertisements shown above are examples of the mundane and everyday process of ‘eating’ and ‘drinking’ being depicted as an erotic encounter in a mis-en-scene decorated by highly sexualised imagery- melons, balls, phallic bottles, alcohol, women in beach-wear or revealing clothes, one looking licentious and the other as though she is on her way to an orgasm.5 A Stereotype: Infantilising Women 6 If little girls are presented as sex objects, grown women are depicted as children. A classic example is an ad that ran in the 1970s for Loves Baby Soft cosmetics. The ad featured a grown woman in a little girl dress, licking a lollipop and hiking up her short skirt next to phallic-shaped bottles of Loves Baby Soft. The tag line read, "Because innocence is sexier than you think." And an ad for Cutex lipstick shows a cartoon of a woman s bright red lips with a pacifier stuck in them, and the caption "lipstick that makes your lips baby soft." Such ads, says Kilbourne, "send out a powerful sexual message at the same time they deny it, which is exactly what the ads are telling women to do. The real message is dont be a mature sexual being, stay like a little girl-passive, powerless, and dependent." (Kilbourne, 1987) (Jacobsen, Michael F. & Mazur, Laurie Ann, 1995) Advertising Violence against Women 7 In an ad for Newport cigarettes, a pair of men tackle two screaming women, pulling one by the hair. Another Newport ad shows a man forcing a womans head down to get her mouth around a spurting garden hose. In an ad for Gotcha sportswear, an attractive young murder victim dangles from a couch. The red design on her shirt resembles a stylized gunshot wound; her legs are splayed apart. A young model in an ad for Georges Marciano clothes cradles her head and cries; her tousled hair and disheveled clothes suggest sexual struggle. A man sitting next to her looks away impassively. An Old Spice cologne ad shows a man leaning over a woman who is playfully pushing him away; the huge headline says "No," but she is smiling. The message: Dont take No for an answer; she probably doesnt mean it. 8 Violence against women in ads raises many of the same questions-and sparks the same debate-as violent pornography. Some analysts discern a link between eroticized images of violence against women and the escalating incidence of real-life rape and abuse. Others claim that such images actually defuse mens aggression toward women or that these images reflect the broader oppression of women but dont cause it. Still others legal scholar Catherine MacKinnon fore most among them-argue that sexually violent images are in themselves harmful to women, regardless of whether they incite "real" violence. Again, we are stuck with the chicken-and-egg question of whether ads cause harmful social effects or simply mirror them. In either case, advertising fuels the perception that women are things, to be used or abused as men see fit. "Turning a human being into a thing is almost always the first step in justifying violence against that person," says Jean Kilbourne. (Kilbourne, 1987) (Jacobsen, Michael F. & Mazur, Laurie Ann, 1995) Selling Alcohol 9 Alcohol advertising is linked to patterns of heavy drinking, drinking in dangerous situations and deaths from alcohol-related motor vehicle crashes. (Mc Kenzie, 2000). Smoking and women In this section, I would like to look at advertisements for cigarettes directed specially at women, spanning the period from 1900 onwards. In fact it is the case that it is possible to trace a history of advertising by only looking at cigarette ads for women and in this section I will try to look at a sample of the variety of advertisements that have been created in this connection, their nature, claims and appeal. I will also provide some detail regarding the huge success that these advertisements have had and some of the probable reasons for this. Since the end of the Second World War the percentage number of adult male smokers has nearly halved, while the percentage number of adult female smokers has shown comparatively little variation. Therefore it is not surprising that the targeting of women, and particularly young women (who would be customers for longer), increased in prominence in tobacco advertising. The fact that the female market has grown in importance for the tobacco manufacturers is acknowledged by the industry. (Anonymous, 1983) 10 Although tobacco advertising was not intended for women initially, it was not unusual for women to be portrayed in cigarette advertisements designed to appeal to men.(78) The first advertisement in the United States showing a woman smoking appeared in 1919.(79) It is not clear when they first appeared in Australia, but certainly by the 1930s, advertisements showing women smoking and praising the qualities of tobacco were not uncommon. 11 The behaviour was reinforced by widespread smoking by movie heroines,(79) with screen idols such as Greta Garbo, Lana Turner, Betty Grable, Jean Harlow, Lauren Bacall, Bette Davis and Marlene Dietrich doing much to glamourise the image of smoking pre- and post-war. The tobacco manufacturers encouraged women to adopt smoking with promises of glamour and attractiveness, and reassurance that smoking was not only an appropriate but a desirable female behaviour. Advertisements aimed at women tended to boast of mildness of flavour, and featured pastel coloured and exotically tipped cigarettes in attractive tins that were designed to appeal to feminine tastes. The outbreak of the Second World War brought with it many social changes, and a further increase in womens smoking rates. In the United States smoking was portrayed by the tobacco industry as a gesture of patriotism, advertisements showing film stars in uniform smoking and simultaneously promoting war bonds. Over the decades the fashions altered, but otherwise little changed in cigarette advertising aimed at women. Smoking has been inextricably linked with perennially successful themes -- style, sex appeal, social distinction and more recently, professional success and emancipation. Probably, the worlds most famous womens brand is Virginia Slims, the clever promotions for which have paradoxically juxtaposed womens emancipation with womens enslavery to the desire for slimness (and of course, addiction). In Australia, a number of brands have been targeted specifically at women, especially Alpine, and the designer brands like St Moritz, Yves St Laurent, Cartier, Dunhill and Vogue. The clear interest of the tobacco industry in attracting women was evident from their high levels of advertising in womens magazines prior to the ban on advertising in magazines and newspapers which commenced on 28 December 1990. Cigarettes were consistently among the most advertised products, if not the most advertised product, among the most popular womens magazines. . Though the slogans have changed over time, the tobacco industrys targeted marketing of women can be traced back to the 1920s. While women were depicted in cigarette ads as non-smoking admirers of smoking men at first, by 1927 advertisements with women smoking began to appear in womens magazines. (Virginia, 1985) One of the most famous early cigarette advertising campaigns directed at women was Lucky Strikes "Reach for Lucky Instead of A Sweet." Despite the advent of targeted advertising, smoking among women did not really gain social acceptability until World War II. During that era, cigarette companies began to target women more directly, using the fashion, beauty, and sophistication themes that still continue today. The companies also used images of women in the military and the work place. For example, Camels ad slogan during World War II was "First in the Service" and highlighted successful women in the military. While these new advertising campaigns focused on womens growing role in the American workplace, they still portrayed smoking as a stylish and feminine act. This theme of smoking as a way of achieving independence, while at the same time remaining stylish and attractive (especially to men), became less popular after the war ended, but would later reappear. The Advent of Women-Specific Brands in the 1970s Cigarette company advertising continued to target women throughout the 1950s and 1960s, but the companies did not make a full-scale effort to expand the number of their female customers until the late 1960s. Realizing the impact that the womens liberation movement was having on the role of women in America, the tobacco companies began to create specific brands of cigarette for women. 12 With the introduction of Virginia Slims by Philip Morris in 1968, women became a major target of the tobacco industry. Cigarette ads for this brand depicted women as independent and successful with catchy tag lines such as the infamous "Youve Come A Long Way Baby." Like early ads targeted at women, these marketing efforts continued to portray female smoking as a way to express ones independence, as well as a way to be particularly stylish and sexy. 13 The Virginia Slims advertising theme has not changed much since its introduction. Philip Morris continued to market Virginia Slims using images of empowered women paired with "Youve Come A Long Way Baby" throughout the 1970s and 1980s. The copy on these ads usually focused on how womens lives had changed since the 1920s and 1930s, focusing on the new freedoms allowed to women. In the early 1990s, Philip Morris revamped the image of Virginia Slims with the "Its a Woman Thing" campaign. While these ad campaigns continued to suggest empowerment and attractiveness from smoking, the ad copy focused on how women are different than men. More recently, Virginia Slims launched the lavish "Find Your Voice" ad campaign, which featured strikingly beautiful women from around the world and suggested that independence and allure could be found by smoking. (Philip Morris chief executive in June 2000 agreed to remove the "Find Your Voice" slogan after being questioned in the landmark Florida smokers trial about whether it might be offensive to smokers with throat cancer.)4 From http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/qofm/0202/virginiaslims.html With the success of these marketing campaigns, the tobacco companies fully recognized the importance of women and girls as a key to their future success. For example, an internal R.J. Reynolds document stated that "Younger adult female smokers will continue to gain importance among [young adult] smokers due to their stronger incidence trend versus [young adult] male smokers.” (Reynolds, R.J., 1985) Six years after the introduction of Virginia Slims and other brands aimed at the female market, the smoking initiation rate of 12-year-old girls had increased by 110 percent. Increases among teenage girls of other ages were also substantial. (Pierce J.P., Lee L., Gilpin E.A., 1994) In the 1990s, the tobacco industry started tying their print advertising campaigns to a variety of promotional campaigns. These campaigns reinforced the image of smoking being stylish and sexy by offering free merchandise like clothing and CDs. Studies have shown that there is a direct relationship between the awareness of and involvement with promotional items and smoking initiation by youth. (Pierce J. et al, 1998) Cigarette Company Targeting of Women and Girls Today The cigarette companies continue to target women using the same themes in their advertising. The image of smoking being tied to independence, stylishness, weight control, sophistication and power continues today in the advertisements running in many popular womens magazines. There are now two main types of cigarettes marketed to women, female brands and dual sex brands. Female brands, like Virginia Slims, Capri and Misty, are marketed directly to women using feminine images. Dual sex brands, like Marlboro and Camel, are marketed to women with independent and fun-loving imagery. 14 Female-specific brands continue to play an important role in the cigarette companies marketing strategies. Recent female-brand marketing campaigns continue to portray the image that women are empowered by smoking and Virginia Slims continues to be the most popular female specific brand among women. (SAMHSA, 1999) From the Camel ads of the forties, with images of female pilots and copy lines like "Theyve Got What it Takes!," to the recent Virginia Slims campaign telling women to "Find Your Voice," the tobacco companies have continued to target women and girls with their deadly and addictive product. In the United States, smoking rates among males and females in high school are almost equal (34.7 for males and 34.9 for females), and more than 20 percent of adult women are current smokers. (CDCP, 2000) Conclusion Women and Sex: A Heady Mix? Women and Sex are the two most prominent imageries used in advertisements to sell products. Why do advertisers do this? Advertisements are created to conform to assumptions about consumers who are viewing the advertisement or purchasing the product. Ads are also often created to appeal to a particular social class or a specific sex. Thus, advertisements that feature women specifically, or women and sexual images in combination are often targeted at men15. It is presumed that these images are extremely desirable to men and associating them will the product will create strong responses in the consumer’s mind. Thus, it may operate on two levels; when a product such as a perfume is marketed in such a manner, repeated suggestion provokes the customer to think that using that particular product will enhance his sexual attractiveness or alternately, the images shown are so provocative that they remain embedded in the mind, in turn helping brand recognition. While images of attractive women, promising seduction are widely understood to be aimed at men, it is also the case that they have no less an impact on women. While such advertisements make a promise to the male customer, women viewing these advertisements are led to believe that these are the standards of approval that one must attain. Thus, to forever look good, smell exotic and appear smart or seductive- these are the messages that women read from such advertisements. Advertisements and Reality Do advertisements just reflect the real world around us or does it influence and shape it? Are the images projected through advertisements and movies understood as manipulated creations or as authentic social experiences? In any case, why are women portrayed in the way they are? While I would say that the answers to the first two questions are equally divided between the options that they offer, the answer to the third question is the flaming torch that drives our enquiry into finding why are women so much oppressed as well as unnaturally and negatively portrayed. It is also important to ask about the effects that constant exposure to these advertisements produce in women, the manner in which it affects their self-perception and self-esteem. It is equally important to understand the way in which these portrayals influence the perception of women by society and men in particular, since the latter are the specific binary against which women are set up as well as expected to live up to. So far, this paper has ventured into, as had been mentioned in the introduction, two aspects of advertising in its depiction of women: the ways in which the representation of women has changed in the life of the industry over the last century, and if the underlying perception of the industry about women in general as reflected in the ads has undergone a transformation. The roles a woman dons in advertisements have greatly varied, and obviously so, according as the social scenario that has governed each era: the clothes she wears, the relationship she has with every aspect of her surroundings, her attitude, her nature vis-a-vis her femininity and her relationship with men and society in general. From the corset-wearing frail, delicate lady to the first step into the office-space to the soldier on the battlefield to the party-goer to the independent individual of today; her clothes, her manners, her being- everything has changed. At least as far as our knowledge of her from the advertisements goes. The second question is that of the underlying perception of woman as an entity. Before a point in conclusion is made about this, I would like to point towards an interesting phenomenon. In popular discourse worldwide concerning women and their independence as individuals, there is still a comparison with men that figures prominently. This is not to say that nobody has avoided such a comparison; most of women’s literature goes beyond this. However, even educated women use this comparison as a premise in their argument and emphasis on independence of women. This was also the premise employed in advertising for a long time until very recently. The present advertising scenario has changed a lot, and so has the outlook of advertising professionals. As the current intellectual discussion on the issues concerning women finds its way into the popular sphere, one can expect changes like the one this question seeks to look at, to mature and find their place in the media as well. Reference Anderson, Arnold E., Di Domenico, Lisa. (1992). Diet Vs. Shape Content of Popular Male and Female Magazines: A Dose-Response Relationship to the Incidence of Eating Disorders? International Journal of Eating Disorders 11, no. 3, pp. 283-287. Anonymous. 1983 April. Targeting the female smoker. Tobacco Reporter. 44-45. Bartos, Rena. (2000). Women as an Advertising Target: An International Overview. International Advertising: Realities and Myths. Ed. John Philip Jones. p. 103-115. California: Sage Publications. Brownmiller, Susan. (1984). Femininity. New York: Fawcett Columbine. Ernster, Virginia. (July 1985). Mixed Messages for Women. 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