Analysis & Interpretation: The Representation of Women

Although ‘femvertising’ does aim to empower women and girls by representing them in natural, healthy and complex ways. Throughout history advertisers have created narrow and dangerous beauty standards which are unrealistic. ‘Femvertising’ aims to complicate these standards with honest representations of women to capture the female experience. Advertisers can do so by presenting the female body and its entirety; featuring and casting diverse models. In addition, women should be shown in active positions rather than passive and should not be over-sexualised or objectified. However, it is important to understand the core motivation of ‘femvertising’ like advertising is to sell a product. Visual and rhetorical research suggests that the campaigns explored for Always, Dove and L’Oréal reflect realistic, complex and empowering representations of women and girls.

A stipulation of ‘femvertising’ is that the advertisement features real women, this questions what advertisers used before. Models underwent high levels of editing to produce an inauthentic unrealistic outcome. An example of this can be seen in Dove’s 2006 campaign “Evolution,” where a young woman who was pretty, even by narrow traditional standards is made-up for a photo-shoot, only to be completely edited and altered in post-production. Because the nature of this advertisement is to reveal the flaws in media’s standard creative practices, the advertisement still relies heavily on representation. The model who is tall and thin, white, with blonde hair and blue eyes is not pushing the limits of what is beautiful and is not a profound casting choice in an effort to increase minority representations in the media and yet, Dove claims to be critiquing the very standards they are perpetuating. Essentially, “Evolution” separates Dove from their contemporaries and acts as a pledge of transparency to their customers. Dove’s later advertisements allow them to execute the agenda set forth by “Evolution” by diversifying their casting and highlighting women’s natural beauty rather than relying on post-production retouching.

In 2013 the “Real Beauty Sketches” were released this aimed to show women and a female audience they are more beautiful than they may think. A sketch artist drew portraits of a diverse group of women, of varying race, age, ethnicity and body types. The first was based on a description of themselves the other on a description of them given by another. The results revealed portraits based on another person’s perspective were brighter accurate and less critical. These were real average women which allows the audience to relate directly to the women on screen rather than as their unrealistic standard. Arguably despite the strength of the advertisement the video strays from female empowerment, toward the end the advertisement narrator reads “We spend a lot of time as women analysing and trying to fix the things that aren’t right and should spend more time appreciating the things we do like.” This is an empowering quote however; it is paired with a woman in the arms of a man implying romantic relationships deserve more focus than self-love. Overall the message, “You are more beautiful than you think,” is recognisable although the diversion from the empowerment of women by bringing a man into focus is reflective of advertisers reverting back to classic representations of male-female relationships.

Dove’s Real Beauty Campaign featuring an ensemble cast allows for apparent racial diversity as well as visual representation of female support and companionship. All the women are in white clothing highlighting diverse skin tones but also redefining what it means to be sexy in an advertisement. These women are nearly but not quite nude and staring directly into the camera smiling confronting the ‘male gaze’ by shifting the intended purpose of their sexuality. Their existence is not validated by the pleasure experience of the male viewer. This allows Dove as a brand to remain in the idea that “sex sells,” however also as a brand Dove present themselves to champion ‘real women’ and female agency as it relates to body confidence and sexuality. However, irony lies in Dove’s assertation that every woman is beautiful in their own right but are also continuing to assign women’s worth based on superficial beauty and nearly nude bodies. Dove as a brand have sought to question harsh beauty standards and the casting of diverse models was essential to do so. However, ‘femvertising’ can focus on female behaviour and not just appearance.  

Always’ first attempt at ‘femvertising came in 2013 with the release of ‘Like A Girl’ aiming to re-appropriate the phrase. The phrase has been used in conjunction to connote incapability, a non-competitive nature, weakness and preoccupation on aesthetics like nails and hair.  This advertisement was produced and based on a social experiment they asked mostly women of all ages but also one man and a boy to throw, fight and run ‘like a girl’. This experiment also highlighted the drop-in self-esteem that occurs around puberty. When a little girl was asked, “What does it mean to run like a girl?” she replied, “It means run as fast as you can.” This provokes consideration amongst the audience regarding the sudden drop in confidence most girls face during puberty, prompting a shift in behaviours but also evolves the representation of women in the media. This advertisement alongside their follow up video “Unstoppable” features women who represent the average view as opposed to an unrealistic retouched standard of beauty.

The women in this campaign are not actresses or models, instead they are of diverse backgrounds and body types. They are also shown as their full selves, whole bodies are shown and not sexualised in any way. Women are also displayed in active positions, running, throwing or punching etc and have the opportunity to look directly into the camera. The advertisement promotes a sense of community from women drawing upon a collective narrative whilst providing them agency. There is no doubting ‘femvertising’ has created a shift in female representation within mainstream media.

Brands are either attempting to broaden the representations of women in media because they recognise narrow unrealistic beauty standards are damaging to women’s self-confidence and mental health. On the other hand, broadened representations of women in media may be an approach to increase brand loyalty among consumers and to commodify popularity and engagement of third and fourth wave movement. Although the ambiguity of a brand utilising motive ‘femvertising’ does not necessarily detract from the campaigns’ contribution to diversifying female representation.