Gender in Advertising

Gender identity is for the most part socially constructed with ideology manifesting whilst reinforced and sustained by representations. Images, advertisements and the media have the power to change a person’s perspective, both how society is viewed and how an audience view themselves. (Rajagopal, 2002) Advertising has been influential and uses language, image, and representation to construct and persuasively reflect the audience and shape perceived reality in an attempt to sway purchasing decisions. (Slachmuijlder, 2000) However, the profit driving process sometimes leads to women being misrepresented by stereotypes and unrealistic standards.

An example of a way in which advertising contributes to harmful stereotypes is by portraying women as objects often by way of body cropping. “Visually, women a represented in parts. They are fragments, not whole beings. The person is lost.” (Andersen, 2002) Women in advertisements are valued for their physical appearance and portrayed without personalities and identities. Women’s value becomes what they have to offer men surrounding them placing a female subordinate to a male. Advertisers often dismember and objectify women’s bodies. Although the fragmentation of women contributes to the hyper-sexualisation of body parts. (Andersen, 2002) For example, advertisements for shoes often show fetishized shots of women’s legs which are parts associated with male desire and mostly shown from the perspective of the male gaze. (Andersen, 2002)

The male gaze concept was developed by Laura Mulvey and describes the process of putting both male and female audience members in the role of the hegemonic, heterosexual male. The confinement of women to stereotypes is a more obvious expression of the power relations between the men and women within advertisements. (Eisend) Women, as the receivers of the gaze, are displayed as sexualized objects both for the characters within the film and for the audience members 20 watching from behind the safety of the camera. Over time females have adopted the male gaze as well by seeing their own worth and bodies from a critical perspective. (Shields, 2002) In the beauty and fashion industry it is particularly common to portray unrealistic exaggerated female bodies in advertisements but can be seen in other industries as well. These representations create low-self-esteem among women by creating unrealistic perspectives women will never be satisfied by their appearance. ‘Perfect’ as defined by the media realistically speaking promotes an unattainable standard. Advertising campaigns define the attractive woman as, tall, thin, tanned and with flawless skin both male and females internalise this expectation without the knowledge that most advertising images undergo extreme photoshopping. (Rajagopal, 2002)

Men in advertisements are often portrayed as active such as playing sport, making a phone call or driving, an act that denotes a goal and purpose. On the other hand women in the same advertisement may be presented as an object of purpose or a prize. (Shields, 2002) Another visual representation of the power relationship can be expressed as men look directly into the camera while women around them shift their gaze away, allowing scopophilia unchallenged to continue. (Rajagopal, 2002) Women in advertisements are often confined to the attention of men as a sex or beauty symbol or as the stereotypical mother and housewife duties such as cooking or cleaning. However, some progressive advertisements may feature a professional women in power but this does not necessarily translate to the actual progress of female representations. However, some progressive advertisements may feature a professional woman in power, but this does not necessarily translate the actual progress of female representations because the working woman conforms to traditional beauty standards. (Shields, 2002)

It is known “sex sells” but at what point does objectifying women become an ethical dilemma? John Alan Cohan has discussed three ethical issues in stereotyping and commodifying women for profit. The first being the portrayal of women as needy childish, vulnerable and in need of male guidance. The second involves the creation of unattainable beauty standards with which women have to contend. The third concern is the manner in which a woman’s sexuality is displayed. (Cohan, 2001) Cohan suggests ethically advertisers have a responsibility to portray women in ways that recognise their intrinsic value and can be achieved without sacrificing sex appeal or profit. One of Cohan’s practical solutions is for advertisers to cast models that better represent society through various races, weights, sizes and ages. (Cohan, 2001)

Historically throughout advertising women have been objectified and sexualised. 'Femvertising' does challenge this by incorporating a more diverse cast of woman in their entirety. This is inclusive of being active and rebelling against the 'male gaze' and confronting the camera directly. It is essential to understand the past and how women have been represented previously to fully consider the shift 'femvertising' has created.