A woman rushes across the screen, cleaning the floor with the latest “turbo power 3”
multifunction vacuum cleaner, feeds her baby with the new and improved baby formula
and marvels at her almost blindingly clean dishes, then turns to the camera with a
smile on her face that suggests she could not imagine a more satisfying life. This
description might sound a little old fashioned and restricting, but it is commonly
conveyed to us through advertising, even today. Is this truly the concept we have of
modern women? Has not the women’s movement brought about more change than just
in legal status? As advertising is one of the most powerful educational mediums in
modern society, the image of women it conveys is not only quite interesting, but also of
great importance. There is such an overload of advertising surrounding us; we’re
bombarded daily with a vast amount on the radio, TV, online, on billboards, in
magazines, even on the most common things like a pen—there is no way to escape its
influence. Advertising’s key objective is making money; selling an image of perfection to
consumers makes great business sense, because it sends people on a never-ending
quest, trying to achieve the impossible, all the while spending endless amounts of
money. Advertising does not only sell a product, but, through stereotyped characters,
also provides us with an exemplary way of life. The concepts of beauty, love, and normalcy it promotes, might have changed in the course of 40 years, but the central
message remains the same, “you have to buy this or otherwise you will be
unacceptable”. It seems that in the 21st century, women’s emancipation is an issue that should long
since have been checked off the list as accomplished. The great effect of the feminist movement, with better educated, working women, participating in every aspect of life, is undeniable, yet the
influence it has had on advertising’s portrayal of women remains questionable. Have
stereotypes been banished, did they evolved or maybe even stay the same? The focus
is on the 1950s and the 1990s as representative decades for the pre-and post-feminist
attitudes, in order to explore the truth of advertising and finally be able to answer the
question: does advertising’s image of women match their place in society?
Table of Contents
I. Introduction
II. Women’s Position in Society: American Social History
1. First-Wave Feminism: Women Gain the Right to Vote
2. Second-Wave Feminism: The Personal Becomes Political
3. Third-Wave Feminism: Finally Diversity
III. Comparison of the Portrayal of Women in Advertising Campaigns of the 1950s and the 1990s
1. The Power of Advertising
2. In Search of Stereotypes: Advertising of the 1950s
2.1 A Woman’s Worth: Beauty Etiquette and Proper Femininity
2.2 Women Portrayed as Inferior to Men
2.3 Women as Decorative Objects
2.4 Women Portrayed as Housewives and Mothers
2.5 Exclusively White
3. Constructive Criticism
4. The Old New Thing: Advertising of the 1990s
4.1 Sky-High Beauty Ideal
4.2 Women in Relation to Men
4.3 Oversexed and Underage
4.4 Housewife Turned Superwoman
4.5 Diversity
IV. Conclusion
V. Appendix
A. Print Advertisements
B. Bibliography
Objectives and Topics
This paper examines the evolution of gender roles in American society by comparing the portrayal of women in advertising campaigns from the 1950s and the 1990s. It aims to determine whether the advancements achieved by the three waves of feminism are reflected in how women are depicted in media, specifically analyzing whether advertising has moved beyond traditional stereotypes.
- The historical development of First, Second, and Third-Wave feminism.
- The strategic use of stereotypes in 1950s advertising to reinforce the "suburban housewife" ideal.
- The impact of sexual revolution and feminist ideology on advertising in the 1990s.
- The persistence of beauty standards, objectification, and the "superwoman" persona.
- The role of diversity and the inclusion of minorities in contemporary advertising.
Excerpt from the Book
2.3 Women as Decorative Objects
Men in the 1950s adored women not for their brains, but for their beauty; women therefore did everything in their power to keep their beauty alive and thriving. Beautiful women presented an “eye-catcher” in any advertisement. “Sex sells” has become a popular idea in the late 20th century, but "sexual content in mass media has been around as long as mass media itself’’53. Commonly the product has nothing to do with women, nudity or sex, but still, women’s bodies are used to sell everything from shoe polish to trucks. Figure 5 (see: Appendix A, p. 28) shows a woman barely covered by fur, advertising Griffin Microsheen shoe polish. Her breasts are the first focal point of the advertisement, which sparks interest in the male observer and leaves him trying to locate the product that promises him this lady in reward for purchase. The text written on a scroll, which she holds in her hand reads her New Year’s resolution, to “Trap me a man with a Microsheen Shine!“ again enforcing the idea that any male who will use this product is the object of the attractive female’s desire. In an International Truck54 advertisement that ran during the 1940s and 50s, a young Marilyn Monroe look-alike in a bathing suit is pictured above the yellow company truck, holding a Coca-Cola bottle. The text reads “the girl delivers the message, Internationals deliver the goods”, making it clear that the woman is only used to convey the product’s excellence with her beauty. Her playful facial expression resonates innocence and plays on sexuality at the same time, making her attractive to a male audience and giving females the feeling that this is the appropriate way for them to look and act. Using a woman as a decorative object gives the impression that her character is subordinate to her outward appearance.
Summary of Chapters
I. Introduction: Presents the research focus on the evolution of women's portrayal in advertising from the 1950s to the 1990s and states the core question of whether media imagery matches women's current societal status.
II. Women’s Position in Society: American Social History: Outlines the progression of the three waves of feminism in the US, highlighting the shift from legal suffrage to the "personal is political" approach and the emergence of diverse perspectives.
III. Comparison of the Portrayal of Women in Advertising Campaigns of the 1950s and the 1990s: Analyzes the structural changes and continuity in advertising strategies, contrasting the conservative domestic stereotypes of the 50s with the complex and often contradictory images of the 90s.
IV. Conclusion: Summarizes the findings, noting that while women's social status has improved, advertising persists in using stereotypes to maintain sales, necessitating a more multifaceted and realistic representation of women.
V. Appendix: Contains a compilation of historical print advertisements and a bibliography supporting the analysis of gender roles in media.
Keywords
Feminism, Advertising, Gender Roles, Stereotypes, 1950s, 1990s, Emancipation, Women's Movement, Consumerism, Body Image, Objectification, Media Representation, Third-Wave Feminism, Social History, Equality.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the core subject of this paper?
The paper explores the representation of women in American advertising, comparing the 1950s and 1990s to understand how societal shifts regarding gender equality are reflected—or ignored—by the advertising industry.
What are the primary themes discussed?
The central themes include the influence of feminist movements on media, the historical persistence of gender stereotypes, the objectification of women, and the evolving beauty standards in American culture.
What is the main research question?
The primary question is: Does advertising's image of women match their actual place in society, and have gender stereotypes been banished, evolved, or remained the same over the decades?
What scientific methodology is applied?
The author uses a historical and sociological approach, conducting a comparative analysis of advertisements from two representative decades (the 1950s and 1990s) in conjunction with an overview of American social history and feminist theory.
What aspects of the 1990s are covered in the main section?
The main section investigates the 1990s through the lenses of the "sky-high" beauty ideal, the changing relationship between men and women in marketing, the rise of hypersexualization, the emergence of the "superwoman" archetype, and the increasing focus on diversity.
Which keywords best characterize this work?
The work is characterized by terms such as feminism, gender roles, media representation, advertising, stereotypes, and social history.
How did 1950s advertising utilize stereotypes compared to the 1990s?
In the 1950s, advertising strictly reinforced the "suburban housewife" and "decorative object" roles. By the 1990s, while some advertisements adopted pro-feminist language, the industry often replaced those with new, complex stereotypes like the hypersexualized "femme fatale" or the "superwoman."
What is the significance of the "personal is political" concept in this research?
This concept, central to second-wave feminism, serves as the bridge for explaining how the fight for legal equality moved into the private sphere and, subsequently, how that shift challenged the domestic stereotypes commonly used in early advertisements.
- Quote paper
- Gesa Biermann (Author), 2009, Stereotypes Galore! Women’s Emancipation as Reflected in Advertising, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.hausarbeiten.de/document/164821
