The new face(s) of femininity in advertising
The intended purpose of advertising is to persuade. Advertisers want to convince you to buy their product, otherwise they essentially are failing at their jobs. But, with how much our culture has changed in the past decade, are they still in touch with their audience?
A 2018 study done on the Changing Portrayal of Women in Print Advertising referred to culture as the "the collective programming of mind" (Yazdanparast et al., 2018) leaning heavily on social learning theory, this analysis says that advertisements are a mirror of our culture, reflecting the values, lives and the ways we interact with each other. However, it goes on further to say that this is more likely a pseudo example of our culture. Meaning advertisements are not factual representations of our lives, but images that have been deemed acceptable that have been imposed on us.
With how many things that use to be considered uncommon or immoral, like gay marriage, men wearing make-up, etcetera, are now widely accepted and celebrated in today’s culture, more and more advertisers starting to use unconventional images of feminine roles. In a 2018 Article on Advertising (In)Equality: the Impact of Sexist Advertising on Women’s Health and Wellbeing called this marketing shift towards more progressive ads a “a clear case for business change” (2018) and that “the use of gender stereotypes and sexualized advertising portrayals is increasingly the focus of consumer concern -particularly among women- and this can create negative brand perceptions and reduce purchase intentions.” (2018)
In the first part of my gender exhibit I most focused on how advertisers were still using gender stereotypes and gender language to sell products. In this second half of my exhibit I am focusing on how advertisers are accepting and using new cultural norms and standards in their advertisements. Particularly when it comes to displays of femininity, which historically have been a women-centric ideal and usually only depicted by women. As you will see by the end of this exhibit, the idea of femininity has changed, since gender is more something we do and learn rather than an inherent behavior we have, these new depictions of femininity include a push towards body positivity, diversity, LBGTQ+ awareness and in some case do not include women at all.
Femininity and transgender women
This recently released holiday ad for Pantene,in collaboration with GLAAD, follows trans-gendered individuals as they go home for the holidays. This ad is not only a poignant reminder about kindness and acceptance, but also shows how powerful acts of femininity can be. One person interviewed said that her hair (because Pantene is a hair care company after all) was her strength, her femininity. This isn't the first ad partnership Pantene has done with GLAAD, in June, for pride month, the company also featured a trans-gendered women in where she claimed that looking at her long hair was like "looking at the person inside" her. These campaigns are not only bringing awareness to the LBGTQ+ community and normalizing using trans-gendered individuals in mainstream ad campaigns, but it is also showing that femininity isn't as cut and dry as it once was thought to be. Something as simple as having long, lustrous hair, can mean the world to someone in transition.
Nontraditional Family Roles
Campbell's #reallife ad depicted two gay men and their son enjoying a bowl of soup together. Traditionally, this image would be of a heterosexual man and a women but as we learned in our book, there are more than two-million children being raised by one or more gay parent and that one of the ways that the media impacts us is how it regulates gender, where in that nontraditional families are grossly underrepresented. Media has been proven to shape our views and attitudes about gender, even thought this ad wasn't met without some backlash, Campbell's is moving in the right direction reflecting the "new" normalcy of family.
Feminine is more than just a pretty face
The latest campaign from Pharrell and Adidas is titled Now Is Her Time, features model Isabela Rangel Grutman, who breastfeeds her baby (an image that also was displayed throughout their stores nationwide) this campaign speaks volumes to how the tides are turning towards more realistic and body positive images that are being used in advertising. Representing more than just diversity, it shows all the aspects of how a woman can be beautiful. Breastfeeding is beautiful. Pregnancy is beautiful. Women shouldn't be shamed for for either (or their consequences like stretch marks). This ad is the knife in the back of the over-sexualized typical images we see of women in ads.
Feminine Diversity
In this ad for L'Oreal's launch of "True Match" foundation they chose to campaign for diversity. Depicting in their ads a wide rang of ethnicity's, abilities, ages and for the first time ever for the company a man. Minorities, WOC, and differently-abled individuals are another group that is grossly unrepresented in advertising and media.
Breaking the feminine stereotype.
Jaden Smith, pictured here in this 2016 Prada 'woman wear' ad, is no stranger to dressing in women's clothing. He is not however, a man transitioning, or a "drag queen" he is just a man who enjoys wearing woman's clothing here and there. A self-proclaimed pan sexual, when he was asked about why he like wearing women's clothing so much, he said "he just did". He wants to be a role model for children, who may or may not be nonconforming, to comfortable wearing what they what. He is breaking stereotypical gender norms and becoming a great representative of gender fluid individuals.
Femininity is more than just women
In 2016 make-up mogul CoverGirl announced that their highly anticipated new CoverGirl, wasn't a girl at all, but YouTube superstar James Charles, making him the first ever male CoverGirl for the company and the brand broke so many barriers with this campaign. Not only did they present that just because a product has historically been marketed towards women, that doesn't mean that the product is ONLY used by women. Challenging the heteronormative belief that only heterosexuality is normal, as well as challenges our culture to accept that the practice of femininity has more than just one face so to speak.
A push for authenticity
Another campaign push for realism in advertising. The "This Girl Can" by Sport England launched this real world inspired marketing campaign to make exercise and being healthy approachable for the average woman. In the world of exercise and sports, ads are plastered with fit, scantily clad women, which we have learned can be internalized and distort our perception of ourselves. Especially in a medium like advertising where images tend to be repetitive. This campaign challenges the stereotype of the "ideal" woman. The ads show a wide range of diverse women ranging in size, age and ethnicity. The boost in sales that the company has had since the launch of "This Girl Can" proves that the modern day women wants a more realistic vision of themselves being portrayed in advertisements and not the status-quo typically used.
Yazdanparast, A., Naderi, I., Spears, N., & Fabrize, R. O. (2018). Advertising and Pseudo-Culture: An Analysis of the Changing Portrayal of Women in Print Advertisements. Journal of Macromarketing, 38(2), 185–205. https://doi-org.ezproxy.lib.uwf.edu/10.1177/0276146718762475
Advertising (In)Equality: The Impacts of Sexist Advertising on Women’s Health and Wellbeing. (2018).
Women’s Health Issues Paper, (14), 1–40. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.lib.uwf.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ccm&AN=134761320&site=eds-live