Underline the key terms
Compare how representations reflect the time in which adverts are made. Refer to the Tide print advert you have studied and the Dove advert you have been provided with
Knee jerk reaction
The representation of women in advertising has changed dramatically over time, in terms of representations of ethnicity, sexualisation, and the idea of hegemonic attractiveness
Plan
Layout
Pick and mix identity
Stuart Hall
Stereotypes
Postcolonialism
Van Zoonen
Feminism
Bell Hooks
Male gaze
Intersectional feminism
Judith Butler
Gender performativity
Dress codes
Sexualisation
Genre
Conventions
Representation
Parasocial relationships
Lexis
Hyperreality
Polysemy
Modes of address
Mise en scene
Intertextuality
Comic
Romance
Cultivation
Uses and grats
Slogan
Target audience
The Z line rule
Direct mode of address
Sans serif font
Mid shot
Older vs younger audiences
Race
Diversity
Diverse target audience
International audience
White backgrounds
Binary oppositions
Introduction
DAC - definition, argument, context
Representation refers to the re-presentation of an event, issues, places, or a group of people. Representations reconstruct reality, and representations always reflect the ideology of the producer. Producers will encode their ideology in representations to position them in a variety of different ways. In this essay, I shall argue that the representation of women have dramatically changed over time, from the stereotypical , simple and straightforward representations of the 1950s to the more complex and perhaps empowering representations of now. I shall also argue that representations demonstrate inequalities of power, and that women in many ways are still represented as subordinate. In order to explore this idea, I shall be referring to The Tide Advert, produced by Procter and Gamble in the 1950s in America, and the Dove Soap advert.
Paragraphs
PEA - Point, evidence, argument
Paragraph examples/discussion/etc here
Sexualisation ‘ one way in which the representation of women have completely changed over time is through the respective difference in sexualisation in these adverts
Postcolonialism and the use of the colour white
Hegemonic representations of female beauty
Lexis and genre conventions
Examples
The MES of the white costumes constructs a binary opposition between clothing and the women themselves. This reinforces exactly how revealing these costumes are, and constructs not only a highly sexualised representation of women, but also constructs a fetishistic mode of address. This sexualisation is a classic example of the male gaze, and confirms that sex and hegemonically attractive women have always been used to sell products
The MES of costume in each advert is radically different, and constructs wholly different representations of women . For example in the Tide advert, the housewife is wearing the MES of a stereotypically girly, feminine white dress. This costume is stereotypical of 1950s house wives, and is symbolic of the hegemonically clean and pristine image that was seen as being desirable. Anchored with the MES of her heavy makeup and the iconography of her practical yet stylish haircut, a highly conservative representative representation of women is constructed. This straightforward representation would appeal to the 50s American target audience, by cultivating certain ideological perspectives.
Contemporary audiences would identify the genre conventions of propaganda, which are designed to encode a patriotic mode of address.