2.2 Women in advertising and the media
2.3.2 Roles and stereotypes of women in advertising and the media
advertising.
To sum up, although women are depicted in modern-day advertising campaigns as more independent, more self-confident and more emphatica, one can say that women in advertising are still restricted to subordinated, operating, passive, decorating, aesthetic or provocative roles. Unfortunately, this kind of representation
170 cf. Barletta (2006), p. 19
171 cf. Courtney/Lockeretz (1971), p. 92ff.
172 cf. Putrevu (2001), p. 4
173 cf. Furnham/Farragher (2000), p. 418ff.
174 cf. Holtz-Bacha (2011), w.p.
in no way corresponds to the actual range of roles, activities, tasks, interests and abilities exerted by women.175
Environment/setting
It is necessary to state that over the years a lot of different studies with various statements have evolved. On the one hand, studies have showed women in a private setting about one-third of the time, while on the other hand, some studies have defined women in private settings in up to 60 % of the advertisements analysed.
However, it seems that men are depicted much less in private settings. In several cases women are depicted in the kitchen or in the bathroom.176 177 178 Besides this, both men and women are almost equally portrayed in leisure settings.179 A main aspect is that it is possibly cultural differences that have huge effect on whether or not men and women are represented in private settings. Examples such as studies carried out in Hong Kong and Taiwan which show smaller differences between females and males depicted in private settings.180
Authority
Currently, advertising messages about women show that they even make more significant decisions or do essential things compared to years ago.181 182 However, Furnham and Paltzer (2010) state that, on the one hand, men are more likely to be voice-overs with regard to the representation in advertising and the media, and on the other hand, there is not that much of a difference between males and females.183 To complement this statement, it is useful to consider Mager and Helgeson (2011) who define more closely that women are still highly dependent on their male counterparts and are in need of men´s protection.184 Additionally, men increasingly see women as sexual objects. These days even, the advertising sector represents women as kind of sexual object for the male graze.185
175 cf. Holtz-Bacha (2011), p. 104f.
176 cf. Bergler (1992), p. 32
177 cf. Furnham/Paltzer (2010), p.221
178 cf. Furnham/Paltzer (2010), p.222
179 cf. Furnham/Paltzer (2010), p.221
180 cf. Furnham/Paltzer (2010), p.222
181 cf. Mager/Helgeson (2011), p. 248
182 cf. Whipple/Courtney (1980), p. 53
183 cf. Furnham/Paltzer (2010), p.217
184 cf. Mager/Helgeson (2011), p. 248
185 cf. Mager/Helgeson (2011), p. 248
According to Kang (1997), the representation of women in advertisements is often
“weak, childish, dependent, domestic, irrational and subordinated.”186
An example that illustrates this is women are not represented as much in advertising campaigns for financial services or building material. Reasons given for this are that women are not deemed competent enough to present such products and as a consequence thereof, they are not really seen as reliable when advertising such products. In other words, if women are represented in advertising campaigns it is necessary that the woman inserted in such an advertisement fits to the advertised product of being able to attract customers in a positive way.187188
To sum up, on average men depicted in advertising and in the media are more likely to be in an executive position and women are often portrayed in instructed situations.
However, the trend towards equality increasingly leads to a decreasing tendency of males in an executive situation and females in an instructed position. In other words, women and men in the media and in advertising are depicted more and more equally sharing different roles. Although one can see balanced female and male roles with regard to various functions, it is necessary to mention that with regard to the sexual representation of gender in advertising, women are not equated with men. This means that women are in many cases represented in ritualised subordinate positions and men are often depicted in superior situations.189
Age
Although the actual age distribution shows a trend that the overall population is getting older, meaning, there are increasingly older people than younger ones190, older women in advertising are highly underrepresented. In general, marketing - and advertising experts differentiate between women under 30 years, women between 31 and 50 years, and those over 50 years. With regard to the representation of women in advertising and the media most females depicted are in the youngest age group. In focussing particularly on the portrayal of women in Austrian television advertisements, 60 % of women in each study are in the younger group.191 Women
186 Kang (1997), p. 981
187 cf. Bergler (1992), 32-33
188 cf. Furnham/Mak (1999), p. 415 ff.
189 cf. Mager/Helgeson (2011), p. 248
190 cf.
http://www.statistik.at/web_de/statistiken/bevoelkerung/bevoelkerungsstruktur/bevoelkerung_nach_alt er_geschlecht/023427.html
191 cf. Furnham/Paltzer (2010), p.219
often lose their utility after the age of thirty-five, meaning, the existence of women represented in television spots is highly due to their function in representing youth and beauty. Men in advertisements, however, are often portrayed in the ages between 35 and 49 years, where, as for them, age is associated with wisdom and being distinguished.192
Contrarily, more and more companies have recently come to ignore the dominating cult of youth with regard to women in advertising and they rely on the persuasive power of women over 40 years. Reasons given for this are that this kind of target group is educated, their lives run in fixed and regulated pathways and they have a greater budget at their disposal for their own consumption as their children are in most cases adults. An example that illustrates advertising campaigns directed at older female customers is the so-called ProAge-campaign by Dove where women from the age of 50 years and over are represented. In particular, older women are inserted nearly naked to advertise Dove´s various body-care products. This kind of depiction should show that older women are still beautiful despite of their grey hair and wrinkles.193
Mental health
According to Bergler (1992), if advertising campaigns demonstrate health problems, women are increasingly inserted. They deal efficiently with tired legs, headache, hoarseness or mental problems by using the right medicine.194 In particular, advertising campaigns often carry out their promotions using women who advertise for promising recipes that help to deal with the problem of cellulitis or for lotions, masks or other kinds of preparations to effectively cope with daily stress.195 In addition to this, women in advertising and the media are often depicted with diet products.196
Eroticisation
Initially, it is necessary to mention that eroticisation with regard to the topic of women in advertising and the media is highly related to sex-appeal. Chapters 2.1.4 and 2.1.4.1 delve into furhter detail about the definition, constitution, function, as well
192 cf. Davis (1990), p. 330
193 cf. Bissell/Rask (2010), p. 646
194 cf. Bergler (1992), p. 33
195 cf. Tschernookoff (1993) in Assig, p. 95
196 cf. Hill (2002), w.p.
as the effects and acceptance of the term in the context of women in advertising and the media.
Generally spoken, the time-period since 1955 - the time of prudish post-war - and now, was a time where society had been highly sexualised for years. This period is subjected to extreme changes with regard to erotically represented women in advertising. Since the 1960´-s, almost every product was combined with the female sex to increase sales.197 Even today, it seems that there still has not been much that has changed in this regard.198 In other words, it is highly uncommon to view any television spots, whether in programmes, commercials or any magazine pictures, without scantily dressed or undressed women.199
In addition to this, the results Mager and Helgeson (2011) present in their publication
“Fifty Years of Advertising Images: Some Changing Perspectives on Role Portrayals Along with Enduring Consistencies” are noteworthy: they evaluate portrayals of women and men in magazine advertisements from 1950 to 2000 and show that stronger focus has been documented on the female body than on the male one in advertising campaigns.200 Moreover, women are more frequently represented as naked or scantily dressed than men. However, although the role of women in society has changed and an on-going critical discussion around sexism still takes place, next to the number of erotic depictions of women in advertising, their sexual laxity has also increased over the years.201
Equating products with women
Women are often equated or compared to particular products, meaning, that women often advertise for products that usually fit and are a necessity for the target group of woman. An example to illustrate this is women who frequently advertise products in cosmetics, body-care, home-ware, and household appliances. Besides this, they represent ladies underwear, clothes and shoes, washing- and cleaning powders, watches and jewellery, as well as, sweets and coffee.202203204
197 cf. Schmerl (1992), p. 20
198 cf. Mager/Helgeson (2011), p. 248ff.
199 cf. Zimmerman (2008), p. 71
200 cf. Mager/Helgeson (2011), p. 249
201 cf. Moser (1997), p. 46, 49
202 cf. Bergler (1992), 32-33
203 cf. Furnham/Mak (1999), p. 415 ff.
204 cf. Ganahl (2003), p. 549ff.
The study “the portrayal of men and women in television advertisements: an updated review of 30 studies published since 2000” by Furnham and Paltzer (2010), shows that women are much more often portrayed representing body products than men.
Particularly in Austria, three times as many women than men represent body products. In contrast, men are often depicted in advertisements for food.205
Usually, the dress or the posture of women in advertising is adapted to colours or lines of the product. In other words, this kind of images in advertising has become so persuasive that they have significant influences on customer’s experiences and understanding.206
Besides this, equating products with women in advertising can also occur through the advertising message. In particular, the message can highlight common attitudes.207
Racial and ethnic minorities
Firstly, it is necessary to mention that racial and ethnic minorities are often underrepresented in advertising campaigns.208 Generally spoken, white-skinned men are represented in advertising campaigns as powerful, and white-skinned women, in contrast, as kind of sexual object. In comparison, dark-skinned men are depicted as aggressive, while dark-skinned women are often portrayed as kind of inconsequential. Furthermore, white-skinned people represented in advertising campaigns enjoy more prominence and exercise more authority.209 In particular, so-called non-whites in advertisements are often portrayed in the background or servile to white people in positions of authority. Additionally, they are in many cases associated with products such as fast food, beer or cars.210 With regard to women of colour in advertisements, on the one hand, they are not represented as kind of sexual object as much as white-skinned women, but on the other hand, their beauty is less revered and they are hardly portrayed in romantic and family relationships.211 As a result, these images in advertisements contribute to the continuation of prejudice against dark-skinned people by overstating cultural differences and renouncing positive emotions.212213
205 cf. Furnham/Paltzer (2010), p.220
206 cf. Kang (1997), p. 980
207 cf. Schmerl (1992), p. 20
208 cf. Coltrane/Messineo (2000), p. 382
209 cf. Coltrane/Messineo (2000), p. 363
210 cf. Humphrey/Schuman (1984), Wilkes/Valencia (1989), w.p.
211 cf. Coltrane/Messineo (2000), p. 385
212 cf. Coltrane/Messineo (2000), p. 363
In summary, although one can see changing female roles, stereotypical depictions of women in advertising still maintain that attributes such as youth and beauty are typical characteristics for women in advertising campaigns. It is necessary to mention that non-verbal information that is communicated through the content of various advertising campaigns is very stereotypical as well. Nevertheless, a few changes cannot be denied. Particularly the fact that women are depicted equally as much as advertising subjects than men are.214
2.3.2 Roles and stereotypes of women in advertising and the media
On the topic of roles and stereotypes, it is necessary to state that although women have a strong buying power, the role of women in advertising can hardly be associated with women as a powerful group, meaning, women in advertising are too often depicted in stereotypical roles.215 In general, stereotypes are cognitive expectations216 and determine how one has to act and live.217
In particular, various studies such as the surveys of Coltrane and Messineo (2000)218, Cortese (1999)219 and Lazier and Kendrick (1993)220 state that women are typically represented in advertising either as housewives or as objects of sex and beauty.
In her book entitled “Stereotype? – women and men in advertising”, Holtz-Bacha (2011) also deals with stereotypical roles of women in advertising. She defines various roles of women in advertising by observing diverse television channels.
Notably, the content analysis of Holtz-Bacha (2011) evaluated 1583 television spots which were minimized to 426 spots as the rest of them have showed similarities. It is necessary to mention that 102 spots (24 % of the total sample evaluated) do not show any kind of human beings in different roles. In this context, the focus is put particularly on the advertised products and animations such as the depiction of individual body parts. Besides this, 88 television spots, which represent 21 %, depict men as leading parts who mainly represent cosmetics for men, cars, beer, fast-food and tools which can be bought in do-it-yourself stores. The rest of the 236 spots, which are 55 %, represent solely women, women and men together, women and
213 cf. Wilkes/Valncia (1989), p. 19
214 cf. Holtz-Bacha (2011), p. 7ff.
215 cf. Levy (2006/2007), p. 75
216 cf. Zurstiege (1998), p. 34
217 cf. Wolf (1993), p. 21
218 cf. Coltrane/Messineo (2000), w.p.
219 cf. Cortese (1999), w.p.
220 cf. Lazier/Kendrick (1993), w.p.
children, women and their families or several women together. In other words, the analysis shows that more than half of the television spots represent women in their advertisements. As a consequence thereof, the identification of the various role models by Holtz-Bacha (2011) with regard to women in advertising focusses on these 236 television spots. For the sake of completeness, the author shows that 22 spots out of these 236 spots are portraying female celebrities and that these spots are excluded from the analysis as they do not embody actual roles in advertising.
They solely advertise the product in a positive way with the appearance of their own prominence.221
As a result, the role models can be categorised as follows:
Sexual object, decorative accessory
18 spots (8 %) present women in the role of sexual objects or as simple decoration.
The main reason for categorising spots into this kind of role model was the erotic component of the protagonists. In general, the role of women in advertising as sexual objects is represented by a range of relatively young women between 16 and 30 years. Additionally, they are not only slim and beautiful, they still have an erotic aura as well.222 Advertised products include exclusive cosmetic products, perfumes, make-up, jewellery, underwear and fashion represented by beautiful models.223 An example is the “Davidoff” advertising campaign where a woman is shown lolling in the surf (Figure 3).
Figure 3: "Davidoff" advertisement224
221 cf. Holtz-Bacha (2011), p. 90
222 cf. Holtz-Bacha (2011), p. 90f.
223 cf. Holtz-Bacha (2011), p. 90f.
224 cf.
https://www.google.at/search?newwindow=1&q=Davidoff%20Werbung&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hl=de&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&ei=kKLIUfL8JdD2sgb_rICgCA&biw=966&bih=434&sei
=CKnIUcHND4aVswatxIHIDA#facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=3Wj0terxbMSu6M%3A%3BmhKt51O0v8Xah
Housewife, mother, family idyll
Even today, women in advertising are often represented in a domestic environment.
In this kind of setting, they are either depicted as hard-working housewives, caring mothers or simply as women who enjoy the family idyll to the fullest. 37 spots (16 %) present women in home situations.
On the one hand, the role of mother is depicted as a so-called “super-mam” who is in a position to select correct food products which are essential for their children’s healthy nutrition. Examples are the “Actimel” advertisement which is said to strengthen the immune system of children, or the “Storck, Nimm2 Lachgummi”
advertising campaign where bonbons are shown that contain the most vitamins for their children and not only supports their health, but also growth, intelligence, bone structure and concentration.
On the other hand, however, there are modern interpretations of the role of mothers.
An example that illustrates this is the “Ferrero, Kinderschokolade” advertisement where at first the mother emotionally supports her young daughter at her first day of school by giving her chocolate. Later on, the girl supports her mother with chocolate being able to master an important meeting at work. The message of this kind of advertising is that success in one´s career can be combined with the role of the caring mother.
In addition to this, the role of the housewife in advertising represents the competent specialist for all contingencies of everyday life. In particular, this kind of woman knows which products lead to clean laundry (“Persil”) and pleasant room fragrance (“Febreze”).225 Besides this, such women are perfectly styled, wear modern clothes and have a smile on all the time. The activity of housewives in advertising is rarely recognised as a professional activity. This is particularly due to the fact that household chores such as cleaning are done quickly and easily when using the right products.226 Finally, all women represented in a domestic surrounding are slim, attractive, between 20 and 35 years old and seem to be very natural as well.227
M%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.bonnyworld.net%252Fbonnyworld%252Fuploads%252Fbonnyw
orld_bilder%252FDavidoff-Werbeplakat.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.bonnyworld.net%252Fbonnyworld%252Farchives
%252F290-Neuer-Sommerduft-Davidoff-Cool-Water-Ice-Fresh.html%3B201%3B282
225 cf. Holtz-Bacha (2011), p. 91f.
226 cf. Schmerl (1992), p. 26
227 cf. Holtz-Bacha (2011), p. 91f.
Expert, career woman
Television spots where women are represented as experts in various areas or in a working position occurred 14 times (6 %). Women in advertising who are represented in an expert position are between 30 and 45 years old and thus are slightly older than the housewives and mothers. Besides this, they are slim, look very well cultivated and due to their discreet make-up seem really reputable and trustworthy.228
In particular, women are often experts for dental care. Examples in this context are advertising campaigns for “Dr. Best”, “Sensodyne” or “Oral B” where women wear white laboratory coats and present the various products as professional experts (Figure 4). With regard to drugs, women in advertising often act as experts for advertising over-the-counter medicine products.
Figure 4: "Oral B" advertisement229
The image of the so-called career woman is highly associated with attributes such as strength, lack of emotions, efficiency, ambition, determination, recklessness and independence. An example that illustrates this is the “Schwarzkopf – Henkel”
advertising campaign with their “3 Wetter Taft” hairspray serie. The advertisement shows career women in a travelling position, meaning, they are exposed to different weather conditions in various countries. In other words, no matter what the weather
228 cf. Holtz-Bacha (2011), p. 92f.
229cf.https://www.google.at/search?newwindow=1&hl=de&biw=966&bih=434&site=imghp&tbm=isch&s a=1&q=Oral+B+Werbung&oq=Oral+B+Werbung&gs_l=img.3..0j0i24l2.16653.17522.0.17698.8.5.0.3.3 .0.123.466.3j2.5.0...0.0...1c.1.18.img.HuaJzkHlZrE#facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=8KfOmNXPKirA2M%3A
%3BHacCjJvL4m1njM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.merkur- online.de%252Fbilder%252F2009%252F09%252F25%252F477062%252F263898291-mundpflege-
oral-b-blend-a-med-O09.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.merkur- online.de%252Ffreizeit%252Fgewinnspiele%252Fzahnpflegespezialisten-werden-gesucht-477062.html%3B475%3B356
is like the hairstyle is perfect, because career women are not only successful, but they are also mindful of their beauty.230
Grandmother
Overall, 10 spots (4 %) present old or older women in the role of the so-called
“granny”. In general, grandmothers in advertising are cultivated, well-dressed and are mentally and physically fit and open to various changes.
An example for traditional roles of grandmothers in advertising is the advertising campaign of “Odol Plus” where two older women are talking about their problems about gums while drinking coffee. Significantly more often, one can see roles in advertising where elderly women are represented in a new, self-conscious way of dealing with themselves and their age. An example that illustrates this is the
“Fruchtzwerge” advertising campaign where the granny is eating a yoghurt of this kind and she could not care less if she is too old for such kind of products or not (Figure 5).231
Figure 5: "Fruchtzwerge" advertisement232
Sporty woman
6 spots (3 %) present women in sports, meaning, women are showed in a sporty, dynamic, health-conscious and vital way. Altogether, sportive women represented in advertising are active, self-confident, slim, cultivated and obviously enjoy their activity.233
An example that illustrates athletic women in advertising is the so-called “Bestseller”
campaign by “Niedermeyer” where the protagonist of the campaign is “Stella” who is a dark-haired, athletic woman wearing a combat dress. This kind of depiction can be
230 cf. Holtz-Bacha (2011), p. 92f.
231 cf. Holtz-Bacha (2011), p. 93
232 cf. http://www.horizont.net/standpunkt/spiesseralfons/pages/protected/pics/1781-org.jpg
233 cf. Holtz-Bacha (2011), p. 93f.