task 6

Introduction: " The beauty industry is a monster, selling unattainable dreams. It lies, it cheats, it exploites women."Postmodernists will argue that society has become ever more diverse, therefore the way women are represented and stereotypically portrayed in the beuty industry has also changed. Why? Simply, because of advance technology and changes in societal attitudes and belief that it objectifies women as a "natrual souce". This investigation will arguably raise a debate as to how women are overtly sexualised in contemporary perfume advertisiments such as Beyonce Heat and YSL-Pariessiene, and weither it treats women as objects so that it can attract the audiences attention and sell its product globally (Mclhuan). However, some will argue as a opposistional reading (Hall-Reception theory) that women are sexualised in perfume adverts because "sex sell," but some will critisise this and argue that it may be to convey a message of misogyny. This is so that the media effects such as the cultivation theory is used to have and impact on the passive younger audiences or simply because it's a way for women to dominate the advertising industry. Theory,Representation, Gender, Quotes,
First paragrapgh: Compare old adverts to nowIn the 21st century advertisments, perfume adverts have portrayed women as weaker and fetishitistically, in which this case it represents the modern society in the West as being uncivilized. Like,
Edward Syed put forward the idea of orientalism- this is were the West is civilized and the East is uncivilized, audience can challenge this theory by arguing that women have become sexulaised in countries which are civilized such as the UK. However, by portraying women like a sexual object in Western countries audiences can challenge this theory and argue that the UK is 'uncivilized'. For example, the way the demographics in Saudi Arabia will react to modern, western adverts to the demographic in US, will be completely different. As Hanna Rosin had stated that "In the West, meanwhile, women behave sexually aggressive ways that would have been unimaginable even twenty years ago." The reason why contemporary media has changed the way women are represented and sexualised, is so that it can keep up with the way audiences read a text and to keep up with the consumer society, which is to be living in a rich and luxerious lifestyle (Dyer-consumer society). Today's beauty industrys have used women as a "object of fetishitistic display" simply because 'sex sells'. This is so that it can appeal to both the mass and niche audienes, alongside "for male viewer's pleasures". This is because "when sexuality is used in advertsing certain values and attitudes towards sex are being sold to consumers along with the product." 　
Historically, perfume adverts such as Charlie-Revlon in the 1970's had there main focus on the product rather than the breast or bottocks of the women. It had also sexualised and objectified women less than adverts in today's society. For example, the advert had used more more close-ups of the product and had the heroine (Vladimir Propp) in a silk jump suit, paying particular attention to her dialogue and not how she sexy she looked. Also, the silk dress she is wearing can connote (Barthes-connotation and dennotation) purity and her virginity as to her being the innocent one, incomparison to the Beyonce heat advert. This is where is Beyonce is wearing a short, red, silk dress , the red silk however connotes 'heat' which links with the perfumes name and connotes how Beyonce personally feels erotic and hot which attracts the 'male gaze' (Laura Mulvey). The comparison (Levi-Strauss Binary opposition) between these two adverts are that women back then were treated as being pure however, now they are treated as being a sexual toy who are their to benefit men. The makeup used is also natural which gives her a clear look and enable her to look attractive but to denotate a sense of self-respect as to how "young women are especially susceptible to objectification, as they are often taught that power,respect, and wealth can be derived from one's outward appearance." This is why Charlie-Revlon had used the women in a dominating role rather than the women undressing herself as the zeitgeist reflects back to the 'spirit of the age'. An example, can be the 1961 advert "That touch of perfume" by Avon, this advert had used diegetic sound of the women speaking which informed (Uses and gratification-Blumler and Katz) that women were given equal chances and were treated as important as men. Incontrast, to the a Yves Saint Laurent advert- Parisienne, this advert had used diegetic sound of Moss erotically expressing erotic sounds and conveying that she is gaining feeling pleasure from the male touching her, however the audiences cannot see who the male is which creates further enigma (Barthes), but the scene continues with the male touching her and drives the "narrative forward." An preffered reading (Reception theory- Stuart Hall) this can connote that women are always there to benefit men, but it can also connote Towards the middle (Todorov-Narrative structure) of the narrative is that by having her body positioned where the male position is "active and female pisition is passive". Moreover, this advert also shows how sexualisization of women has changed because "the media has changed, and people’s attitudes have changed." Reflecting back into the 1970's, if audiences had see Beyonce's heat advert then, they may have felt shocked as to how they are degrading women and sexualising them. On the other hand, if the audiences see the Revlon advert today they may not appeal to it as much as the Beyonce's advert. This is because attitude have changed and the way audiences want to perceive a text has also changed due to them "Passively inviting our gaze," as older generation audiences such as old men, who are dependant on the media will watch this advert on moving image platform (T.V.) and wouldn't question about the negative portrayel of women and just would accept that it is a norm. Theory, Representation, historical context, makeup used, shot type used, audience.
Second Paragraph: On the contrary, the media may not be to blame, as to why women are overtly sexualised negatively in contemporary perfume adverts. Post-feminists will argue that both men and women have equal power and that society has moved from being pariachal to a post feminist era, where both genders are given the same equal opportunity in the advertisment arena. This is because it clearly depends on the heroine (Vladimir Propp-character type) itself is and how she wants society to see her being represented as, simply because there are a two ways (Reception theory-Stuart Hall) in which the audiences will read a text:. For example, from a males perspective they believe that "women want to be treated as sex objects," due to some stereotypes being true (Perkins-some stereotypes are true). Whereas, modern female audiences as an oppositional reading may suggest that some women willingly choose themself to sexualise by using a phallic symbol in order to add emphasis on their sexuality this is because if if she doesn't use her sexuality to sell the product then it can interpret that she lacks "feminity". For example, Advertising Standards Authority had banned the perfume advert 'Oh Lola' by Marc Jacobs that featured a young teenager both in print media platform and moving image, by holding a perfume advert in between her thighs which was a phallic symbol emphasising on her sexuality. The shot on the poster was in a long shot which enabled the audiences to see her body and her size eight figure, alongside the use of a short dress allowed audiences to focus on the phallic symbol and add emphasis to her legs.
This had therefore, been banned because it was promoting sexualisation of children and injecting negative messages in to younger audiences as to how they should behave and act in a certain way as the hypodermic needle theory suggests "that audiences are affected by what they see in the media".
(Hypodermic needle- Katz and Lazarsfield). Despite this, the Daily mail had stated that the position she was in was "sexually provocative" which could then suggest that if young girls in the media are overtly sexualised alongside holding phallic symbols to attract the 'male gaze' but can have a "negative influence on girls' healthy development ", as it promoted anorexia to. This advert had also recieved a lot of complaints from the audiences and was stated by ASA that the 'giant bottle was provoking but not indecent,' whitch means that some images of women might be "reactionary or damaging or oppressive". On the other hand, a pluralistic ideology will argue that some audiences are intellegent enough to not accept what the they see being advertised and will not believe in what you can achieve by consuming the perfume. However, by overtly sexualising women in perfume advert this may encourage women to take a social progress which can be "measured by the social position of the female sex." This means that audiences that see the advert as being aspirational can purchase this product and can make a social progress and can gain power with the use of their external image. Feminists will put forward the idea that the advertising industry exploits women so that it can sell its products and to serve the personal "pleasures" of men that they want to see. However, overtly sexualising women in perfume adverts can be critistised as to how 'Femininity is not typically a core value for women today" as clearly depends on individualism. This is because we live in a post-modernist society, and therefore it is possible for females to choose what and how they want to look like in adverts as it is just a performance that "women choose to employ in everday life" either for pleasures or to achieve a goal. Nevertheless, Dr Zurbriggen suggests that today's society should replace negative images of women in positive setting and show girls in a "uniquencess and comptence" way. This is because it can have a negative impact on younger audiences who are passive and can create a moral panic in the media (Cohen) as to how perfume adverts have influenced young girls to wear makeup, heels and sexy dress, so that they can invite "the male gaze" and the male audiences can feel entertained and escapism (Uses and gratification-Blumler and Katz). Theories, sexualisation of women, example of advert, institution,