Niky Ellison A comparative analysis of the Construction of Gender and Sexuality in Advertising

The portrayal of genders in advertising has become a topic of deep discussion and the end result varies from sector to sector and brand to brand. All of our perceptions of gender are rooted within our society these social norms have become necessary to ease interactions between men and woman, they dictate how they should look and act. Along side this advertisements have to communicate quickly and have to use all tools at their disposal to do so, therefore and predefined stereotypes mean that one picture can communicate a lifetimes worth of prejudice in an instant. This embedded knowledge also makes the consumer feel involved as it reinforces these perceptions; this gives them an instantaneous link to the product. The woman is often portrayed as inferior or even child-like and these portrayals are merely exaggerations of our deeply rooted sociological views.

These views are difficult to use effectively in modern times, especially when targeting women as they are derogatory, so a more common portrayal in some sectors such as sportswear is to break this and show the strong, powerful side of the women they use. Their female-centric brands are separate and position themselves so. As shown in figure 1 they dont just break away from stereotypes they redefine women as a species, in most adverts we see women lying down to convey sexual availability, but in this ad for NIKE WOMEN she is standing tall and proud, another portrayal of women that is
Figure 1

Niky Ellison

found in most advertisements is that a womans hands are fragile and so the are often portrayed as open or barley touching to the point of caressing to show a lack of control but in this ad the woman has clenched fist that are wrapped, (seemingly for some kind of martial arts or other contact sport) this shows her strength and implies a sense of professionalism. Women are often treated as children in adverts but in this the woman is portrayed as a superior not just over men but other women too, in the copy they openly mock thin women, perhaps the kind you often see in adverts. This advert changes to way women are targeted especially within the sportswear sector, but the lady in the ad in not unfeminine in fact she is the exact opposite, much like the dove real beauty campaign they are giving real women permission to feel sexy and superior to their plastic counterparts. This ad is a prime example Figure 2 of how the portrayal of women has changed and evolved over the years, this advert is actually a remake of an ad with the same copy (figure 2) but this earlier ad has a faceless model who is flaunting and "asset" of a girl and not allowing the woman to be portrayed as an individual. This ad (fig 1) is an example of progress and representation of women through positive stereotypes, the copy defies etiquette but still enforces her femininity with phrases such as it is a border collie that herd skinny women away from the best deals at clothing sales this does not convey false wealth she is an everywoman, the kind of woman youd see on the bus and therefore is relatable and the only aspiration factors are her self-confidence and her sense of being and this is what Nike Women sell with this ad.

Niky Ellison A comparative analysis of the Construction of Gender and Sexuality in Advertising

Changing peoples perceptions can be difficult and does not always work so instead of focusing on the negative stereotypes of women or to enforce positive stereotypes that are overshadowed some choose to focus on the negative stereotypes of men, with all their prominence in the media, men still fail to find favour with ads that target women. The ideas that men are inept, cant multitask and always leave the seat up etc. these give women a sense of superiority without defining why and therefore without challenging perceptions that have been built upon since birth. These negative stereotypes are minimally offensive unlike the negative stereotypes of women, but women are now being Figure 3 portrayed as the superior sex, they are now thought as smarter, more mature, classier and skilled. The Adidas day for women is a way for the brand to back up their support for woman with actions as well as words this further roots the ideal that this brand supports the reimagining of female stereotypes that the sportswear sector has been at the forefront of for many years. The ad does not convey women at all; in fact the entire picture is masculine. This further enforces the emphasis on the male stereotypes and the lack of female representation. Making it easier for the consumer to relate.

Niky Ellison

This ad for Reebok is bitter-sweet when discussing the notion of breaking gender stereotypes and perception the one hand the woman shown is curvy or a real woman and she is comfortable in what she is wearing in spite of it not being very much. She is on the phone doing an every day task whilst wearing these training shoes. She is standing up and her thighs are entwined with the phone cord to accentuate the Figure 4 size and to show that she is proud of her bodacious thighs and to separate her from the women we often see in the media. On the other side she is wearing very few clothes and is wearing shoes on the basis that they will tone her legs and bum. This reinforces stereotypes of objectifying women in a poor attempt to make her seem feminine, they have resorted to using deeply rooted beliefs and stereotypes to convey relatively complex message in a short amount of time. This technique is employed in other sectors and is usually successful but in the sportswear sector it seems to be fairly outdated. The model in the picture is faceless much like the model in figure 2, this while addressed by Nike in figure 1, is not addressed here and like figure 2 it can be argued that the women assets are selling the product as opposed to the women herself. The room had pictures on the wall and is fairly disorganized, this is a trait that is not often associated with women in fact is far more associated with men, this could be breaking the stereotype but the fact that she is on the phone makes her seem as if she is just ditzy, therefore eliminating intelligence from the perceived list of character traits and further de-humanizing her. The ad has clothes rack and this allows us to see her feminine side with brightly coloured high heels and a variety of articles of clothing.
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This reinforcing what we are taught to believe in women, that they hoard clothing but whilst there is a large variety some of it is however sportswear and there is not a vast amount, her clothes rack also provides reason for her being scantily clad it could be that she is nearly getting dressed having returned from a jog/run/gym etc. or even preparing to partake in one of these activities this advert allows for a lot of ambiguity amongst stereotypes. Perhaps this is to appease a wider audience and the entire spectrum, from casual joggers to professional athletes. The sportswear sector has had to target women differently as the gender separate the market with such massive differences and women were previously seen as unfit for sport. Modern sportswear ads tend to convey women in a positive light. Some however still portray women as incredible feminine; this is not always a bad thing but can sometimes make the advert loose authenticity or seem dishonest. It greatly differs between brands that are an offshoot of a major sportswear company, such as Nike and Nike women and brands that target women more than they target men e.g. Pineapple. The female-centric companies have less to prove and tend not to change the rules where as major sports brands have something to prove and therefore their portrayal of women has to differ greatly from what we are taught by society.

Bibliography Figure1: My butt is big 2010 http://www.thefrisky.com/post/246-nike-likes-big-butts-and-itcannot-lie/ Figure2: My butt is big 2005 http://courtneymedford.wordpress.com/2010/12/ Figure3: WC 2000 Scpf http://www.coloribus.com/adsarchive/prints/womens-sportsevent-wc-2721055/

Figure4: Reebok Reetone: Phone Ddb Berlin 2010 http://www.coloribus.com/adsarchive/prints/reebok-reetonephone-13565705/

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