Media




2.victoria secret blossoms 

1.Boss

How the media portrays gender within fragrances.

As I have illustrated, there are two print adverts both of which are for fragrances and are specifically aimed at men or women. Within the media, gender is essential as it demonstrates who the target market is for and who should be buying the product. Gender is the sexual orientation of a person. Another key term is patriarchy which is: dominant ideologies within society which make woman look inferior. Objectification is also an important term which means: degrading someone to the status of something as in significant as an object. These are key terminology which will be used to sum up and showcase these images. Advert one is an image of a man who looks, macho, classy, professional; whilst a woman is at the back of him acting extremely seductive. Advert two, is of a quite feministic woman who is holding a bottle of perfume.

Advert one

The first print advert incorporates denotations such as: a man wearing a suit, a woman where we can only see a strip of her clothing and mainly her skin. Also, the fragrance bottle, additional writing and the logo which has all been  Photoshop into the image. This is all the mise en scent within the image. The print advert has an anchorage which states “The SCENT, THE NEW FRAGRANCE FOR MEN”. The use of this anchorage solidifies that the product is for men this is because: it’s written all in bold to connote that product is masculine as bold letters make words look superior and dominant. Furthermore, it also says “for men” which reinforces that the product is “for men”. Moreover, it also uses repetition of “the” which is a pathos technique to persuade people to buy the product.  The woman has one strip of her clothing to connote that she is sexually attracted to the man and is desperately trying to get his attention. The picture also includes high key lights on small sections of their faces to make people acknowledge there facial expression and make them look aesthetically pleasing in a manipulative way. In this image the woman is being objectified as she is leaning towards him almost as if she is his property. Also, the way she dresses may connote venerability as she doesn’t look like she is wearing much clothes whereas, the man is wearing a suit which makes him look powerful in comparison to the woman who is not wearing much on. This picture is reinforcing stereotypes as she seems to be inferior to the man. This picture is upholding patriarchy as the man seems to be the dominant one and is wearing a suit which shows that he has more authority in society. This image has been Photoshop as one eyebrow appears to be more slanted than the other and there is also editing on the lights to showcase specific parts of the face. In this image, there is binary oppositions as there is a man who's the more dominant one within the image and a woman who seems to be inferior to him.

Advert two

The second print advert consists of denotation such as: a woman wearing a pink bra holding the perfume, a window in the background and additional writing as well as whom the product is by. The print advert has the anchorage “life is fabulous”. The typeface of “fabulous “is pretty stylish which may connote that the product is specifically for women. In addition to this, the writing is in pink which reinforces stereotypes as pink is genuinely associated to girls. This makes the fragrance look feminine. This female perfume doesn’t say it’s for woman it just infers by using the colour pink, showcasing a woman with the product and actually making the fragrance have a pink colour. Furthermore, the woman also only wears a bra which is slightly seductive however attracts woman by making them think that if she is looking so beautiful with this perfume; I should use it too. Moreover, the camera used on the image is a high key light which makes it look aesthetically appealing. The woman is holding the perfume close to her which may appear to be “sexy”. The ways she’s holding it may support the anchorage of “irresistibly fresh” as she is holding it as if it is absolutely “irresistible”.  In this print advert the woman is being objectified discreetly as she is wearing a bra and holding perfume almost as if she is for sell as well . The advert supports patriarchy as the woman is still seen as less important within her society. The image has been airbrushed as it consists of a woman's body being more slanted than usual. The woman looks slimmer  than her head which makes the image look airbrushed. Consequently, the woman was also added separately which shows that it was Photoshop. The image does not consist of any binary opposites as it is all a girly theme and there is nothing opposing that.

Conclusion 


From looking at these two advert, I have learnt that women are commonly portrayed as being  girly or seductive with the media industry. Furthermore, I have also learnt  that within advertisement they put in various parts of images, typefaces, pictures ...to slightly hint who they are targeting the product for. For example,  the woman in Advert one is purposely leaning unto the Man to show she is attracted to him perhaps due to him using the cologne. This reveals to men that the product is for men as it is attracting a women to a man. I think that gender stereotypes  are still prevalent in advertising however it is done more undercover. This is due to industries such as ASA and UN who have been challenging this dominant patriarchy. They have prevented it by: banning sexualised advertisements, stating that:
"While advertising is only one of many factors that contribute to unequal gender outcomes, tougher advertising standards can play an important role in tackling inequalities and improving outcomes for individuals, the economy and society as a whole." This inferred that the ASA wanted to abolish gender stereotypes to "improve" society and make society more equal. Similarly, the UN also had a part to play as they wanted to make both genders be treated equally. They also believed that advertising had a huge impact on equality and therefore should be used to reinforce equality; and not break it. I think that these movements have helped exponentially as due to their intervention in this matter; 24 countries have restricted gender stereotypes in advertising.