Negative Representations of Women in Advertising

To continue from my last blog post, I wanted to continue to look at advertising and other negative portrayals - this time with respect to women. Women are too often portrayed as weak, inferior, and silent in the majority of fashion advertisements in a number of ways. The fragile weight of models depicts frailty, while the classic model pose (back arched out with hands on hips, elbows out) further supports the portrayal of the woman as weak (this blog post has a great take on the 'posture' topic).

Another portrayal of women that is relatively common in fashion advertising is representing them as doll-like individuals. This could offensively imply that women are meerely something to look at - they have no actions, words, and capabilities as individuals (below - Juicy Couture ad). Additionally, closed, passive body language further enhances the image of a submissive, passive woman (Dolce and Gabanna ad, below).

An ad that I saw recently and fell in love with was a Gucci ad, depicting a woman holding a child. Her posture is open and aggressive, her smile wide, which to me is a nice reprive from the slouching, sleepy ads I spoke about earlier. In addition, I like how it brings a sense of power and dignity to motherhood.

Sadvertising in a Declining Society

Anyone who reads any sort of fashion publication knows that at least half of the pages in each issue are advertisements. I've always been aware of advertising - perhaps my educational background in marketing has heightened my awareness. I saw an ad the other day that truly surprised me. At first, it took me a minute to actually understand what it was saying. When I finally put it together, I was a little bit at a loss for words:

In case you can't read the tag, it says "Make sure he sees what you did with his settlement". I wonder if I'm the only one surprised and a little bit saddened by this? I understand that the divorcee probably makes up a significant portion of the jewelry market and yes, they have every right to purchase beautiful pieces of jewelry, but I'm a little stumped on this advertising approach. It almost seems unethical to insinuate that jewelry can be used as a weapon to make someone else angry - and to promote it as such.

The fact that we live in a society where it is acceptable for advertising to promote revenge is sad to me, however it's a double edged sword. This ad is including a significant portion of the market that has previously been excluded - traditional jewelry advertising focuses on new love and relationships. Some might consider it wrong to exclusively advertise to a single group, when the jewelry market is composed of much more. So which is right? Including potential market groups in advertising or supporting positive values in society.