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Feminism in contemporary visual culture

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Vivian Lee

This document discusses feminism in contemporary visual culture and the representation of women in advertising. It provides a brief history of feminism in three waves from the 19th century to today. It then examines how mass media influenced feminism's message and adoption of stereotypes during the second wave. Several examples of advertisements are visually analyzed to show how women are commonly objectified, depicted as sex objects, or presented in unequal power dynamics with men. The document concludes that while advertising reflects social norms, it also promotes stereotypes of women and sometimes portrays violence against them, and that feminism has been commodified in some ads to sell products rather than promote its political goals.

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Binming Li | 27428486 | University of Southampton| Postgraduate Feminism in Contemporary Visual Culture
 Brief introduction of the history of feminism  The influence of media on feminism  Visual analysis  Explore how women are portrayed in cotemporary advertisement  The use of feminism in advertising  Conclusion Introduction
 Concept  Activities and actions that aim at gaining equal political, social, personal, cultural right as well as opportunities of employment and education for women (Beasley, 1999).  The development of feminism  1ST wave: from 19th century to early 20th century  2nd wave: mid 20th century  3rd wave: late 20th century to early 21st century Feminism ≠ Man-hating Feminism = Gender Equality A brief history of feminism
A brief introduction of history of feminism History Krolokke & Sorensen, 2006
 As a means of disseminating feminist information  The intersection between feminism and media was increased  Mass media has played an important role for the feminist movement (Bradley, 2003)  However…  The adoption of stereotypes and promotion of opposite ideas exaggerated the antifeminist movement The role of mass media during the 2nd wave
 Advertisement:  has essential influence on the content and shape of media in contemporary society (Gill, 2007)  Is a representation of popular culture that both reflects and produces social meanings (Williamson, 1978)  Reflects the common sense of society and social life (McCracken, 1988)  Portrayal of women:  The description of women in advertising is presented as accompaniment of masculinity, inferior and dependency (Blloshmi, 2013)  Women’s magazines: emphasize on beauty, sexuality, motherhood and domesticity (Winship, 1980). The representation of women in advertisement
 Different ways women being depicted in advertising  Materialized: objectifies women’s body, present them as objects and accessory of men fragments women’s body, present only a single part, deny the humanity of women (Gill, 2007)  Sex object: present women’s body as posture of sexual implication highly emphasis on appearance and exaggerates the display of women’s body  Inequality: shows images of men violently abusing women—inequality in power implicates violence against women disparage the value of female The representation of women in advertisement: 1. Patriarchal (Loose Garment, 2012a) (Loose Garment, 2012b) (Loose Garment, 2012c) Examples
 The representation of women in advertisement is an important part of the history that affects the consciousness of female of everyday life (Goldman, 1992)  Feminism becomes a single icon to enrich the content of commodities  Two ways to use feminism in advertisement  As a visual style: Signs relate to feminism are utilized by advertisers to sell commodities, make them lose their political meanings, i.e. Independence, freedom, narrows the ways feminism is being portrayed (Gill, 2007)  Use feminism ideologies as a promotion of the product: advertisers attempt to reflect feminism in their advertisement to sell product, feminism become a tool for advertisement just as female bodies (Gill, 2007). The representation of women in advertisement : 2.Commodity feminism
 Materialization Visual analysis Figure 1 (Loose Garment, 2012) Figure 2 (PERFECTLYdull, 2011) Figure 3 (Stampler, 2014)• Presents a woman’s body as clothes stand • Naked body suggests sexuality • Men’s shoes trample on her body suggests depreciation of female status • Covered face suggests the deny of her personal identity • Cutting lines are drawn on the woman’s body suggests disrespectful of her humanity • The slogan implies animalization of female • The presentation of unrealistic body style • Fragmentation of female body • Visually dissects female body (Gill, 2007) • Suggests female body as an attached object to male
 Sex object Visual analysis Figure 4 (Loose Garment, 2012) Figure 5 (Marginal Musings, 2013) Figure 6 (Weibo, 2015) • In both images, male are presented in a dominant position, either physically or verbally • The presents of female possess sexual implication • A denial of the independent personality of female, treat them only as sex objects (Job=woman, do what you want to do most)
 Inequality Visual analysis Figure 7 (Green, 2013) Figure 8 (Green, 2013) Figure 9 (Caixin, 2015) Figure 10 (Weibo, 2015) • Figure 7 and Figure 8 indicates violence against women • Figure 9 is a comparison of the advertisements posted on 2015 Women’s Day between Baidu and Google. While female was objectified as a doll standing on a music box in Baidu, Google presented female in different career • Figure 10 was an advertisement of Beijing Civil Administration, it said ‘why competing with men in such a great effort while the best work for women is to be a good housewife and mother’.
 Commodity feminism Visual analysis Figure 11 (uelvistheories2012, 2012) Figure 12 (Advertising & Society, 2014) Figure 13 (Burgess, 2015) • Using female empowerment as a selling point to sell products • Relating self-confidence and freedom to consumption • Reducing the political meanings of the concept of feminism and connects it to a personal life style
 Advertisement reflects the common sense and public aesthetics in contemporary society, in this case, how female are treated by the public  Advertisement reflects the stereotypes of female, from mother and wife to sexual signifiers  Female has been objectified, treated as sex object and violently against in advertisement, and nowadays feminism is utilized as a selling point to promote products.  Commoditized feminism lessens its political meanings Conclusion

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Feminism in contemporary visual culture

  • 1. Binming Li | 27428486 | University of Southampton| Postgraduate Feminism in Contemporary Visual Culture
  • 2.  Brief introduction of the history of feminism  The influence of media on feminism  Visual analysis  Explore how women are portrayed in cotemporary advertisement  The use of feminism in advertising  Conclusion Introduction
  • 3.  Concept  Activities and actions that aim at gaining equal political, social, personal, cultural right as well as opportunities of employment and education for women (Beasley, 1999).  The development of feminism  1ST wave: from 19th century to early 20th century  2nd wave: mid 20th century  3rd wave: late 20th century to early 21st century Feminism ≠ Man-hating Feminism = Gender Equality A brief history of feminism
  • 4. A brief introduction of history of feminism History Krolokke & Sorensen, 2006
  • 5.  As a means of disseminating feminist information  The intersection between feminism and media was increased  Mass media has played an important role for the feminist movement (Bradley, 2003)  However…  The adoption of stereotypes and promotion of opposite ideas exaggerated the antifeminist movement The role of mass media during the 2nd wave
  • 6.  Advertisement:  has essential influence on the content and shape of media in contemporary society (Gill, 2007)  Is a representation of popular culture that both reflects and produces social meanings (Williamson, 1978)  Reflects the common sense of society and social life (McCracken, 1988)  Portrayal of women:  The description of women in advertising is presented as accompaniment of masculinity, inferior and dependency (Blloshmi, 2013)  Women’s magazines: emphasize on beauty, sexuality, motherhood and domesticity (Winship, 1980). The representation of women in advertisement
  • 7.  Different ways women being depicted in advertising  Materialized: objectifies women’s body, present them as objects and accessory of men fragments women’s body, present only a single part, deny the humanity of women (Gill, 2007)  Sex object: present women’s body as posture of sexual implication highly emphasis on appearance and exaggerates the display of women’s body  Inequality: shows images of men violently abusing women—inequality in power implicates violence against women disparage the value of female The representation of women in advertisement: 1. Patriarchal (Loose Garment, 2012a) (Loose Garment, 2012b) (Loose Garment, 2012c) Examples
  • 8.  The representation of women in advertisement is an important part of the history that affects the consciousness of female of everyday life (Goldman, 1992)  Feminism becomes a single icon to enrich the content of commodities  Two ways to use feminism in advertisement  As a visual style: Signs relate to feminism are utilized by advertisers to sell commodities, make them lose their political meanings, i.e. Independence, freedom, narrows the ways feminism is being portrayed (Gill, 2007)  Use feminism ideologies as a promotion of the product: advertisers attempt to reflect feminism in their advertisement to sell product, feminism become a tool for advertisement just as female bodies (Gill, 2007). The representation of women in advertisement : 2.Commodity feminism
  • 9.  Materialization Visual analysis Figure 1 (Loose Garment, 2012) Figure 2 (PERFECTLYdull, 2011) Figure 3 (Stampler, 2014)• Presents a woman’s body as clothes stand • Naked body suggests sexuality • Men’s shoes trample on her body suggests depreciation of female status • Covered face suggests the deny of her personal identity • Cutting lines are drawn on the woman’s body suggests disrespectful of her humanity • The slogan implies animalization of female • The presentation of unrealistic body style • Fragmentation of female body • Visually dissects female body (Gill, 2007) • Suggests female body as an attached object to male
  • 10.  Sex object Visual analysis Figure 4 (Loose Garment, 2012) Figure 5 (Marginal Musings, 2013) Figure 6 (Weibo, 2015) • In both images, male are presented in a dominant position, either physically or verbally • The presents of female possess sexual implication • A denial of the independent personality of female, treat them only as sex objects (Job=woman, do what you want to do most)
  • 11.  Inequality Visual analysis Figure 7 (Green, 2013) Figure 8 (Green, 2013) Figure 9 (Caixin, 2015) Figure 10 (Weibo, 2015) • Figure 7 and Figure 8 indicates violence against women • Figure 9 is a comparison of the advertisements posted on 2015 Women’s Day between Baidu and Google. While female was objectified as a doll standing on a music box in Baidu, Google presented female in different career • Figure 10 was an advertisement of Beijing Civil Administration, it said ‘why competing with men in such a great effort while the best work for women is to be a good housewife and mother’.
  • 12.  Commodity feminism Visual analysis Figure 11 (uelvistheories2012, 2012) Figure 12 (Advertising & Society, 2014) Figure 13 (Burgess, 2015) • Using female empowerment as a selling point to sell products • Relating self-confidence and freedom to consumption • Reducing the political meanings of the concept of feminism and connects it to a personal life style
  • 13.  Advertisement reflects the common sense and public aesthetics in contemporary society, in this case, how female are treated by the public  Advertisement reflects the stereotypes of female, from mother and wife to sexual signifiers  Female has been objectified, treated as sex object and violently against in advertisement, and nowadays feminism is utilized as a selling point to promote products.  Commoditized feminism lessens its political meanings Conclusion