From Lip Smackers to Wrinkle Cream

FROM LIP SMACKERS TO WRINKLE CREAM PRIMING THE NEXT GENERATION OF CONSUMING WOMEN Rebecca Elliott Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts in Communication at The University of Ottawa September 2011 © Rebecca Elliott, Ottawa, Canada, 2011 ABSTRACT The purpose of this research was to determine if there is a model of ideal femininity communicated through advertising in girls’ and women’s magazines. To assess the representations of women in magazine advertisements, a content analysis of advertisements appearing in three top-selling, demographically-defined women’s magazines (Girls’ Life, Seventeen, and Cosmopolitan) was conducted. Using feminist theory and hegemony theory as critical lenses, advertisements were analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively. Each advertisement was assessed using five criteria: physical characteristics, social context, personality and attitude, and subtext. Using this data to establish the dominant representations of women, it was determined that there is a model of ideal femininity which is developed through establishing common ideals shared by all three magazines and by gradually introducing new ideals which correspond to shifts in real-world interests and experiences of women. It was concluded that a model of ideal femininity is developed through advertising in girls’ and women’s magazines, this model is used as a guide to direct girls and women towards specific ideal preferences, attitudes and behaviours, and this model continues to emphasise traditional cultural values and gender ideals which are not necessarily reflective of the range of roles women assume in today’s society. Key words: Advertising, Content Analysis, Feminist Theory, Gender Representations, Hegemony, Ideology, Magazines, Tweens, Teens, Women i Table of Contents I. INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................................................... 2 II. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK .................................................................................................................... 5 II.1 HEGEMONY & ADVERTISERS’ INFLUENCE ON THE ACTIVE AUDIENCE .............................................. 5 II.2 DOMINANT IDEOLOGY & MASS MEDIA ............................................................................................. 8 II.3 SIMPLIFYING IDEOLOGY: USE OF STEREOTYPES ................................................................................ 9 II.3.a GENDER STEREOTYPES .............................................................................................................. 10 II.4 STEREOTYPES & IDENTITY FORMATION ........................................................................................... 11 II.5 FEMINIST LENS ................................................................................................................................. 13 III. LITERATURE REVIEW ............................................................................................................................. 16 III.1 THE (IDEAL) ROLE OF WOMEN ........................................................................................................ 16 III.1.a WOMAN AS WIFE & MOTHER .................................................................................................. 17 III.1.b WOMAN AS SEX OBJECT .......................................................................................................... 19 III.1.c WOMAN AS COMPETENT EMPLOYEE ...................................................................................... 21 III.1.d EMPOWERED WOMAN & FAUX FEMINISM ............................................................................. 23 III.1 SUMMARY ....................................................................................................................................... 29 IV. METHODOLOGY .................................................................................................................................... 33 IV.1 PROBLEM/HYPOTHESIS ................................................................................................................... 33 IV.2 SAMPLE POPULATION ..................................................................................................................... 34 IV.2.a BRIEF BACKGROUND ON MAGAZINES ..................................................................................... 34 IV.3 RESEARCH DESIGN .......................................................................................................................... 35 IV.3.a CONTENT ANALYSIS ................................................................................................................. 35 IV.4 DATA COLLECTION .......................................................................................................................... 36 IV.4.a PHASE ONE: QUANTITATIVE DATA .......................................................................................... 36 IV.4.b PHASE TWO: QUALITATIVE DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS .............................................. 38 V. QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS....................................................................................................................... 43 V.1 FINDINGS .......................................................................................................................................... 43 V.1.a VARIATIONS IN THE DATA ......................................................................................................... 46 V.1.b COMMONALITIES IN THE DATA ................................................................................................ 48 VI. QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS ........................................................................................................................ 52 VI.1 SELECTION OF ADVERTISEMENTS ................................................................................................... 52 VI.2 CODING ADVERTISEMENTS ............................................................................................................. 52 VI.3 FINDINGS ......................................................................................................................................... 53 VI.3.a PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS .................................................................................................... 53 VI.3.b SOCIAL CONTEXT ...................................................................................................................... 59 ii VI.3.c PERSONALITY & ATTITUDE ....................................................................................................... 62 VI.3.d ROLE ......................................................................................................................................... 63 VI.3.e SUBTEXT ................................................................................................................................... 71 VI.3.f AN ANOMALY IN THE DATA: LITERATURE ADVERTISEMENTS .................................................. 75 VI.3.g FAUX FEMINISM? ..................................................................................................................... 78 VII. DISCUSSION.......................................................................................................................................... 83 VII.1 REPRESENTATIONS OF IDEAL FEMININITY BY DEMOGRAPHIC ...................................................... 84 VII.1.a THE IDEAL TWEEN GIRL ........................................................................................................... 84 VII.1.b THE IDEAL TEENAGE GIRL ....................................................................................................... 84 VII.1.c THE IDEAL WOMAN ................................................................................................................. 85 VII.2 THE MODEL OF IDEAL FEMININITY ................................................................................................ 85 VII.2.a SHARED DOMINANT IDEOLOGIES ........................................................................................... 85 VII.2.b GRADUAL IDEOLOGICAL SHIFTS .............................................................................................. 89 VII.3 AUDIENCE INFLUENCES ON MEDIATED DEPICTIONS OF GENDER ................................................. 92 VII.3.a REAL WOMEN AND MEDIA STEREOTYPES .............................................................................. 92 VII.3.b REAL WOMEN AND SEXUAL OBJECTIFICATION ...................................................................... 93 VII.4 OVERALL MODEL OF IDEAL FEMININITY ........................................................................................ 95 VIII. CONCLUSION ....................................................................................................................................... 98 VIII.1 LIMITATIONS & FUTURE RESEARCH ............................................................................................ 100 REFERENCES .............................................................................................................................................. 101 APPENDIX A: Coding Used to Categorize Advertisements ........................................................................ 111 APPENDIX B: Coding Representations of Women in Advertisements ...................................................... 112 APPENDIX C: Quantitative Findings .........................................................................................................

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