UNSEEN PRACTICE

Look carefully at the advert for Miss Dior perfume, which features Hollywood actress, Natalie Portman.

How are the advertisers using Media Language to constructs gender stereotypes?

In your response you should consider:

• The way that gender stereotypes are being constructed. 
• The way that this is used to communicate ideas to the target audience

EXAMPLE 1:

This example attempts to structure its response around Mulvey's 'Male Gaze' hypothesis.

One of the ways that we can analyse the construction of gender stereotypes in this advertisement is to consider Mulvey’s ‘Male Gaze’ hypothesis. Portman is depicted in a suggestive and sexualised way, effectively constructing the female stereotype of sexual object. Her hair and makeup and the soft lighting encode a representation of female flawlessness, which is a generic convention in the beauty industry; even her ‘bed hair’ is perfectly imperfect allowing the audience to see her perfect jawline, her perfect eyes and her perfect skin. Her pose and the absence of costume also connote the idea of flawlessness, delicacy and femininity as well as contributing to the sexualisation of her image. If the intended audience is female, then this may suggest a preferred reading of validating the aspirations of the audience who perhaps want to have the same sexual allure. This may be reinforced using eye line matching, which positions the audience to see themselves as the equal of the aspirational Hollywood actress. However, it seems likely that the target audience is men, purchasing for wives, girlfriends etc. The sexualisation then would likely be intended to make the product more memorable and perhaps to promote positive associations with the brand.

The brand itself is represented as deeply feminine. The stylised serif font, and the choice of the word ‘Miss’ connote femininity and youth, both of which are generic conventions of the representation of women in beauty advertising. The pack shot is transparent so that purchasers and consumer (who may not be the same gender) can tell that the product itself is pink. In western culture, pink is a colour that has a cultural code of femininity. In addition, the pack-shot also features a bow. This, like the brands font may be intended to connote youthful playfulness but may also connote the idea of the product as a gift aimed at male purchasers and female consumers.

While there are no physical representations of men in the advert it seems likely that the line of text (arguably the product slogan) is aimed at them as a target audience. It asks the rhetorical question, “And you, what would you do for love?” Again, we can apply Mulvey’s hypothesis here as it subjectifies men, using the pronoun “you” to directly address them, but also the verb “do” which connotes action, an essential element of being a subject. The male audience is called to action with the rhetorical question, which is directly above the pack shot. The target audience seems to be positioned to respond to the question by purchasing the product that is directly underneath it. The typography, colour and language is also significant in terms of the stereotyping of the male audience. The bold and capitalised font has connotations of strength and directness, both stereotypical traits of masculinity, and the monosyllabic language connotes simplicity and directness in the intended male target audience. 

STUDENT EXAMPLES

Example 1:

Throughout this advert media language is used to construct and invoke stereotype build around both femininity and masculinity, one of the main examples of this found in the advert is contained in its typography, where a tall, elegant, cursive typeface is used to connote ideas of fragility, grace and beauty, serving to activate the stereotypical myth of femininity and what a woman should be. This stereotypical depiction of woman continues throughout the advert with the pack shot displaying a pale pink bottle with a bow on it, with these elements again connoting these traditional feminine stereotypes with pink being a colour commonly used throughout media to portray womanhood. The bow on the pack shot my also connote that this product is indented as a gift for a woman brought by a man with this being further enforced through the tagline which says, “what would you do”, placing the audience in an active, and therefore stereotypically masculine role. This tag line also suggests masculinity through the use of a bold, capitalised, sans-serif typeface which connotes sturdiness and confidence, juxtaposing the other typography found throughout the advertisement and invoking the myth of traditional masculinity and manhood. The adverts main image depicting Natalie Portman also reinforces traditional feminine stereotypes portraying her in a passive role, and presenting her as a sexual object, as shown by her lack of costume, presenting as alluring for the male gaze of the advertisements target audience and suggesting that if they buy this for their partner it may bring them closer to this ideal of traditional feminine beauty, which is a stereotype of beauty products, with the model here being portrayed with perfect hair and skin, despite the advert attempting to display it as natural further enforcing the stereotype of feminine perfection. 

12/15

This is a little too short to cover a sufficient range of example needed for full marks, but the quality of your analysis and expression is absolutely spot on. I would not change anything that you wrote, just write a little more. If you can include around 100 more words (450 in 25 minutes seems a reasonable ask) you will do exceptionally well. I enjoyed reading this.

Example 2:

Brand identity is immediately established with the logo (which is the name of the brand) written in big elegant black font, right in one of the “rule of Z” sweet spots meaning it is one of the first things to meet the eye. The font confirms the product to be feminine as a stereotype for women is that they like elegant and pretty products. Underneath this is a pack shot of the product, a perfume bottle. The bottle is a pastel pink which in the west, signifies femininity and youth; along with the bow at the top of the bottle signifying a perfect gift to get a girl. It’s suggested that this advert is aimed at men buying a gift, supported by the plain bold font saying “and you, what would you do for love” implying that buying this perfume is a daring and almost heroic action for love which adds to the romantic appeal of the bottle. Especially as Miss Dior is very expensive, this seems to be aimed for men who either are desperate to impress a new gf or love interest, or a man with a good relationship with his s/o. 

The woman in the poster is used to catch the eyes of a buyer, as she is in the middle of the page and nearly naked which appeals to the male gaze. The model is famous actress Natalie Portman which will make the brand memorable as she is an easy and popular face to remember. Being naked while covering herself with bed sheets suggests a sexual tone of this perfume which is very appealing to the male gaze, as well as the flawless makeup and hair with a sexy expression.  Along with the bold phrase next to her back, it can imply that by getting this perfume, your s/o will want to have sex with you and look as flawless as Natalie does in the poster. There is a slight contrast with the innocent looking bottle with bows and pastel pink and the naked woman in bed, however this would also appeal to the male gaze as innocence is often sexualised in media and in other industries.  

Excluding the brand identity, it doesn’t differentiate itself from its competitors as many posters for many perfume brands follow a very similar format. A conventionally attractive woman giving sex eyes straight into the camera (so it gives the illusion of following you), a bottle either in lustful colours such as dark reds or innocent colours like pastel pink, and a catchy phrase to draw in the purchasers. This advert could appeal for women buying perfume for themselves as they may look at how pretty the model is, and with unrealistic body type representation in top brands, may believe that they will feel sexy and appear sexy to their s/o.  

12/15 You did a really good job here. There is a good range of examples and you have linked with some of the bullet points around advertising. I would like to see even more explicit reference to the question (it's very easy to lose sight of that) and also, more use of terminology. Encoding, Decoding, Positioning etc. It's good, but those little touches will lift it to A star.

Example 3:

The use of typography to establish the brand name in ‘Miss Dior’ immediately establishes femininity through using a cursive, soft, italicized font, placed at the beginning of the Z-rule to immediately associate the advertisement with the brand identity. Continually, the advert further establishes brand identity through use of a pack shot directly underneath the text, drawing attention with its contrasting use of pink amongst the white background. In addition, the use of pink further continues the association of the brand with femininity, possibly alluding to a female audience, particularly with the general mise en scene of the left side of the advertisement. The bottle itself further conveys the sense of femininity through the pale shade of pink, a traditional stereotype for female products, as well as the bow which could introduce an alternative reading of youth or establish a male audience by implying the product as a gift to females. Between the brand logo and pact shot, the use of typography is further taken advantage of through the monosyllabic phrase ‘And you, what would you do for love?’. Through this direct mode of address, we can also get the sense that males are being targeted, particularly when the bow on the product introduces the idea of it as a gift. The brand’s use of a call to action with bold, capitalised font directly appeals to a male purchaser, rather than a female consumer, implying the brand intends its customers to be males prompted by their female counterparts.  

The brand continues the incentive for male purchasers by following along with the Z rule, emphasised possibly due to how it would be laid out in a magazine like spread, the use of actress Natalie Portman establishes a more memorable product with the use of a famous, attractive actress. Apart from clearly making the product seem aspirational in terms of beauty and associations with fame, the image of the actress particularly plays on the stereotype of women as sexual objects, possibly playing alongside the idea of ‘the male gaze’ and insinuating that the true consumers would be males, aspiring to have women like Natalie Portman. To continue with the notion of female sexuality, the eye line matching shot directly draws in consumers, particularly males, and connotates the preferred reading of sexual allure which is supported with her almost-nude like posing and costuming. This is particularly highlighted with her hand placement, which when followed by the Z rule connects from her direct eye line matching to the product, drawing attention to the sexuality of the image before promoting the product itself, answering to consumers desires and aspirations created using Natalie Portman as an aspirational figure for sexuality, therefore urging consumers to buy the product to fulfil the question posed at the beginning.  

13/15 I'm being very picky here in not giving you 14 out of 15. This is clear, precise and contains a really good range of carefully analysed examples. I feel that you could have included a touch more Media Studies specific terminology, and perhaps referenced the question even more often, but this is still A star. Highly succinct and packed with properly analysed examples. Do this in the exam.