Woman and advertising
Introduction
Nowadays, advertising is omnipresent in our lives, and has a really strong influence in our decisions as consumers. The aim is no longer to inform us of a new product and its use, it is more to create a wish to possess a product. Moreover, advertising has become a centre of attraction. Television shows are devoted to it, a museum was created in its honour and we talk about it, as we would do with a movie. It can make us laugh; it can shock us, which shows that advertising has a link with the customs and the codes, which govern our society. For instance the Museum of advertising in Paris presents at the moment a retrospective about Chinese advertising from the beginning of the nineteenth century to the present day to show the impact of governments on advertising, the link between advertising and communist society and reflects the Chinese history.
Therefore we are led to think that advertising reflects our way of life and of thinking. The way to represent women is a good example of it. The advertising of the twentieth century shows indeed the evolution of the women’s status.
Historians sometimes call the twentieth century the "century of the woman" or the century of the "sexual revolution" (R. Aaron and JF Sirinelli) because the situation of women and, consequently, the relations between women and men have considerably changed in western societies, in particular in France. Even if the movement toward equality has still not been achieved, women have obtained a real political, economic and domestic power of decision.
The French woman came early on the labour market because of the industrialization and the need of labour, in the second half of the nineteenth century. The family and its needs forced the women to work out of her house but she remained a wife, a mother and a housewife above all. Nevertheless her coming on the labour market gave her a reduced power in front of a sexist society, which tried to send her back to her kitchen with allowances for the mothers. However in the sixties, her situation changed: because of her work (73% of women worked in 1965) and of the sexual liberation, she obtained a certain autonomy, which asserted itself progressively. In the end of the eighties, the French woman was independent and the equal of man. Almost:
In 1999, B. Majnoni d’Intignano, member of the Economic and Social Council, underlined the necessity to help the woman to conciliate her work and her children. The nineties represent indeed a search for new balance, for a mean to conciliate and maybe to re-conciliate the three fundamental functions of the woman: mother, wife, worker, which, finally, did not change very much.
How does advertising represent the woman from the end of the nineteenth century? How does it produce these changes in her social status? Until the end of the fifties, advertising gave us the image of a passive woman who was a housewife, a devoted wife and mother, and a symbol of beauty but was not allowed to speak.
From 1965 the woman’s image changed: she asserted herself more and more and advertising presented a new independent woman. She was no longer limited to the housekeeping and the children’s upbringing; from now on she worked and gained her autonomy.
Nowadays advertising sells us a woman who has different personalities: housewife, mother, and wife… But what has changed in fact is that the woman decides, she lives for herself above all and makes her own choices: marriage, motherhood…
I. 1900-1965 : The beginning of advertisement and the traditionnal role of women
Since the beginning of the XXth century and the first steps of advertising, women have been used to sell : they are an object of desire for men, and they represent by themselves a real market to take, because they are potential buyers. The advertisers’ goal will be to conquer this market, and to do so they will have to convince women that they need some goods and they are able to buy them.
Advertisers show off nice women images to advantage : they are everywhere on the posters to promote various products to eat, to travel or to take care of oneself.
But the advertisers are careful : codes are made to be followed, and no one will try to transgress them. A woman in advertising is a woman shown to everyone ; it implies that she must always correspond to the idea of woman.
Morals are still strong, so that a woman is not "lethal". Even if she can be nice, or become seductive, thanks to the advertised product, advertisers avoid being too bold.
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Several strategies are developed to convince without shocking : the well-known brand Petrol-Hahn guarantees nice hair with a girl from a domestic staff, which implies that the product is useful above all. The advertiser Emile Sevelinge will prefer a wild walkyrie with long hair to propose an hair dyer, showing an eternal model of seductive woman, able to do anything for her own pleasure. Seducing thanks to myths would be a manner to sell and not to offend. |
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The 1920’s are the theatre of a real evolution on the vision of woman in advertising: Paris welcomes a poster realised by Leonetto Capiello for the "Délices" pasta, which shows the first bare-legged pin-up. This new representation has a direct link with the state of mind of the "Années folles". In fact, it reveals that the times are opened to a moral modernization : married women are allowed to use make-up, and corsets are abandoned, so that the body is liberated. Such victories for women are very important for the future of women in advertising : the advertisers will try to take advantage of this freedom, and to use it as a reason to buy, because a liberated woman is someone able to please herself. |
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Yet this evolution may not be progress : it marks the beginning of the body’s exhibition for mercantilist aims. In the 1950’s, advertisers and manufacturers get aware that a woman has an unemployed purchasing power ; the growth of this power incites them to target some products to those specific needs. A seductive woman is not enough to sell ; the buyer has to be seduced too. Identification is a way to create the need : the consumer will see Sarah Bernhardt, famous actress at that time, or Ava Gardner for the "Lux" soap in Italy. This resort to celebrities, which will develop and increase in the future, identifies the buyer with a successful person and to all the qualities and abilities she – in that case – can represent. |
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The maternal streak is also used in advertising : the American Michael Wimbwen presents a chubby baby on his poster for the "Cadum" soap, referring to family, childhood, happiness and other values directly linked to home. Women will be very sensitive to the campaign and sales will rocket, much more than what they had ever done before : a good study of the target is able to create miracles, even if this case confirms that the most shared values are almost the ones that men consider as "feminine" values. |
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Another aspect of women is the housewife : many products for cooking or cleaning are created and proposed during the century, with more or less success. Washing machines, food-processors, "minute soup", every product is a help and time gained for a woman at home. Advertisers frequently refer to this aspect : in 1886, "Maggi" claims its soups can "lighten the burden" of women, because of the quickly-made cooking. Fifty years later, Moulinex expects to "free women" with its household electrical appliances, and it is true that those appliances have been a revolution in the woman’s life. |
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The end of the XIXth century saw many women going to work, as worker in the factories, as domestics or employees, so that the time for household tasks and cooking was reduced. Having less time restricts the possibilities for women ; but having a professional situation means beginning a long process of liberation. Work is money, and money permits to buy the products, not only the ones which are targeted to women, but also other products.
However, for the moment, the image of the woman conveyed by advertising is the place given in a man’s world : domestic and private domains are reserved to her.
II. 1965 - 1990 : Advertising and the evolution of the woman status
1965 marked a turning point in the French society. Until then the French values had remained those of a rural and pre World War the Second nation in spite of the economic growth. The French woman was already a (young) voter, but in ten years, between 1965 and 1975, she obtained two fundamental rights. In 1966, a law proposed by the deputy Lucien Neuwirth allowed her to be on the pill and in 1975, a minister, Simone Weil, defended bitterly her project in front of a French National Assembly frankly hostile and obtained its vote thanks to the votes of the opposition: abortion became legal. From now on, with these two rights, the French woman was the owner of her body. It marked the beginning of the French women’s emancipation, which became total thanks to the sexual liberation and her massive coming in the labour market.
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The sixties witnessed a progressive unveiling of the body with the mini-skirt. The stockings arrived as a liberator. Dim launched the seamless tights, and then the tights "As it is" (Tels Quels), which were neither smoothed nor ironed to keep their full elasticity and to give the body its full liberty. This friendly and affordable product entered fashion immediately: it gave a very natural effect, which was really appreciated in this time in which the hippy movement commended a return to nature. Besides the admen were influenced by the hippy movement and used its bright colours (a palette which includes the oranges, the red-pink-purple, the yellows and the browns) and its psychedelic design like in this ad for underwear. |
From the beginning, the publicity communication of Dim was based on the product and the brand attempted to stand out as an unavoidable fashion product with those slogans for example: "Tights are Dim!" or "Dim, tights are fashion too!" in 1965. From October 10th 1969, Dim belonged to the first advertiser to have commercials on television: its commercial showed a young woman’s legs, which already no longer shocked. The advertisements contented themselves with showing the way of life of the period. The brand also launched its famous music theme extracted from a movie called the Night of the Fox: this music is still associated with Dim nowadays.
The seventies witnessed the generalization of nudity. To answer the fashion of shorts, Dim launched therefore the non-stop tights "without demarcation to give your legs a new dimension". The new brain behind Dim, Marie-Christine Deshayes, was a real femme fatale with her long legs and her beautiful red hair. Many commercials were realized for cinema in which you could see the model in tights and panties imitating Marilyn Monroe: they provoked wolf whistles in the movie houses, which proves that the liberation of women had not become the custom. The border between what could be shown or not was not clearly established yet. The use of woman’s image and of her body’s sexual aspect was still shocking in 1971.
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The Dim publicity communication was keyed to the product and its technical side to repel in the background the erotic characteristic of the advertisements for tights which show necessarily the body naked or at least half-naked: for instance, one publicity campaign was based on the extensibility bigger in the back than in the front ("Flat in front, well-rounded behind"), which induced more and more comfort and liberty. "The new Dim tights are going to give the women back their woman’s body". A commercial was broadcasted: a young lady in her bathroom was undressing to show tights, which had "the shape of your legs and the suppleness of your body" because of its adaptable purl stitch. In 1973, the first editing, judged particularly erotic, was re-edited. |
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But even so the series of pictures taken in 1972 to illustrate a campaign called " Shattering legs" and showing a couple in passionate French kiss aroused no scandal. In fact, the sexual characteristic was here less visible and above all less destabilizing because this ad did not assert the sexuality of an independent woman but just showed a strong relationship between two young adults in love. The brand persisted nevertheless in showing a free and active woman: she hangs out with her friends and has fun (the girlfriends on tandem in 1969, the girlfriends in Courchevel in 1971…) and in 1974 a new slogan was launched: "in Dim, you are free, you are beautiful!". But generally the brand bypassed this problem: Dim diverted the erotic aspect of advertising for underwear by using humour: in 1975, some girls sang and danced on its traditional music theme but neither nakedness nor eroticism, not even an allusion. The bras belonging to women’s intimacy, the man was little by little brought in as a companion on an emotional level. The scene of a tender and accomplice couple represented a romantic man dressed and a girl half-naked (often in skirt and bra) in his arms: this production allowed the innocent discovering of the underwear. |
| The naked breasts on the beach launched in summer 1964 in Saint-Tropez, then the militants of the MLF burning their bras and more generally the giving up of the bra led Dim to centre its communication on comfort: the bra of Dim, "we feel better with it than without". From 1979, the women were presented as emancipated, active and independent on posters and extrovert, mischievous and sexy in commercials, especially in the one realized by Tony Scott. |
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In the eighties, a turning point was taken: advertising reflected the image of a liberated woman who lived fully her love affairs as a movie realised by L. Besson called "the intrepid" showed it. You could hear a voice saying: "I didn't understand a thing, a new Dim, a dangerous one, fearless and devilishly resistant, sheer Dim if ever there was one, sexy as ever…" Dim was crowned sexiest publicity campaign of the year. A new publicity campaign was launched to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Dim woman: the J-P Goude publicity campaign for the Diam’s, a new shimmering tights, insisted on the relationship between the woman and her Dim tights: she felt sexy with them, and even the tights became a male with the slogan: "His embrace… Diabolical". At last the Dim’ up arrived: it is stay-up stockings without garter. B. Pivot vaunted it and its commercial (" sexy underneath and great on top") in a national newspaper. In 1988, the brand launched a new bra in lace and adopted a firmly provocative tone with the picture of a young lady in bra and the slogan: "Dim moi tout!" (Tell me everything). |
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However in the eighties, comfort was not the first criterion of choice: the women tried to look as beautiful as possible. For instance, to keep her figure was the new preoccupation of the modern woman. It became even an obsession: in 1969, 15 to 35% of French women have |
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already done a diet and 20 to 60% restricted their consumption of bread. At this time, Dim launched a curving bra "to obtain these breasts" by reference to the picture. The posters were based on two pictures seen through huge glasses: a woman was wearing only the bra in white or in black and a sweater above the bra in the same position on the other picture. This production presented the way in which a woman sees herself and the way in which she is seen. These campaigns did not use models but normal women as we meet in the streets: the aim was to seduce the housewives by showing her that it is not necessary to be a star, a model to wear Dim’s underwear. |
The cult of appearance and the changes in the way of eating encouraged Maggi to adapt itself: the creation of skimmed stocks was meant for the women worried about keeping their figure but who wished not to refrain from gustatory pleasures. The argument given was: "the little plus which brings taste and gives your dishes a festive look".
To thwart the success of Wonderbra, Dim launched Soutien’up with the slogan: "you are the prettiest Dim of all!". For the very first time, the Dim woman spoke straight to camera/mirror for the new padded "Soutien-Up" bra, imagining reproaches her lover might reserve for her when discovering her loveliness was, after all, sheer artifice … A new lingerie campaign was launched with the slogan: "Cotton on the inside, Seductive on the outside" to conciliate the wish to remain sexy and the need of comfort.
We now have penetrated the intimacy of the woman, her love life and even her sexual life, which proves that the sexual liberation of the woman is now well accepted and is part of Western habits. Nevertheless, the feminists begin already to get mad at advertising, which gives a degrading image of women to make sell products, according to them.
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Undeniably the working population had become feminine: the rate of feminine working population increased from 36,2% in 1962 to 45,4% in 1982 and, in 1989, 11 million women work instead of 6,7 million in 1962. Their qualification increased constantly: in 1962 they represented 1/6 of the senior management employees, in 1982 they represented a third. But we must not forget the constraints, which lie heavy on women because of the different sorts of work they have to do like professional work, parental one and domestic one. The woman remained a housewife and often she was the only one in the family in charge of domestic work (cooking, washing-up, laying the table, shopping, housekeeping and so on…). To save working women’s time, many farming brands launched the ready-made meals: in 1963, Maggi diversified its range and launched the Mousseline instant mashed potatoes, the court-bouillons and the " three crowns" ready-to-serve dishes. |
The commercial for the instant mashed potatoes ready in one minute proposed to the working woman many different, easy and fast recipes like the Dauphine fries, the gnocchi’s or the toasted ham and cheese sandwiches to allow the housewives to vary the pleasures with the same product. So Maggi adopted the slogan: "Ideas for a change". The independent kitchen was no more necessary and was replaced by a kitchenette composed of a fridge, a microwave and a hob.
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However a French woman, even if working, could not bear a ready-made meal, which would not be as tasty as if she had done it herself. That is why in 1977 Maggi publicity campaign for ready-made dishes was based on the quality of the products used by the firm: a box of Paella is presented with the ingredients which enter in its composition and the slogan "The secret behind ready-to-serve dishes, is the price you put into it". |
The Vegetable Stock Bouillon (bouquet de légumes), Rich Flavour (saveurs corsées), soups and prepared dishes met with great success, which proves that the women stay less in their kitchen because of her new professional responsibilities. In 1980 two new ranges were launched: the instant soups and the Bolino ready-to-serve dishes with the slogan " Appetites grow with change".
The women who did not know how to cook, or who had not the time to, were convinced that they could still seduce a man thanks to the "three crowns" prepared dishes. Advertising became the champion of the working woman by giving her all the clever ways of ready-made meals.The eighties produced this new woman who led at the same time her carreer and her family.
The Elseve shampoos took on Cindy Crawford to play a sexy manageress who captivates her masculine managerial employees thanks to her shiny long hair washed with Elseve. Yet the women were far from being in charge of such great responsibilities and were under-paid in comparison with the men at the same level of qualification. But the exuberant advertisements of the eighties did not hesitate to exaggerate to seduce the women by giving them a highlighting image, which suited perfectly the independent and liberated executive woman of the eighties. So the publicity campaign for Senoble desserts showed a group of business women sampling the products of the brand and totally abandoned to the pleasure of the taste with the slogan: "Senoble, shame is good to feel" (c’est bon la honte). This commercial implied that the woman was the equal of the men, and even superior to him: she could indeed replace him at work but moreover she could have pleasure without him.
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However the woman remains a mother. That implies many constraints. For instance, 75% of working women who have at least two children wake up before 7 (B. Riandey and A. Michel in Les Femmes dans la société marchande). That is why the publicity campaign for Cadum, the famous soap brand, between 1960 and 1989 were keyed to the mother and her relationship with her children and excited her tenderness and her sweetness. In 1969, for example, a series of posters showed the pictures of mummies playing with their child and the slogan: "Why do Cadum babies have so pretty mummies? The new Cadum soap, of course!". |
| The soap packaging was changed to show a little boy in his mother’s arms with the slogan: "Cadum gentleness" and the posters re-used this picture saying: "Sweet as a baby’s caress". In 1984, once again, the new packaging showed a little girl caressing her mum and the posters were based on the same concept: a little girl took her bath with her mum and the slogan said "the Cadum caress, nothing is more sweet for your skin". But the sales of Cadum soap did not increase: it seems that the concept of the maternal tenderness does not seduce the executive woman of the eighties. |  |
A significant fact remains the non-reciprocity in the couple: the main feature of the domestic work seems to be its execution only by the woman. Besides the husbands remain opposed to the sharing of the domestic tasks: only 7,5% of working men whose wives work too find normal to participate to the domestic work. Yet advertising tries to change the mentalities, unless it rather tries to seduce the women by supporting them in their fight for equality. Thus, in 1987, on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of Cadum, the brand launched a publicity campaign in which a father held his baby boy in a towel with the slogan: "Now the Cadum babies have babies!" and it seemed that they take care of them. So did the 1984 publicity campaign of Maggi for a ready-to-serve soufflé mix. On the "before" page, a man disguised as an oriental wise man levitated a magnificent soufflé and on the "after" page, the same man held the Maggi sachet in his hands: "The magic formula to a successful soufflé!".
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This ad tries to include the men in the domestic life and its duties. Another layout showed the two halves cut in two and presented on one page, like a playing card. A playing presentation seemed to be an additional mean to attract the husband in the kitchen and make him participate to the cooking. The advertisement for Maggi's sauce powders was also developed on two posters: one presented an upside down man, on the other page all one could see were his glasses on the ground and his feet which led us to suppose that he was toppling over: "It drives me crazy! It knocks me out!" said the slogan. However the men remained far from the kitchen and the domestic duties. |
In the eighties the woman was therefore less represented as a housewife or a mother and advertising gave the man a new family role. The woman is active, ambitious, independent, self-assured, and sexy. Moreover she is no more marked out for marriage or motherhood: it is not a shame being single, in advertisements at least because in fact it has not really changed in the society and it remains difficult to accept for a woman and her family circle to be single.
III. After the 80's : The return of an equilibrium ??
After the eighties and the myth of the "wonder working woman", a strong resurgence of traditional values appeared in the nineties : Couple, family, children, all these values, that were supposed to be old-fashioned suddenly came back.
Advertising reflects in fact women's yearnings. They are indeed looking for an equilibrium : they refuse to be considered as the perfect submissive housewife or as the enemy of men. They claim their independence, and, at the same time, the myth of the mother reappears, both in society and in the ads.
The advertising for the Laguna (advertising agency Publicis) is a good example for this new phenomenon : to sell a car, a woman –in addition pregnant- is called on, instead of an aggressive or arrogant macho.
Thus, the woman can combine professional responsibilities (she is an ambassador in the advertisement for FERRERO) and maternal qualities (she is still the one who concerns herself with giving her child the most balanced snack, the most refreshing orange juice and the most calcium-provided yoghurt). These commercials are efficient because they reassure women, giving a positive image of themselves. They reassure the mothers who often feel guilty when they go to work, telling them they are giving the best to their children.
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Nowadays, women want to succeed in doing everything: being a woman, a wife, a mother. They are in a time of transition and refuse to prioritize an aspect of their life at the expense of one another. But the harmony between women and men and the equilibrium that women seem to have obtained in her life are illusory. Even when she seems to have appropriated some fields that used to being reserved to the men, the woman is represented by the advertisers in a caricatured or stereotyped way. For example, for a long time, the advertisements for the cars were only addressed to men. The advertisements praised the fast and powerful cars, until some surveys showed that the women took part in the choice of the car. That is why the admen had to take this previously ignored customers into consideration. |
| But the way they did it contributed to convey sexist stereotypes : in an ad for a software package, the woman chooses the car according to the colour of her handbag. This sexism can be much more subtle and pernicious : in many commercials, the woman is reduced to her role of mother. Her choice of a car is made in accordance with the characteristics that are proposed with regard to safety (to protect her child) and space (to be at ease once she is pregnant!). |  |
These ads are only repeating several commonplaces whose principle is to maintain the woman in a private area, in a posture of dependence and submission. In the majority of the advertisements, the woman is still represented as a dumb and seductive housekeeper. She cooks, does the housework, and seems to be quiet happy to do it.
The likeness with the commercials from the beginning of the century is striking and distressing. The way these hackneyed stereotypes are repeated reveals a kind of discrimination, clear, and easy to denounce, but hard to put an end to, in spite of the laws consecrating the equality between women and men. This archaistic stereotype of the woman is strong and stubborn, and, for sure, the advertising does not really permit to make it vanish.
In a strange way, this sexism can lead to a radically different representation of the women. Indeed, as a matter of principle, sexism reduces the woman to a caricature. She can be reduced to her role of mother and housekeeper, or in the contrary, be transformed into a sexual object.
Sex in advertising is not a brand new thing. The novelty lies in its statistical density and in the use of violence or of violent language toward women.
This phenomenon appeared three years ago and was called "chic porn". It was launched by fashion creator who began to show posters with women in erotic or really equivocal positions. The woman is represented as an object and as a subject of phantasms, with a strong sexual connotation. This trend has not been limited to the area of fashion. The admen did not hesitate to use it in many different commercials for several products, including crème fraîche!
During this period, the women in the advertisings were not only naked, they were insulted, they seemed to have been beaten… A part of these advertisings were supposed to be funny, but most of them were in bad taste.
This repetition of sexual violence really worried the feminist movements and was even, in 2001, the subject of a thorough ministerial investigation, after the consultation of several feminist groups, advertisers, journalists and marketing managers from some newspaper and TV channels.
The advertisers confessed that shocking permitted that the consumers notice the product among all those they could buy. It corresponds to an advertising strategy. The same holds good for the excitation of the sexual desire, that would provoke the desire to buy.
Nowadays this phenomenon has became part of every day life and there is no denying it corresponds to a huge evolution of the customs. Indeed, according to the French adman Jacques Bille, advertising is in fact a kind of mirror. In order that it has a meaning for the public, it must replicate a pre-existing element.
Advertisers follow the trend. They repeat social behaviour and try to go a little bit further. Indeed, an advertisement must be striking to be distinguishable from the other ones by the consumers. That is the reason why it can be aggressive or transgressor.
But, in reality, advertisers have not a completely free hand. They must be careful not to arouse reject and obtain a decreasing of the sales.
Moreover, most advertisements are aimed at women: for sociological reasons, a big part of the daily economic decisions is up to women. The advertisers as a whole are quiet prudent : they do not want to risk losing such an essential part of their potential public.
But, according to the feminist groups, this risk does not prevent the advertisers from trivializing violent behaviours toward women (which is denounced in the texts of the fourth world conference for women that took place in Beijing in 1995).
The advertisers have understood that shocking was not the only way to sell something. The transgression can be humorous. This worked very well for the crème fraîche whose sales were up 35% between January 2000 and January 2001.
This is a proof that the women can appreciate this kind of humour. Indeed, at the risk of repeating a stereotype, we can think that women buy these products.
Women seem to appreciate they way they are represented, or at least, not to be shocked by it, all the more so as men do not escape from this caricatured representation. In a way, there is a "restoration of the balance" and the men are derided. After a hundred-year-old misogyny, a brand new phenomenon is appearing in the advertising: misandry. In an advertisement for a mattress (Epeda), the "hero" shows weird analogies with a chimpanzee.
As well, in an advertising for Kookai, tiny men are roughly treated by a young pin-up. In the advertising for the orange juice "Joker", a man is assimilated to an animal that the woman has just acquired. All these humorous advertisements are appreciated, notably by the women. Indeed, in the ads for Kookai the woman is in a position of domination.
However transferring to the men's image, the degraded women's one is certainly not the appropriate solution. Moreover, the so-called evolutions of advertising are ambiguous to say the least, notably with regard to the nudity of the men. A few years ago, the advertisers said the consumers considered it repelling. Considering the increase of the commercials showing naked male bodies, nudity does not repel anymore and is even likely to be attractive. Male nudity, (as feminine one), is supposed to increase the sales.
Yet, it makes you wonder whether the use of naked bodies with a mercantile view can be considered as a real progress. Finally, the most disturbing thing is that even these advertisements (with naked men) contribute to convey stereotypes about women. These kinds of pictures are present in advertisements for household appliances such as a vacuum (Miele) or a washing machine (Brandt)…
As a matter of fact, the housework is still not equally shared out between the men and the women. However, evolutions have appeared since the fifties and men are nowadays more and more concerned by constraints such as housework!
Yet, in these advertisements, the woman is still considered as the housekeeper, as the one to seduce in order to sell domestic appliances. Advertising does not reflect this cruel and pitiless reality : the women could be much more seduced by a man who does housework than by commercials that urge them to do so!
If the advertisers can be ahead of the customs as regard the representation of bodies, we can wonder whether it is the case with regard to the representation of women.
Indeed, in some advertisements (for shampoos, liquids, domestic appliances), the women are treated as they were at the beginning of the century. On the other hand, showing naked bodies was inconceivable one hundred years ago and it is nowadays a factor of sale.
Do the advertisements reflect the evolution of women's place and role in society? In a way, we can assert that the advertisers knew how to adjust to the global evolution of the customs. Moreover, the way advertising treats women nowadays is not only the reflection of the advertisers' misogyny. It reflects as well the hippie and feminist movements' failure: They asked for equality. As a matter of fact, women have not yet got it.
LINKS
Few sites deal with the subject; we indicate you the most interesting.
an interesting site about French advertising since the beginning, about the history of the most famous admen and brands (with many pictures).
www.ladocumentationfrancaise.fr/brp/notices/014000536.html
a complete bibliography about women and advertising.
www.solidarite.gouv.fr/femmes/actu/doss_pr/pub/biblio.doc
French ministerial report about the representation of women in advertising.
decision by the European council about women's image in advertising and in the media.
Canadian site about the image of women in advertising. A little bit biased, but the Canadian feminist movements are very powerful and Canadian society is ahead of the French one with regard to woman's representation in advertising and in the media.