Evolution of Women in the Media
Hannah Johnson & Olivia Murray
Leap 2
COM416
Abstract:
Advertising and media in the United States is greatly influenced by three things: business demands, media/ technology outlets, and cultural contexts. As the roles of women in American culture have significantly changed throughout the decades, so have their cultural contexts and the societal norms they are held to. This paper is going to look at the changing societal norms of women based on the examination of two pieces of propaganda.
The first piece: An advertisement published in 1953 by Alcoa Aluminum to market their new twist off bottle caps. The slogan accompanied with the advertisement: “You mean a woman can open it?”. This piece of propaganda is a representation of the societal ideals of women during this time period. The ‘perfect’ woman in the 1950’s was a happy homemaker. She greatly depended on her husband to do most things because she was weak, physically and mentally. Women during this time period who worked were seen as selfish for not staying home to take care of their families. Although this advertisement appears to have women in mind, it is actually marketed towards men because during this time period, they were seen as the sole providers of the family.
The second piece: An advertisement published in 2011 by PepsiCo to market their diet pepsi in a new skinny can. This advertisement, fifty years later, continues support the societal ideal that women are weaker than men and are held to a higher standard. Just like the twist off bottle cap, the skinny pepsi can is more suitable for women. While the societal norm in the 1950’s were for women to be the happy homemaker, the societal norm in the 2000’s is for women to be skinny and physically put together. The woman in this advertisement is depicted with perfect hair and flawless makeup. This advertisement shames the 99% of the US female population that does not live up to this high standard.
Media is reflectant of the harsh societal ideals that are forced upon women. If women in the 1950’s worked or were self-dependent, they were seen as selfish. If women today are not skinny and do not meet society’s standard of beauty, they are shamed and seen as unworthy. While the pieces of propaganda discussed below may seem harsh, the societal ideals pressured upon women during these time periods are even more cruel.
Women in Media in the 1950s:
At the close of World War II, media and its power were growing rapidly. Mass media, propaganda meant for the masses was distributed at rates faster than ever before. Most messages sent out during this time period were geared towards men because it was assumed that it was the men of the family who had the money to shop for the household. In the words of Edward Bernays in his book Propaganda, "And since social service, by its very nature, can continue only by means of the voluntary support of the wealthy, it is obliged to use propaganda continually. The leaders in social service were among the first consciously to utilize propaganda in its modern sense." (Bernays 147). Propaganda was, and still to an extent is, supported by the wealthy, therefore it reflects the views of the wealthy. In the 1950’s one of the most common displays of social status was the luxury of a housewife. Only the upper class could afford to only have one member providing for the entire family.
The 1950's were full of offensive advertisements and campaigns, many of which were projected towards women and the normalization of the idea of a housewife. Casual sexism in advertising quickly became the social norm. Not only that, but helpless women were idealized, rewarded and seen as more socially acceptable when compared to those women who were independent. It could easily be said that women were treated as second class citizens compared to men during this time period. The piece of propaganda below works to only further support these ideals. Leaders in social service, aka white men of the 1950's, knew what how to advertise when they created this piece of propaganda.
This advertisement was published in 1953 to market Alcoa Aluminum's new HyTop twist off bottle cap. The cap is placed on top of a Del Monte Foods ketchup bottle. The 1950's and 1960's are characterized by the 'Mad Men' era of advertisements. Advertisements during this time period were characterized by racism, casual sexism, strong gender roles, and the portrayal of the superiority of men. This ad was published before the second wave of feminism that began in the 1960's. The purpose of this propaganda was to sell a new product; the HyTop twist-off bottle cap, being sold by Alcoa Aluminum. Alcoa is a global aluminum company that produces bauxite, alumina, and aluminum.
This ad specifically targets women. The message that is advertisement is sending is obvious: the HyTop twist off bottle cap is so easy that even a woman can open it. Women should buy this product because they can finally open something without the help of their husbands. This ad also enforces the gender roles of the time: women are not only weaker than men, but belong in the kitchen.
The main production technique that is used in this ad is the use of claims. The claim that this advertisement makes is a commentary on how easy it is to open their bottles; aka so easy that even a non-superior woman can do it. This claim uses hype and exaggeration to grab the consumer's attention. Logos is the main persuasive strategy used in this piece of propaganda; whether or not it was successful is debatable. The 'logic' used is very much a reflection on societal views of the time. The claim that women are weak is seen in the public eye as a fact. This therefore explains why women would lean towards an easy-open bottle cap.
There is a very strong lifestyle that is portrayed in this propaganda. It portrays the average 1950's household in America. The 1950's was the era of viewing the woman as a "happy homemaker". If a woman was not married and childless, she was deemed unsuccessful. A domestic woman was idealized; if a woman worked she was seen as selfish. Through the eyes of society, a weak woman was a strong woman. Women 'needed' and 'depended' on husbands to provide for them, tell them what to do, and well, open bottles for them. This advertisement only further supports these ideologies.
In the 1950’s women’s roles in media and propaganda were more times than not to play the victim. Women needed to be victimized to that their male counterparts could be seen as more heroic and superior. The development of mass media, during and after World War II helped to further distinguish the gender roles of men and women during this time period. As time goes on, mass media develops and the gender roles or men and women change. As this change occurs, it is greatly reflected in our propaganda.
Women in Media in the 2000s:
Flash forward to today’s media and you will see colorful graphics and much better quality. When looking deeper you might see that women are still portrayed in many of the same ways, it is just hidden better in the twentieth century. In a way, many of the graphics are so appealing that this is what catches viewers attention. Back in the 1950s, advertisements were much more blunt. Today the real messages are hidden behind big brand names and editing. Take this ad published in 2011 from Pepsi for example. The advertisement is for a new diet Pepsi skinny can. Depicted is a women with perfectly done hair and makeup wearing bright red sunglasses. She drinks from the can out of a perfect straw, without even holding the can. The women is actually nowhere near the can. While this advertisement was meant to just highlight looking great and feeling good while drinking out of Pepsi’s new skinny can, it has a deeper underlying meaning. Women have always been looked at as the softer, weaker gender.
This advertisement is basically saying that women shouldn’t even drink out of a regular Pepsi can. The nice skinny diet can is much more feminine and acceptable for women.
There is another stereotype in this advertisement, and that is the notion that to be beautiful, women must be skinny. Present day media is filled with unrealistic expectations for how women should try to look. “Therefore women with naturally curvy body figures are forced to feel both self-loathing and ashamed about their own appearances. Thus, when advertisement campaigns such as Pepsi’s new skinny can are released, this body image issue is further intensified” (Freifeld, 2019). What Pepsi the company is doing is targeting 99% of the female population basically. The girls on the cover of magazines and advertisements have a very specific set of genetics, the 1% lets say. Even then what the public see is all photo-shopped. This advertisement by Pepsi is essentially partaking in the continuous body shaming that the media has induced upon women.
In a study conducted by Stankiewicz and Rosselli there were almost 2,000 advertisements examined in 58 U.S. magazines. Their findings were that in 50% of advertisements, women were sexually objectified. When taking a closer look at the type of magazines there was an steep increase in men’s; reaching 75%, while women’s fashion and girl’s magazines were at 67%. This study was conducted in 2008 so one can only imagine how these numbers have increased. “ In Western culture, the advertising industry has found great success in using the sexual exposure and objectification of women as a vehicle for selling consumer products (Hennessy, 2000). Women are depicted draped over cars, evocatively posing to sell bottles of perfume, scantily clad to model clothing, and seductively biting into a chocolate bar” (Vance, K., Sutter, M., Perrin, P. B., & Heesacker, M., 2015).The woman in the Pepsi advertisement is supposed to look sexy and appealing. By placing their diet pepsi with her they have instantly accomplished a sexual appeal. The woman is seen with the straw in her mouth with large plump red lips. It is not so much that her body is seen, but it is assumed that she is in shape and beautiful because she is drinking out of a Pepsi skinny can. “We can see clearly how her image was deconstructed so rather than looking at her as a whole we are only looking at a certain part of her body and this mainly makes her an object. Therefore we can see how this woman was represented in this ad as an object and more importantly as a sexual object” (Ritajarrous, 2019). While most would not see this at first glance of the advertisement, a closer look will show that the woman truly is just an object to benefit from.
In Edward Bernays’s book, Propaganda, he talks about how subjective women can be specifically to men in the fashion industry.
“A silk manufacturer, seeking a new market for its product, suggested to a large manufacturer of shoes that women’s shoes should be covered with silk to match their dresses. The idea was adopted and systematically propagandized. A popular actress was persuaded to wear the shoes. The fashion spread… The man who injected this idea into the shoe industry was ruling women in one department of their social lives” (Bernays, 62).
In this example Bernays showcases just how easy it is to have a product go viral. Another aspect of this is that the person behind women’s advertisements is most likely men. These advertisements that women see on a daily basis are created by men. In reference to the Alcoa Aluminum's new HyTop twist off bottle cap, this advertisement was designed during the “Mad Men” era. While this time of racism, casual sexism, strong gender roles, and the portrayal of the superiority of men in advertising has passed, much of its aspects still remain just better hidden.
Compare and Contrast
These two examples of advertisement are from very different time periods. There are many differences, as well as similarities. A difference between the two right away is the overall quality of its look. Alcoa Aluminum published their advertisement in 1953 for the new HyTop twist off bottle cap. That is over 60 years ago today. Since then monumental developments have been made as far as the look of advertisements. There were no editing or graphics involved in 1953. Photoshop was not a thing, what you see is what you get candidly. In Pepsi’s advertisement for their skinny can, the actual can appears to be hovering over nothing. This is something that simply could not be obtained 60 years ago in editing. Another difference is the simplicity of Pepsi’s graphic, while Alcoa Aluminum is a bit wordy. Some similarities between the two advertisements appearance wise is beauty or sexual appeal. Both women have very defined features, such as their eyebrows. They are also both wearing red lipstick which adds to the sexual appeal of their fuluptious lips. Another similarity is that both advertisements only show the women from the bust up. This may be done to give more focus on the product. For example the Pepsi skinny can is going to be used around the woman’s mouth to drink. Anything below her mouth may not necessarily be needed to be shown.
As far as the purpose of the two advertisements; they do have different goals. Obviously Alcoa Aluminum is to get consumers to buy their HyTop twist off bottle cap, and Pepsi’s to buy their new diet skinny can. Still the two do have similarities in a disguised meaning. Alcoa Aluminum is essentially implying that their product is so easy that “a women can open it.” This is degrading to the female gender, perceiving them as inferior to males. It is especially degrading because it is a simple task that any gender is able to complete. Instead, Alcoa Aluminum plays on the idea that women are the more fragile breed. Her red painted nails highlight the femininity and delicacy of a women (Visual Culture, 2019). The Pepsi advertisement is similar in this way. The skinny can is easier to hold, and the woman is depicted using a straw like she isn’t able to drink out of it like a man in a way. While these hidden messages are similar there are still different meanings. Pepsi’s advertising plays on the role that body image has in U.S. culture today. The simple message is that by drinking this you will be able to lose weight and look as perfect as the woman in the picture. Sending this message is harmful to women, specifically young girls who are most susceptible to developing eating disorders. Pepsi is a multi-billion dollar company, which means they have a strong influence on the public.
While these pieces of propaganda are from two completely different time periods, after closer examination there are still similarities to be found. The inequality of women to men is a factor that is used in both ads. With over 60 years difference between the publishing of each advertisement there also many divergences. The twentieth century has brought about an entirely heightened societal issue: body image. The 1950s still had feminist rights issues, but with photoshop today, women are pinned up against unattainable expectations. These works of propaganda need some revising, specifically by women.
Works Cited
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