Image
Analysis
The
gender representations in advertising have proven too often not be reflective
of the realities of female body shape in the UK. Advertisements use female
models that do not reflect the average female body shape, creating unattainable
social desires of a woman. Focusing on the three advertisements sourced during
research, the analysis will focus on the messages that the companies are
portraying, how the design approach communicates these and whether or not
‘physically attractive individuals are perceived by most to be socially more
desirable than those that are perceived as being unattractive’.
Each
of the advertisements present women in very different ways, despite all
attempting to sell beauty and fashion related products. The models in figure 1 are
all shown to have a similar physique; tall, slim, toned and young. The choice
to only present one body shape, which does not reflect the realities of the
average female body size in the UK, and title it ‘The perfect Body’ shows that
the company have constructed what they believe to be the most desirable body
form. The phrase ‘perfect fit, perfect comfort’ allows the audience to assume
that this will only be the case if their bodies look just as toned and slim as
the models chosen. Jansson-Boyd says that ‘physically attractive individuals
are perceived by most to be socially more desirable than those that are
perceived as being unattractive’ and this is very clearly evident in this
advertisement. In contrast to this, the woman in figure 2 is surrounded by
children, showing that advertisement companies are moving on from the idea that
the sexual appeal of a women is the most desirable focus. The advert aims to
reflect the ideal family set up, but by using a model that does not match the
look of the average woman in the UK, the implication of physical attraction
being more socially desirable is still very much present.
‘The
journal of Nutrition Education and Behaviour’ says that the typical body image
being sold as socially desirable by the advertising industry is ‘young, thin,
white, and heterosexual.’ Figure 3 presents a number of women with various body
sizes all lined up in attempt to show how every woman is unique and that there
should be no body shape that is more socially desirable than another. Despite
the attempt to represent the diversity of women’s body shapes in the UK, the
choice to not include any of the ‘young, thin, white’ models can confirm that “physically
attractive individuals are perceived by most to be socially more desirable”; as
this campaign appears to be focusing on the imperfections of physical ‘beauty’.
Naomi
Wolf says that women are made to feel as though they need to embody the
characteristics of the women presented in advertising so that they can be
considered attractive to themselves and others in society. But this comparison
may not be made when women see advertisements such as figure 3 as there is an
explicit focus on ‘real women’, highlighting that this body size is not usually
seen to be the most socially desirable. Botta (1999) believed that social
comparison theory explains that comparisons to those that are similar to them,
may make them strive to be thinner as there is greater self-awareness of their
own bodies.
Theoretically,
the purpose of advertisements is to sell products and to do so the models are
used to create comparisons and form desires. ‘According to Groesz, Levine, and
Murnen’s (2002) meta-analysis, women are significantly more body dissatisfied
after viewing thin-and-beautiful media images versus average-size, oversize, or
nonbody images’. So by taking advantage of the insecurities that can be
created, Dolce and Gabbana use models that do not reflect the realities of the
UK’s female body shape in the hope that it will increase the sales of the
products they are selling. Advertisements display idealistic scenarios leading
people to believe that the purchasing of the product will also provide them
with the “desired family lifestyle” presented in figure 2 or the social
desirability of the models in Figure 1.
The
use of type in the advertisements differs in all 3, but it is evident that type
can play a significant role in determining the point in which the audience
focuses on. Figure 1 shows a lightly coloured sans serif typeface across the
middle of the models bodies, ensuring that the main focus is centred to the
bodies of the models. With those living in urban centres being exposed to an
average 5000 ads per day, meaning that a lot of people will see the socially
constructed ideals of the female body shape that the majority of fashion
advertisements appear to focus on. Figure 2 also has the image as the main
element of the advertisement, suggesting that the constructed ideals should be
the aim for those who can afford the luxury products. Presenting this family in
a setting that allows us to assume they are of a high class exposes the ideas
that wealth and size zero female body shapes result in happiness and
fulfilment. When in reality, ‘Beat’ published that over 725,000 people in the
UK are affected by an eating disorder which often results in “social anxiety,
depression, eating disturbances, and poor self-esteem” (Cash & Pruzinsky,
2002), confirming that the inaccurate reflection of the average female body
size does not provide more happiness, nor can the products that the companies
are selling.
In
conclusion, the analyses of the advertisements have supported my previous research
into the inaccurate representations of the average female body in the UK. With
research suggesting that ‘women are significantly more body dissatisfied after
viewing thin-and-beautiful media’, there has been a positive change to a large
number of fashion advertisements as figure 2 has shown. The use of ‘young,
thin, white’ models is something still very much present in advertising but the
sexualisation of women seems to be less of a focus.
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| figure 1 |
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| figure 2 |
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| figure 3 |
