FINAL image analysis essay

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.

 

figure 1

figure 2

figure 3