Lecture 13: Gender Advertisements Flashcards
What major change did the invention of photography bring to people’s exposure to images?
People were exposed to very little amount of images before photography.
Who is considered one of the first models in the history of photography?
Italian Countess Virginia Oldoini di Castiglione.
What major shift happened in fashion magazines around 1913?
Conde Nast appointed Adolph de Meyer as Vogue’s first official photographer.
Who revolutionized Vogue’s covers in the 1940s?
Irving Penn and Erwin Blumenfeld, under artistic direction of Liberman.
Who is Erving Goffman?
A Canadian naturalized US sociologist interested in everyday social interactions.
What concept did Goffman use to describe social life?
The metaphor of the theatre (actor, stage, backstage, etc.).
What is Gender Advertisements by Goffman?
A monograph studying how advertising images reproduce gender stereotypes.
What was Goffman’s methodology in studying gender advertisements?
Empirical study of over 500 ads using frame analysis and coding non-verbal clues.
What did Goffman’s study hypothesize and confirm?
Advertisements convey an idea of subordination of women to men.
What is hyper-ritualization?
Exaggerated representations of gender differences widely understood by the public.
What is a display according to Goffman?
A behavior that communicates an understandable alignment in social interaction.
Do displays communicate specific messages?
No, they communicate social alignment or position.
How do humans use displays differently from animals?
Through culture, using specific appearances and behaviors to communicate information.
How does Goffman define gender?
A set of correlates that a culture associates with a sex.
What are gender displays?
Conventional representations of gender correlates.
What does advertising portray as natural, according to Goffman?
Socially constructed gender differences.
How are women generally portrayed in advertisements?
In situations of inferiority and subordination.
What five expressive codes does Goffman identify?
- Relative dimension, 2. Function ranking, 3. Ritualization of subordination, 4. Feminine touch, 5. Licensed withdrawal.
What is relative dimension in gender ads?
Social power is shown through height; women taller only with lower social class men.
What is function ranking?
Men portrayed in executive roles, women in passive roles during tasks.
What is ritualization of subordination?
Women adopt submissive postures, lying down or physically lowering themselves.
How are beds and floors significant in Goffman’s study?
Women and children pictured there more than men, symbolizing inferiority.
How does lying down portray women in ads?
As subordinate, dependent, and sexually suggestive.
What does elevation symbolize in ads?
High social place; men are located higher than women.
What is the bashful knee bend?
A posture showing unreadiness for action, suggesting insecurity in women.
What does a tilted head or body communicate?
Insecurity, worry, shyness, vulnerability in women.
What is the feminine touch?
Women gently caressing objects, showing delicacy, insecurity, and fragility.
What is licensed withdrawal?
Women depicted as vulnerable, disoriented, gazing away.
How are family relationships portrayed differently?
Women shown with similar status to men, but fathers more distanced, protective.
What was Kang’s research objective?
To determine prevalent gender behavior patterns in 1979 and 1991 magazine ads.
What was Kang’s hypothesis?
Women’s portrayals could change reflecting their new social status.
What two new categories did Kang add?
Body display and independence (self-assertiveness).
What were Kang’s results?
Few changes; licensed withdrawal and body display stereotypes increased.
What positive change did Kang find in cosmetics ads?
Powerful and independent female gender displays.
Which categories became rare by 1991?
Relative size and function ranking.
What shift occurred in ad content by 1991?
More single-gender ads, suggesting targeted audiences.
What was Lindner’s objective?
Study portrayals of women over time and across Vogue and Time magazines.
What was Lindner’s hypothesis?
Ads would change slightly but Vogue would remain more stereotypical.
What categories did Lindner use?
Goffman’s, Kang’s body display, Umiker-Sebeok’s movement/location, and objectification.
What were Lindner’s results on stereotypical portrayals?
78% of ads portrayed women stereotypically in at least one category.
Was there a big change over time according to Lindner?
Only a slight decrease in stereotypical depictions.
How did Vogue and Time differ in portrayal?
Vogue used more sexualized images, Time did not.
