Tide - Representation

Question 1

Write three main points about the central image of the advert.

Answer 1

Dress codes - hair band, make up + styled hair (butler) aspiration female figure,

Hair tied back, prepared for domestic role (van zoonen)

Body language - loves tide (+ facial expression and heart icons), pose is intertextual reference to rosie the riveter

Question 2

How does tide create a version of reality?

Answer 2

Cartoon strips - fantasy world, bright colours + smiles (escapism from the post war world)

Drawings of beautiful women (bell hooks, “white women are idealised in media”)

Question 3

Apply curran and seaton to Tide

Answer 3

Male ownership results in misrepresentation of women

Question 4

Apply van zoonen to Tide

Answer 4

Women in domestic roles are idealised, never sexualised though

Question 5

How do historical contexts of the Tide advert impact its representation?

Answer 5

Perhaps male producers are attempting to re establish gender roles (van zoonen) after war.

Patriarchal ideas more accepted in the 1950s

Dress codes typical for 1950 women

Question 6

What is tides slogan?

Answer 6

“tides got what women want”