Representation of Women

1356 Words3 Pages

Representation is the way in which the media constructs aspects of 'reality' including people, places, events, culture, ethnicity and issues. Representation is a complex concept in which we try to understand how the media constructs its messages and how audiences respond to that message. For this essay I will be looking at the way in which women are represented in the Britney Spears' Fantasy perfume advertisement, and the 2011 Coco Mademoiselle advertisement featuring Keira Knightly. Feminism has been a social philosophy for quite a long time and over the last four decades the role of women and their rights has changed dramatically in the Western world. However, the female representation has stayed constant. Beauty, physique, sexuality, emotions and relationships have been the focus for female representations There is so much focus on physical beauty that other values seem to be excluded; this is not a realistic view of an everyday life for many women around the world. In perfume adverts especially, there are a lot of beautiful, thin, 'airbrushed women', who appear to seduce the man with their perfume. In this essay I will be studying the way the perfume advertisements use the representation of women in various forms including objectification, fragmentation and binding of the body. Objectification: to present as an object (rather than a person - to duhmanise) Fragmentation: to break up Binding: to restrain or confine as if with ties or responsibility or loyalty U.S. pop sensation Britney Spears has her own perfume brand called Fantasy, and the Coco Mademoiselle by Chanel is endorsed by Keira Knightly. Britney Spears is a global superstar, rich and successful. Although, she has had a lot of bad press for her behaviour in the pa... ... middle of paper ... ...gton Post', http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alex-leo/five-trends-the-advertisi_b_149354.html (date unknown) [accessed 20 December 2013] 'Male Gaze Illustration' in 'Laura Mulvey's Male Gaze' http://www.freewebs.com/elizabethbarnes/ (date unknown) [accessed 20 December 2013] 'Rape myths to be challenged in court by proescutors' in 'The Telegraph' http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/law-and-order/5012571/Rape-myths-to-be-challenged-in-court-by-prosecutors.html (date unknown) [date accessed 20 December 2013] 'Women Leading the Way' in 'Huffington Post' http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robin-amos-kahn/women-leading-the-way_b_3056013.html (date unknown) [accessed 20 December 2013] Coco Mademoiselle. Dir. Joe Wright. Perf. Keira Knightly and Alberto Ammann. Chanel. 2011. Advertisement. Fantasy. Dir. Bille Woodruff. Perf. Britney Spears and Nick Steele. 2011. Advertisement.

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