Blog tasks: Representations of women in advertising
Academic reading: A Critical Analysis of Progressive Depictions of Gender in Advertising Read these extracts from an academic essay on gender in advertising by Reena Mistry . This was originally published in full in David Gauntlett's book 'Media, Gender and Identity'. Then, answer the following questions: 1) How does Mistry suggest advertising has changed since the mid-1990s? Mistry suggests that since the mid-1990s advertising has tried to present women as more independent and confident. However, even when adverts appear progressive, they still often focus strongly on beauty and appearance . 2) What kinds of female stereotypes were found in advertising in the 1940s and 1950s? In the 1940s and 1950s, women were mainly shown as housewives and mothers. They were presented as caring, passive and dependent on men, usually in domestic settings. 3) How did the increasing influence of clothes and make-up change representations of women in adve...