engleski

The Portrayal of an Emancipated Woman in Perfume Commercial

The portrayal of a woman in the media landscape has always been connected to the way in which a woman is perceived within society, but also to the way a woman perceives herself. The media have the power to shape our notions of desirability, create consumer behavior trends and even influence, challenge or reject gender norms. That power is often used for marketing purposes. Therefore, the capitalist idea that everything can be sold can also be applied to the feminist movement. While feminism itself has gained new platforms and is experiencing a new upswing due to evolving new technologies, social media, and celebrity feminism – by commodifying feminist values and ideals, advertisers often sell feminism itself carefully packaged as the idea of emancipation. The advertising industry in modern neoliberal societies exploits the concept of emancipated femininity. This process is particularly affected by the activity of female celebrities who promote the idea of woman emancipation. Given that perfumes are advertised and sold in a way that the protagonists symbolically embody the essence of desirability, the main goal of this paper is to identify the patterns of portraying an emancipated woman. We used narrative analysis to analyze five perfume commercials featuring female celebrities as their main protagonists („J'Adore“ by Dior with Charlize Theron, „Killer queen“ of Katy Perry, Rihanna’s „Reb'l fleur“, „The Girl“ by Tommy Hilfiger with Gigi Hadid and Lancôm’s „La vie est belle“ with Julia Roberts). The categories of analysis are gender norms, aspects of desirability, personality traits, and the behavior of the protagonist. The analysis has shown that the protagonists of the analyzed advertisements are extroverted, assertive, and prone to seeking excitement, competent and success oriented. Their desirability is simultaneously determined by masculine behavior, feminine aesthetics, the rejection of gender norms (except for the slimness ideal), and dominant behavior when interacting with men. The common characteristics shared by all the protagonists in the analyzed commercials are their determination and a pronounced sense of self-awareness and insurgence. Their behavior matches the characteristics of the postfeminist understanding of femininity and supports the fundamental determinant of feminism – the idea of ​​ emancipation.

emancipation, postfeminism, fourth wave of feminism, celebrities, perfume commercial

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