Representation of Female Bodies in Fashion Magazines

The Changing Perception of Femininity in Print Ads

The use of femininity as a means to selling consumer products has been in practice for centuries . From artful pinups of beautiful women in flowing gowns used to sell theatre tickets and spirituous beverages in early printing history to centerfold spreads selling anything from bourbon to nylon panty shields in today 's fashion and culture magazines images of femininity have been exacted to serve consumer purposes throughout the history of advertising . This is a condition with direct implications to the way that women are

perceived by society , with the images projected in advertising often promoting unrealistic and rigid standards of female beauty , female sexuality and femininity altogether The ultimate outcome is the realization that femininity as seen in advertising bears a reciprocal relationship with the way that women are seen and treated in society . By viewing several print ads that apply specific ideas of femininity to their respective product interests , we can see that while the opportunity to examine femininity honestly has improved , there is yet an even greater opportunity in today 's unregulated media context to exploit feminine sexuality in increasingly destructive ways

To this latter point , we note that there are tangible impacts to the projection of unrealistically thin or glossy women such as the supermodels who generally populate the advertising world . Particularly the desire of `real women ' to more closely meet this standards can have the impact of inspiring eating diss in women . To this point fifty-six percent of all women are on diets (Pipher , 1995 .and eighty percent of girls have dieted by the time they reach eighteen (Brown , 1993 (Waits , 1 ) This frequency does not correspond with the presence of obesity in women , but instead matches a sense of social pressure inclining women toward outsized views of themselves and their bodies in comparison to that which is seen in the media . Young women in particular are bombarded by images which endorse a very narrow frame for that which can be considered female beauty . Though the advertising intent is to either entice women to reflect this beauty in their purchasing decisions or to use the allure of sexuality to manifest an attraction to certain consumer concepts amongst men , it is still quite a bit more often the case that the images and ideas presented will have the impact of influencing female self-image

This is , of course , not a new pattern . Of the changing tenor regarding collective ideas about femininity , advertising has at least held consistently that femininity exists within a far narrower framework than what is actually present in society . The images which have been selected to assert femininity in the precise context which is advertising have typically conformed to contemporary archetypes of aesthetic beauty . Therefore , those selected to sponsor consumer products tend to take on a rather homogenous shared identity , which is in turn foisted upon women in the general public . In contrast to the women who are handpicked to appeal to such qualities as thinness shapeliness...