An Analysis Of The Female Images In American Advertisements

It is well-known that advertisement belongs to commercial category, in contemporary society, with its rapid and tremendous development; it has become an inseparable part of our daily life. Advertisement, which can be used as a bridge to connect the products with consumers, which also can be looked as a mirror to reflect the real social life. Furthermore, it even can be regarded as a teacher, teaches a person about their roles in society, especially in regards to gender and sex. Because of its diversified functions and widespread, it has powerful impact on reinforcing our gender-role attitudes, values, perceptions, beliefs and behaviors. In the advertisements, females are used frequently as the models to show some certain products. However, as time goes on, women’s social status has experienced huge changes, in the meantime, advertisement, as a mirror to reflect people’s real life, it is sure that the images of women in it will continue to change or be improved, it must reflect the tendency of women’s improving status in the society.In the American vintage ads, women are often with a lower social status and dependent on men, the roles they played in the advertisements are always confined to the house-related settings or in some low-level working positions. Nevertheless, in this study, the author finds that the images of women in contemporary advertisements have experienced huge changes and become diversified.This thesis uses gender theory to analysis the female images in American vintage ads, and then the method of comparison research is used to make a comparison between the vintage ads and contemporary ads. After examining and comparing the information of the sample advertisements, the author finds that the images of women in advertisements are becoming diversified, and the female roles portrayed in the advertisements have also demonstrated new features in the form of appearance, setting and work condition. Finally, draw a conclusion that through the diversified female images presented in contemporary advertisements, it can be inferred that woman’s social status has been enhanced, and the impact of male discourse has declined.