Representation of Female Characters in Italian Television Commercials

1428 Words3 Pages

Old fashioned images

Apparently, very little seems changed since the time of the Goffman’s analysis. His search is not entirely comparable with the GEMMA ones, because it refers to different times, contexts, and media, but the majority of the detected representations has more than one point of contact with the survey of the Canadian sociologist. In particular, the Goffman’s role function, ie the association between masculinity and positions of power and femininity and secondary tasks, often related to the of the f home keeping and the care of the family, is also found in most of our sample, populated by many housewives and few female workers.
Our data also confirm the Goffman’s description of man as "naturally" placed in a working place, well dressed, and master of his emotions (looking cold and controlled in the 65.2% of cases).
Even the widespread presence of detailed shots of the female body, typical of the ritualization of subordination, can be traced in the sample of GEMMA: more than 90% of the close-ups is feminine.
Many of the women’s figures analyzed seem a crystallization of the traditional advertising models. The image of wife and mother prevails over the others. She is a simple and loving woman, with a reassuring middle-class beauty. A figure that often coincides with the housewife. Her model is well represented not only in the many cleaning products commercials, but also in the food ones, such as in the spots of the snacks for the children or the pasta for the family. An interesting example comes from the Findus spot of the Quattro salti in padella ready meals, in which are used typical registers scenarios of the Italian réclame of the Sixties, talking to a woman who is primarily defined as "mother" and "wife." The ...

... middle of paper ...

...azine advertisements”, Journal of Advertising Research, 14, August, 41-46.
Soley L., Reid L. (1988), “Taking it off: Are models in magazine ads wearing less?” Journalism Quarterly, 65, Winter, 960-966.
Tota A. (a cura di) (2008), Gender e media. Verso un immaginario sostenibile, Meltemi, Roma.
Venkatesan, M., Losco J. (1975), "Women in Magazine Ads: 1959-71," Journal of Advertising Research, Vol. 15, October, 51.
Wagner L., Banos J.B. (1973), "A Woman's Place: Follow-up Analysis of the Roles Portrayed by Women in Magazine Advertisements," Journal of Marketing Research, Vol 10, May, 213-214.
Wardlow D.L. (1996), Gay, Lesbians and Consumer Behaviour, Haworth Press, New York.
Zatta S. (2004), “Foto di gruppo con signora. Iconografie e stereotipi del femminile“, in Canova G., Dreams. I sogni degli italiani in 50 anni di pubblicità televisiva, Mondadori, Milano, 191-196.

Open Document