Bianca's Essay

The representation of women can be positive: challenging the roles and expectations of women or negative: reinforcing a patriarchal society. This essay questions how and why these representations are constructed in an advert for Gucci Guilty Perfume and Stella Artois beer.

Firstly the Gucci advert is in widescreen which connotes a dramatic cinematic experience to engage its audience. More attention is gained by the female character first seen in the text and her protagonist is signified through this. The protagonist has female dominance which is signified through the use of colour- everything is in black and white while her hair is gold/blonde. This colour connotes gold, power and divinity signifying her importance in the text.

The use of intertextuality in this text will appeal to a particular audience. The film references a great deal to the neo film noir Sin City, with the use of colour and the female dominant femme fatale character. Sin City appeals to a male audience due to the action genre, this trailer could also appeal to the same audience due to the intertextuality. In terms of the Uses and Gratifications theory, a female audience might realise and accept the protagonist in the text is a form of escapism and also a male gaze, by theorist Mulvey, and therefore might aspire, from Young and Rubicam's 4Cs, to be the object of male gaze too.

Though the protagonist is an object of male gaze, it could be suggested that she sexually objectifies herself to tease the audience. The protagonist puts her leg into the frame of the shot. As she puts into the frame, it signifies self objectification, allowing the audience to fetishise her body. Another shot, a high angle, of their sexual activities signifies CCTV and spying which is voyeuristic. The fact she is on top signifies her control of the situation for both the male character and the audience.

Not only does the protagonist exert her feminity through self objectification she also presents herself as an anarchic character signified by adopting male stereotypes. The advert begins with a long shot of an unknown character speeding down the motorway, which stereotypically would be expected to be a male character. However, the audience's expectations are challenged when a medium shot of the driver shows to be a female.

In contrast, women are negatively represented in the Stella Artois text. The most obvious editing technique used in the advert is the split screen: one side shows the female getting dressed and the other side is of the beer getting "prepared". This use of split screen signifies that neither the beer nor the woman know they have been placed side by side. This puts the audience in position of control as they can voyeur the woman, in a socially acceptable way. Audiences may identify this control as patriarchy, and also identify with the unknown male character whose presence is felt within the text. This text then reinforces the idea of a patriarchal society and that women are subordinated by men.

Not only does the female share the screen with the beer, but the screen is split equally between the two "objects" which connotes the woman is equally objectified to the status of beer. It is suggested the audience is male due to the female and beer subject. Though the advert is targeted at men, it also negatively stereotypes men as people who have little respect for women which however is a dominant representation.

A range of close up shots of the female are used to fetishise her body. There is a close up shot of the female's leg slowly and elegantly rising from the bath tub. On one hand this could signify femininity and her control over it which is the oppositional reading. However, the more dominant reading is that her legs are an important part of the female body and connotes a male audience who can voyeur her body.

The text near the beginning of the trailer says "the preparation" which is an enigma code as the audience question "what event is the preparation for?". It is signified through the shots that the woman and beer preparation is for the male through the use of action codes. Action codes of both the preparation of the woman and the glass of beer are the same.

Women are represented as people who prioritise their looks and appearance, and this ad reinforces this ideology. Action codes including close ups of her: brushing her hair, doing her make up and putting on heels strongly represent women as image conscious. It could be said that the advert reinforces this representation, which is always seen in the media. Funnily enough, it could also be said that the media itself is the cause of this representation as this ideal, perfect woman is always represented in the media, and women feel they have to aspire to it.

In conclusion, both texts females are the protagonists and are sexually objectified for male audiences to fetishise and vouyer their bodies. However, while Gucci’s advert’s protagonist controls her sexuality through self objectification, the Stella Artois’ protagonist is objectified by an unknown but present male character.

In the Gucci’s ad, there are many examples in the text that signify the protagonist’s female dominance, but it is arguable whether this could be seen as a positive representation. The dominant reading is that the protagonist exerts her female dominance over the male challenging the historical patriarchal society and even subordinating males as easily manipulated and easily tempted by women and sex and this would favour feminism. However the oppositional reading which would favour the ideologies of the Stella Artois advert, might be that females can control their sexuality, but it is still for the male gaze and male dominant society.

Contemporary and Historical adverts

This advert illustrates the "female gaze" and how the man is objectified which shows a dramatic change in society compared to historical adverts. However the close up of the womens faces and the fact that they are all attractive still shows the idea that women are to be looked at despite the actual contents of the advert which supports Laura Mulvey's theory of the "male gaze" in the audience



This advert heavily challenges the conventions of the historical adverts as the men are shown to be pleasing the women. The idea of men doing housework is something which could never be imagines back in the 70s. Despite being presented as "the new man" the main character still holds masculine attributes such as watching football.



Women are presented as housewives and "gossips" whose main aims are to keep the house clean, please their husbands and their children. Their facial expressions reveal aspects of "false consciousness" as they are happy yet unaware that they are somewhat being exploited by society and thus conform to the roles designated to them.






The advert portrays the woman as sexually provocative, due to her dark clothing and seductive facial expression. The galaxy chocolate can be considered as a phallic symbol which supports the theory that women's main job is to please men. The woman is a victim to the male gaze due to her attractive looks and the way in which she removes items of clothing and thus is perceived to be a "whore". The fact that she is receiving pleasure by eating the chocolate challenges stereotypes during the time which as women should not be able to give into temptation and indulge in things which pleasure them.

Media Guardian 100

What is the Guardian 100 and who are the panellists that create it?• Guardian 100 is the annual guide to the most powerful people in industry. Candidates are judged on three criteria - their cultural, economic and political influence in the UK. The list takes in all sectors of the media, including broadcasting, publishing, new media, advertising, marketing and PR. The panellists who created the Guardian 100 are, Peter Barron, Peter Bennett-Jones, Brent Hoberman, Tessa Jowell, Siobhan Kenny, Andrew Neil, Trevor Phillips, Chris Powell, Janine Gibson, Jane Martinson

How many women are in the top 100? What percentage of the list are women?
There are 21 women in the Guardian 100
What companies do these women work for and in what roles?
The women are listed below and I have included what number they were ranked at and what roles under what company they play.
• 10. Jane Tranter
Job: controller of fiction, BBC
Industry: broadcasting
New entry
• 18. Jay Hunt
Job: controller, BBC1
Industry: broadcasting
New entry
• 19. Lesley Douglas
Job: controller, BBC Radio 2 and 6Music, BBC popular music
Industry: broadcasting
2007 ranking: 9
• 21. Jana Bennett
Job: director of vision, BBC
Industry: broadcasting
2007 ranking: 11

• 23. Helen Boaden
Job: director, BBC news
Industry: broadcasting
2007 ranking: 29
• 25. James Corden and Ruth JonesJob: writers, actors
Age: 30, 41
Industry: broadcasting
New entry
• 26. Dame Marjorie ScardinoJob: chief executive, Pearson
Industry: publishing, digital media
2007 ranking: 41
• 27. Elisabeth Murdoch
Job: chairman and chief executive, Shine Group
Industry: broadcasting
2007 ranking: 54
• 30. Rebekah WadeJob: editor, the Sun
Industry: publishing
2007 ranking: 23
• 35. Carolyn McCall
Job: chief executive, Guardian Media Group
Industry: publishing, broadcasting, digital media
2007 ranking: 46
• 36. Gail Rebuck
Job: chairman and chief executive, Random House UK
Industry: publishing
New entry
• 38. Sly Bailey
Job: chief executive, Trinity Mirror
Industry: publishing
2007 ranking: 36
• 47. Arianna Huffington
Job: founder, editor-in-chief, Huffington Post
Industry: digital media
New entry
• 50. Dawn Airey
ob: chair and chief executive elect, Channel Five
Industry: broadcasting
2007 ranking: 50
• 52. Veronica Wadley
Job: editor, London Evening Standard
Industry: publishing
New entry
• 56. Jane Bruton
Job: editor, Grazia
Industry: publishing
2007 ranking: 71
• 66. Joanna ShieldsJob: AOL executive vice-president and president of People Networks
Industry: digital media
New entry
• 73. Caroline Michel
Job: chief executive, PFD
Industry: literary and talent management
New entry
• 83. Katie Price
Job: reality TV star, author
Industry: broadcasting, publishing
New entry
• 97. Eileen GallagherJob: chief executive, Shed Media
Industry: broadcasting
New entry
• 98. Emily Bell
Job: director of digital content, Guardian News & Media
Industry: digital media
2007 ranking: 97

How would you assess the balance of power in this list and why do you think it is this way?The balance of power is evidently in the benefit of men as the percentage of women is 1/5 compared to men. Also, the women that have been included in this list are all ‘top notch’as they are not average women who are being praised for their editing work. However there is still a glass ceiling visible from this list of women and their occupation we can see that they are still not as high up as men within the working world