Sexualisation Of The Feminine In Perfume Advertisements In Vogue And Her Magazines From December 2017- December 2018: A Semiotic And Poststructural Feminist Approach

ABSTRACT

In the contemporary world of advertising, the highly sexualised feminine figure sells products (Haugg, 1998). The study examines, through the theoretical lenses of Poststructural Feminism and Semiotic Theories, how women are projected sexually in mass media advertisements, specifically, pictorial perfume advertisements in Her and Vogue magazines. It examines how such ‘sexualised’ images and (re)presentations of the feminine shape public opinions and perceptions on/about gender and sexualities as well as how the language of these advertising is used in gendered ways. Qualitative research and explorative research design were utilised because of the nature of the study. As a descriptive study, the researcher describes and analyses the linguistic discourse use of advertising language to establish whether the words accompanying the images (re)present similar forms of objectification of femininity in perfume advertisements and how this affects the overall message of the advertisement. Thirty purposively sampled perfume advertisements utilising images of the female body or projecting the feminine in highly sexualised ways in the magazines were analysed through the theoretical explications of Poststructural Feminist and Semiotic Theories. The two thronged theoretical approach provides us with the critical explanatory lenses through which we can identify instances of image and language usage that evince sexualisation in advertisements. The analysis of the advertisements indicates a purposeful, deliberate high proliferation and usage of sexualised and sexually provocative female images – often barely or scantily dressed. Most of the adverts project women as sex objects as a means to increase the product appeal. Advertisers utilise different provocative postures of women in highly sexualised ways to attract customers. The language used in perfume advertisements is also largely sexist in nature. Advertisers made use of sexist lexis, mostly as slogans and catchphrases to persuade, tempt and convince customers to buy perfume products. In general, it seems that in order to sell ii perfumes, perfume manufacturers and advertisers must sell sex and sexual appeal and not the perfume itself – at least not directly