Coursework Essay Draft

Q1: How is the female representation constructed to sell products? Focusing on advertisements such as Gucci Guilty and Paco Rabanne's Lady Million.

Bibliography:
1: Gucci Guilty advertisement- google images
2: Paco Rabanne Lady Million advetisement - google images
3: Male Gaze theory: Laura Mulvey's essay ' Visual pleasure and narrative cinema'
4: Image of Gucci Guilty- Google images
5: Image of Paco Rabanne 'lady million'- Google images 

6: Gucci Guilty review- http://www.examiner.com/review/gucci-guilty-eau-de-toilette-review Quote 1
7: Hegemony by Antonio Gramsci = http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/marxism/marxism10.html Quote 2)
8: Objectification of women of the lower class in the media ( feminist theory ) Quote 3= http://disabledfeminists.com/2010/02/28/feminism-objectifies-women/ 

In my coursework I intend to focus on the representation of women in the media, specifically focusing on perfume advertisment posters and magazines. Women are objectified and sexualised in the media by their body and appearance and the audience is frequently given the role of the male gaze, focusing on intimate and sexual parts of a womans body. Firstly i will focus on how the Male Gaze theory by Laura Mulvey (3) is used to explain how women are viewed and sexualised in the media; by the title of advertisements and images. Secondly the connotations related to perfume and colour schemes and also how marketing and design can connect other reasons why consumers want to purchase the product. Finally i will investigate into theories such as Hegemony (7) and Feminist theories and how they relate to the representation of women in perfume advertisements. 

The Male Gaze is a theory made by Laura Mulvey (3) , where she discusses how audiences are given a masculine role and see and interpret text in a males point of view.

I am specifically focusing on adverts such as Gucci (1) and Paco Rabanne (2) and how they show different representations of women. In the Gucci " Guilty" advertisement (1) , the woman is shown to be naked with a man about to kiss her neck. She gives full eye contact to the camera, making the audience feel victimised and specifically targeted. Also the image could show power that a woman may have over a man in a sexual and desirable way.

Whereas in the Paco Rabanne advertisment for " Lady Million" (2), the woman is wearing a low cut black dress, exploiting her chest to the camera. Her gesture of the hand shows a sign for money, which could suggest how women are seen as glamorous and on the hunt for wealth and fortune. This also relates to the stereotypical " Bond Girl ", wanting love, wealth and diamonds. She also looks very seductive, making her sexuality objectified to the audience.

In the Gucci advertisement (1) both a Man and a Woman are featured however the woman has full eye contact towards the camera showing that she is the main focus. Elements of the male gaze are shown within this image, portrayed by both the camera and the featured Male. The males focus is on the woman and only the woman. The male gaze theory(3) is that the media objectifies women by the way the male sees them. By his sexual facial expressions, he shows to want the woman for his lust and for her beauty. His full attention is on her body, which could show males interests in women and what their ambitions are. This portrays women as a sex object towards the audience and that Men want a woman who is beautiful to ful-fill their pleasures.

However the woman is also portrayed as to being superior to the Male. Her body is of a higher level than him and has her hands round his head. This shows that women can be dominant over a man and are able to seduce males into their sexual desires. Feminists would support this idea and that a woman can be independent and not necessarily need a male in her life.This contradicts the elements of the male gaze and that women are also able to take on the stereotypical roles of a male. However the perfume is called ' Gucci Guilty' which could suggest dishonesty and secrecy. The woman's eye contact is shown to be directly at the camera, not focusing on the male. Showing that she is looking out for something else to catch her attention. This could represent women to being sly and betraying a males love and trust; this is a negative representation.

In the Paco Rabanne advert for Lady Million (2), only a woman is featured within the image. Her body positioning is facing directly at the camera with a full length central shot. The colours of black and gold are used, which are associated with wealth, pleasure and luxuries. This is also relevant to her hand gestures as she is doing sign language for money. In both perfume advertisements, it is shown that purchasing perfume is a very feminine and sexy thing to do and that wearing perfume will attract males and wealth. Similarly to the Paco Rabanne Lady Million, colours of black and gold are also used to signify glamour and wealth, which is representing that all women who would associate with evening activities and expensive nights out are more likely to wear expensive perfume. They could suggest also ' dressed up' fashion which is relevant to evening wear. This could also signify the perfumes expense and that it should only be worn for special occasions. This is supported by a review made about the perfume on the internet:

"Gucci Guilty is the new eau de toilette from iconic fashion house Gucci. Gucci designs highly luxurious and trend setting fashions which are often sensual and appropriate for evening or special occasions." (6)

This relates to the theory of Hegemony by Antonio Gramsci. The term ' Hegemony' means that: "a specific class and social group have dominance over others." (7)

This is portrayed in the media by the way things are evolved around those of the upper class. These perfume advertisements have connotations of wealth, glamour, beauty and fortune; which all relate to those of the upper class. It represents that women of the upper class are the only ones focused on in the media and in real life. This objectifies women of the lower class, as they are deprived of such luxuries in their lives.

"It always comes from the perspective of a white, cisgendered, currently nondisabled, middle-to-upper-class, heteronormative, and otherwise socially privileged person." (8) 
This comes from the perspective of a feminist, that the media creates a biased representation of just the 'ideal woman'. However this still encourages people to purchase these products as they feel that they want to be seen like the ideal woman by others.