Media studies, Vol. 11 No. 22, 2020.
Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.20901/ms.11.22.6
The Portrayal of a 21st Century Emancipated Woman in Perfume Commercials
Lana Gajger
orcid.org/0000-0003-2174-3025
; Faculty of Political Science, University of Zagreb
Viktorija Car
orcid.org/0000-0003-2799-8926
; Faculty of Political Science, University of Zagreb
Abstract
In the 21st century, the feminist movement is experiencing a new upswing. This process is particularly affected by the activity of female celebrities who promote and embody the idea of woman emancipation. The main goal of this paper is to identify the ways in which female perfume commercials present emancipation as desirable. By means of narrative analysis and the qualitative research method, we analysed five perfume commercials featuring female celebrities as their main protagonists. The common characteristics shared by all the protagonists in the analysed commercials is their determination and a pronounced sense of self-awareness and insurgence. They are extroverted, assertive, and prone to seeking excitement, competent and success-oriented. Their desirability is simultaneously determined by masculine behaviour, feminine aesthetics, the rejection of gender norms (with the exception of the slimness ideal), dominant behaviour when interacting with men, and the focus towards the future. The behaviour of female protagonists almost completely matches the characteristics of the postfeminist understanding of femininity and supports the fundamental determinant of feminism – the idea of emancipation.
Keywords
emancipation; postfeminism; fourth wave of feminism; celebrities; perfume commercial
Hrčak ID:
253382
URI
Publication date:
9.3.2021.
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