The Portrayal of a 21st Century Emancipated Woman in Perfume Commercials

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.