The Construction of Female Image in Advertisements

王玥

Abstract：With the development of mass media，there are many advertisements in our daily life.However，the female image may have many restrictions，especially in the daily necessities.In this paper，I will use some examples to analyze the female image.

Key words：female image；construction；mass media

1 Introduction

About researches of language and gender，it lasts a long time.At the beginning of research，scholar may concentrate on the differences of male and female in words，voice and syntax （Zhu，2013）.It is a kind of structuralism perspective.They thought that the differences of language were caused by the gendering.With time going by，there is a new perspective to research language and gender，which is the constructivism.The point of this perspective is the doing gender （from Zhaos class）.The differences of gender are a kind of social practice，and it takes place in daily life.From the point of Zhu （2013），people may use some language which has the sexual features，and people will identity this social fact gradually.Even though there are some chances with the time or context.And about the identity，there are two kinds which are identification and identity.The identification takes place in the psychology aspect，or the identity is in reality.In this paper，I will use the constructivism perspective to analyze the construction of female image in advertisements.

In history，the status of female is always lower than male.In Feudal society in China，the lower status of female was fixed with legal provision （Wu & Yu，2009）.Although there are many feminists who advocate the liberation of female，there is also the gender discrimination in society.In nowadays，mass media is more general than before，and it plays an important role in spreading cultures and values.However，in many advertisements，many females are shaped the housewives or appendants of males.The roles of female are modeling，the status doesnt chance with the rapid economic and social developments （Lin，2012）.So in order to verify this phenomenon，I will choose some advertisements to analyze.

2 Data statistic

In this paper，I choose four advertisements from network.And they are the Safeguard（舒膚佳），Tide（汰漬），F(xiàn)otile（方太），and Jin Liquor（勁酒）.Every advertisement is video，and I transcribe them into text，and put it in the appendix.There are female actors in all advertisements.In this paper，I will analyze two of these advertisements with emphasis.

About the method，I will analyze the difference between language and gender with the constructivism.Some points are from the Zhu in sociolinguistics； and other theoretical basis is about the researches of functions of advertisements.From the point of Tang （2005），he pointed that the functions of advertisements are informative，persuasive and constitutive.And from Liao （2008），there are male and female when born； but the masculinity or femininity is coming into being with a set of social practices or behaviors.And the main concept is the social sex，or gender.The sex emphasizes the physiological characteristic； and the gender emphasizes the social characteristic.It is dynamic with the help of discourse or social practice in communication.

3 The case study

3.1 the advertisement of Safeguard

In the advertisement of Safeguard，it is a special edition to thanks to Mothers.There are little words in video.It uses a way of picture switching from 1992 to 2016.And it divides into six stages.The first stage was 1992，and she was a daughter of mother.Mother helped her wash hands with Safeguard soap.Next in 1995，she had to go to school and mother sent her to school.In 2004，she went to university by train，and mother was in railway platform.In 2010，she got married and mother was happy with tears.Then in 2012，she was pregnant and mother cared for her.The last stage in 2016，she became a mother and wash her daughters hand.In final part of advertisement，there was some voice.

“From the daughter of mother to the mother of daughter，there is always care.Thanks mother for long protection.”（從媽媽的孩子到孩子的媽媽，呵護一直在。感謝媽媽一直保護。）

In the whole advertisement，no words use to describe the role of father in family.Something in here is seemly simple，about living and schooling.So in this advertisement，the image of female is the devoted wife and mother.Why are many mothers or wives in advertisements？ It is the gender role establishment with fixed schema.Mothers should do these，and these are their responsibilities.And it is played by mass media，and there are no people to doubt.Sometimes，it can spread a kind of ideology or value； and people will accept this situation gradually.A set of behaviors fasten to female，and it keeps a relative stable state.

3.2 the advertisement of Jin Liquor

In this advertisement，there is some dialogue.

“Female：Dear，drink less.”（老公，少喝一點。）

“Male：the body belongs to me and family.”（身體是自己的，也是家人的。）

“Female：for healthy，drinking less.”（少喝一點，為健康。）

From the dialogue between husband and wife，the female plays a role to remain keeping males healthy.At the beginning，there is a scene where male are communicating with his friends and female are cooking for them.When male gets a bottle of wine，he finds a note from female that is a caution to him about drinking.In this scene，the image of female is virtuous and careful.And female should look after everyone in family，and female always do homework.This advertisement is about the wine； and from the social cognition，the wine is the representation of male.It is obvious that female is the appendant.In males life，female only can play a role in taking care and servicing.

About other two advertisements the Tide is a kind of laundry detergent，and there are one hostess and three mothers.Both of them pay attention to washing oil stain in clothes.Another Fortile is the advertisement about range hood.The female is cooking with much smoke，and male says something about protection for female.