Freshmen year of college opened my eyes to many societal norms to which I had no previous exposure. Wearing absolutely whatever I want to class, regardless if I am in the presence of esteemed professionals who might be writing my recommendations someday? Sweatpants, Ugg boots circa seventh grade, and a sweater with a questionable stain on it, it is! The hookup culture? I wish someone would have told me before I started college that it is encouraged to be intimate with someone you met three hours earlier at an undoubtedly clean establishment. Accepted characteristics for women in today’s society? Learned that one from a magazine, Seventeen Magazine to be exact.
I am not sure about anyone else, but I am blown away by Seventeen’s ability to teach an eighteen-year old woman what constitutes socially-accepted traits for women. Who would have thought that a magazine focused on beauty products, fashion trends, and undoubtedly important information about Kylie Jenner’s new “boo” would be more beneficial to my concept of a female’s role in this world than a women’s studies course at a distinguished university or national news on the many organized marches around the country this past month? Honestly, it’s hard to grasp just exactly what norms I am referring to without a concrete example from the magazine. Let’s take a Playtex liner ad straight out of the September edition: The ad depicts a female, clearly an athlete, running through the streets of a city. She is in impeccable physical shape (I mean, there is not one inch of fat on her body), and is able to maneuver the rugged terrain and pouring rain with grace and ease. One can infer that she is on her period, but even mother nature cannot stop her from dominating her workout. In addition to the physically vigorous female and the scraggy environment, the advertisements and slogans for the actual liner aggressively stand out amongst the background with their feminine qualities. When I truly think about it, it’s an incredible feat. Playtex accomplishes two contrasting phenomenon through one advertisement. In my humble opinion, Playtex is at the helm of the feminist movement as they exude the empowerment of women through their various advertising techniques. Yet, the simultaneous use of advertising techniques that further feminize women manages to contradict every empowering notion within the ad. Playtex’s ability to inform women of the one thing that society is dead-set on never letting them forget is envy-worthy: in today’s society, it’s absolutely imperative that women possess both qualities of strength and delicacy. I have Introduction to Communications, commonly known as Comm 101 at my university, to thank for my ability to decipher advertisements and the techniques that are employed in them to address consumers. That being said, it’s a bit difficult for me to see Playtex’s ad and not analyze the message that they are relaying to viewers through these various techniques. Let’s start with Playtex’s impeccable use of interpellation, or “hailing an audience,” if you may (Iftkhar, 2015b). I have to applaud Playtex for using its advertisement to empower women. I mean, the woman is menstruating, yet she is still able to run through a rugged terrain, not to mention that it is clearly pouring rain. I cannot imagine another way for Playtex to sell this product, as I am sure that all women feel the absolute need to exercise while menstruating. What other way could a corporation capture an audience and empower women if not with physical strength? Furthermore, Playtex utilizes a common communication technique known as the mode of address, explicitly defined as the “construction of a relationship between the advertisement and consumer” in communications jargon (Iftkhar, 2015b). How is this relationship constructed, you may ask? Well, if you take a look at the female’s face in the advertisement, she elicits an intense, focused demeanor, which pulls focus from the background of the advertisement to the runner’s face- another one of Playtex’s attempts to legitimize the strength of women, both physically and mentally. Luckily for viewers, Playtex does not stop there. Communication students would go nuts about its advertising format, which continues to stress the idea of a tenacious woman - clearly consumers have yet to caught on to that. One of these fancy formats is known as the lifestyle format, which “shows the product in the flow of everyday life,” according to doctorates of media communications (Campbell). The female appears as though she is going on her daily run, as she is in tip-top physical state, so she must work out every day. She refuses to let anything stop her: the rain, holes in the ground, and her monthly gift from mother nature. Playtex is undoubtedly making a statement about women’s strength in today’s world: menstruation and other difficulties that women face on a daily basis are negligent factors with regards to their physical strength, as women are clearly strong enough to withstand any detriment. As I analyze this ad, I commend Playtex and its attempt to empower women. The company is VERY intelligent, however, as it makes sure not forget other necessary qualities to include in advertisements for women. Women would be foolish to buy a product if it did not exude feminine elements, as well. Clearly all women resonate strongly with “girly” features. Why would I, and all other women, buy a product if it didn’t scream female? Semiotics, which is an aggressively, fancy word that literally only means “the science of signs,” is the end-all be-all to the dissection of advertisements and their relation to the social world of which they are a part (Iftkhar, 2015a). One of these so-called “signs,” is noticeable in the color scheme of the ad. The black and white background of the advertisement is aggressively off-set by the overly girly, bright, pink and yellow of the liner packaging. With this imperative addition, Playtex showcases its knowledge of societal norms, with the empowerment of women comes the addition of qualities to remind us all that women are inherently female. This norm is also obvious through the font used throughout the advertisement. In harsh, black letters, the ad reads “Introducing liners with sport level protection,” showcasing how the liner is strong enough to withstand any physical activity, just like the user of the product. However, “Playtex” and “Play on” are written in a cursive font, suggesting a soft, delicate nature that the menstrual liner is reinforcing, just as those who use the product are expected to possess. I guess the ironic aspect of the publication of this advertisement is Playtex’s inability to ONLY empower women. I truly commend Playtex, however, for its ability to educate women on the necessity of simultaneously possessing contradictory characteristics. Not only does the corporation make sure to address the physical and mental strength of women during menstruation and other physically-bearing challenges, but it makes sure to associate feminine qualities with its product as well. Thank you, Playtex, for reminding me that in today’s world, it would be a mere shame if I, and other women, were not able to exude strength and mildness, intensity and delicacy, and tenacity and femininity, all at the same time. If a consumer packaged good SPECIFICALLY for females were not to advertise in this fashion, who else would educate women on their expected qualities, attributes, and personality traits? Perhaps the Axe commercials that objectify women would remind us all that we’re nothing more than an accessory for men? Maybe the lack of women in “tough, manly” industries like the automotive field or the countless “traditional” careers for women would remind us of our place in this world? We’re just lucky that the world has countless companies like Playtex who never let us forget that women will always be viewed as delicate little flowers, even when they are some of the strongest people to exist. I recently had a peer mention that he did not understand why women are voicing their concerns regarding societal norms, which aggressively sparked my interest in the feminist movement. Why do women care that they are pathologized in the media, in the workplace, and in society? It may be that women make 78 cents on the dollar compared to men for the same careers in the workforce, or that women feel the need to march in solidarity for equality as their reproductive rights are in question. Perhaps it's because women were not allowed to see the front line of military action until 2015, only 95 years after they were given the inherent right to vote in a nation that prides itself on the equality of every being. And then, I come to Playtex’s advertisement and see the root of the problem… In today’s society, the media is clearly the center of our lives. Everyone I know, from my 95-year old grandmother to the ten-year-old that I babysit on the weekends, is constantly watching television, scrolling through Facebook, or flipping through news articles. It has gotten to the point where the media defines how we look at the world, and those that control the media are the ones who control what we consume as viewers. Although it pains me to admit it, those that control the media are the ones who have money- Corporate America, Fortune 500 companies, and the undying desire to make money shape how the general public see the world today. If companies like Playtex continue to be monetarily successful in their empowerment and simultaneous degrading of women, how will this world change for the better? If consumers refused to buy Axe body spray after its intense objectification of the female population, perhaps these norms would have been addressed years ago. It pains me to see an advertisement within a magazine and immediately consider the stereotypes that it is perpetuating when I, and many other people in this world, believe that these norms should cease to exist all together. Someone once told me that a patriarchal society is something that we should embrace, and, although, corporations and certain governments have taken this to heart, I find solace in the notion that people of all genders have the fire to continue to fight for a world where pathologizing women is ludicrous. My nerves are placated by the pushback of the adherence to societal-required qualities for women laid out to them on a silver platter by a patriarchal society. I am reminded by the countless Facebook posts and comments by my female friends studying Engineering that this is not a fight we are willing to give up on, but one we will continue to embrace with open arms. So, why did I shame Playtex, you may ask? Isn’t the advertisement suggesting that women are able-bodied? The answer is yes. Isn’t it suggesting that the mental strength of a female is unparalleled, even in times of physical fatigue? Absolutely. So, what’s the problem...? I choose to answer the question I am raising with a few questions for you. Why do you think Playtex finds the need to advertise its product with contradictory qualities? Why can’t Playtex promote its product without the use of the color pink or delicate font? If more people, especially people in power, were able to raise these questions regarding a menstrual liner advertisement or the gender gap in the workforce, I believe this nation would finally be representative of the equality that it promotes. If people could look past surface-level analysis of the media and news coverage and dig deep into the underlying problem, equality would not be a fight, but a fact. Who knows, maybe if Playtex releases an advertisement that does not call for a second glance from a self-proclaimed feminist, we’d finally stop fighting the fight that never ends. |