Post on 14-May-2023
Constructing Ideas of Femininity
A Context-rich Exploration of Young Girls‘ Advertising
Experiences
Dr. Francesca Morosi BSc, MA, PhD
Project kindly funded by a PhD Scholarship at Nottingham Trent University
•Introduction: Why a research exploring young girls’ femininity and their reception of advertising?•Literature review: GAP and research premises•Choice of Methods: addressing Authenticity & Complexity•Projective Techniques: examples & modalities•Methods of analysis: examples•Main Findings & Conclusion
Overview
“The image of girls and girlhood that is being packaged and sold isn't pretty in pink. It is stereotypical, demeaning, limiting, and alarming. Girls are besieged by images in the media that encourage accessorizing over academics; sex appeal over sports; fashion over friendship”
From the book: Packaging Girlhood
by Sharon Lamb and Lyn Mikel Brown
Research Questions1)How do young girls perceive, interpret
and re-negotiate ideals of femininity portrayed in current advertising messages?
2)In which ways can advertising generate negative feelings in young girls (frustration, inadequacy, self-loathing)?
3)Are there specific factors enabling young girls to critically respond to the stereotyped/sexualised representations of girlhood promoted by most marketers?
LITERATURE REVIEW
GAP • SYMBOLIC INTERACTIONISM (BLUMER, 1969)
• GENDER AS A PERFORMANCE (BUTLER, 1990)
• A CONTEXT-RICH EXPLORATION
• MEDIA & ADVERTS SYNERGIC ACTION
• ADVERTISING AS SOURCE OF MEANING
what I think it’s needed to understandadvertising effects on girls
MAIN RESEARCH PREMISES
A Context-Rich Exploration!
GIRLS’ LIFE WORLD
FAMILY, MEDIA CONSUMPTIONPARENTS MEDIATION, PERSONALITY, EXTRA-
CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES, BODY IMAGE, FRIENDSHIPS, ROLE MODELS
GIRLS’ INTERACTIONWITH ADVERTS
How can I address Complexity?
SHOWING CLIPS OF ADVERTS, FRIENDSHIP PAIRS INTERVIEWS, VIDEO-RECORDING
ASKING THE RIGHT QUESTIONS
How do I address Authenticity?
Children get easily……Intimidated! Expressing judgement or authority: tricky!…Bored! Making the child relaxed , the
activities fun SUITING THEIR TASTES & INTERESTS and providing choice
…Misunderstood! Use of visual prompts & validation
WRONGANSWER!
?Overcoming power issues: “I am not a teacher!” (Getting out of the school’s mind-set)
Children are the experts of their own world: there is not right or wrong answer! Role of the interested friend
6-8 PARTICIPANTS OF SAME AGE GROUP
EXAMPLES OF ACTIVITIESo DRAWINGSo POST-IT NOTES GAMES ON
FEMININITYo GROUP DISCUSSION AROUND ”BEING A
GIRL”, ADVERTISING, BOYS & CELEBS
o MAGAZINES CUTo ACTING & SINGING PERFORMANCES
Main methodsQuestionnaire - Interview to 37 girls & their parents
Phenomenological Interviews
With Adverts Elicitation
(2 rounds of peer-to-peer sessions)Follow-up InterviewClarify doubts in interpretation and fill gaps emerging from the analysis
Projective Techniques (pictures elicitation, cartoon completion)
• Family• Role Models• Body Image
• Media Habits• Extracurricular
• Parental Mediation• Make-up
• Interests/projects• Personality• Stereotyped femininity
• Critical skills
First RoundAdverts selected by
Researcher
Second RoundAdverts indicated
by Participants
TV ADVERTS DIFFERENT REPRESENTATIONS
OF FEMININITY
Very hard to find counter-stereotypical adverts!(only found a few ones)
Sample - Main Characteristics
Comprehensive Primary School in
Nottingham
37 Participants in total
Age 8 -1194% Response rate
Mainly White British Working Class Background
SamplingQuestionnaire - Interview
to 37 girls & their parents
Phenomenological Interviews
With Adverts Elicitation
(2 rounds of peer-to-peer sessions)Follow-up Interview
PURPOSIVE SAMPLESELECTION OF
31 girls(max. variation sample)
Clarify doubts in interpretation and fill gaps emerging from the analysis
Projective Techniques (pictures elicitation, cartoon completion)
SELECTION of16 CASES
(max. variation of critical skills )
FURTHER NARROWING SAMPLE
21 girlssecond round
37 girls
Body Image
ONLY 9/37 SATISFIED WITH THEIR BODY
WHO ARE THEY?Looking at their context (family, media habits, parents mediation, main interests)
Projective Test to explore girls’ femininity
Girls were asked to mark with different colour pens the pictures in the slide:
Red: Identification (“This could be me”)Blue: Aspiration (“I’d like to be like this”)Black: Refusal (“I don’t want to be like this”)
Modalities & Precautions in implementing projective
techniquesBefore: • Ensuring interpretation of the image
before starting test• Explaining clearly and in child-
friendly languageDuring: • Asking girls to provide a commentary of
their choices to gather full understanding
• Encouraging girls to make questions when unsure
After: • Random re-testing of some girl to check
reliability • Triangulation with other data (parents
questionnaire, observational, interviews)
Stereotyped Femininity Index (SFI)
An indicator constructed through girls’ responses to projective slides (triangulation with observational data)
"They look stupid! DBI"
“I want to be like them”
"She is very pretty but I would want to do and be more my things than pretty"
"They look cool, I love the outfits"
"What are they doing?"
"They are very pretty but show off a bit. That is definitely not me"
"I wish I was them""I wish I could look like one of them, they are all very pretty"
"A bit over the top!""It's weird!"
"They look pretty. Are they going to a party?"
Projective Slide no. 1
Which media content? Does it affect the way they embody
femininity? • TV
programs• TV
channels• Videogames• Magazines• Fav
websites• Pop
Culture• Big
Brother• Boys’
stuff
LowerSFI group
(Girls with a more counter-stereotypical embodiment of femininity)HigherSFI group
(Girls with a more stereotypical embodiment of femininity)
Can we see a pattern in their response to adverts?
Identifying patterns of response in subgroups of girls
Mirroring ModelGirls’ positioning towards femininity portrayals in adverts is highly reflective of their actual embodiment of femininity
Extreme Groups Analysis (EGA)
By focusing the attention on two “extreme” groups of participants (in terms of their response or “positioning” towards adverts portraying stereotypical or glamorised femininity) the analysis aims to detect whether there are particular factors in the contextual data set influencing girls’ critical abilities towards stereotypical representations of femininity.
Main Findings1) Girls’ response to (femininity portrayals in) adverts is
highly reflective of their actual or aspirational embodiment of femininity >> (MIRRORING MODEL)
2) The Influence of media operate through a nexus of mediating factors (confirming Klapper’s Reinforcement Theory, 1960) so that the effect of watching the same amount of stereotypical material will be different depending on girls’ type of “positioning” ,which in turn depends on mediating factors in their context.
3) Certain “protective” factors emerged from the context of a group of girls displaying higher critical skills, positive body image and a more fluid and diverse embodiment of femininity:• Living with both parents• Strong bond with a close older brother• Gender roles’ policy in the family• A satisfying and regular relationship with father• Regular extra-curricular activities• Parents mediation in the consumption of media
Blumer, H. (1962). Society as Symbolic Interaction. In (Ed.) Arnold M. Rose. Human Behavior and Social Process: An Interactionist Approach. Houghton-Mifflin. Reprinted in Blumer H. (1969).
Butler J. (1999) Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity. Routledge, New York. Hirschman,E. C. & Thompson C. (1997) Why Media Matter: Toward a Richer Understanding of Consumers' Relationships with Advertising and Mass Media. Journal of Advertising, 1997, 26, 1, pp. 43-60. Martin, M. (1997) Communication and mass media: Culture, domination, and opposition.Scarborough, ON: Prentice Hall. Mc Cracken G. (1987), Advertising: Meaning or Information. in Advances in Consumer research (Ed.) M. Wallendorf and P.F. Anderson, Provo, UT: Association for Consumer Research, 121-124. Mick, D.G. & Buhl, C. (1992) A Meaning Based Model of Advertising Experiences. Journal of Consumer Research, Vo.19 (Dec), 317-338. Phoenix A. (1997) Youth and Gender: New Issues, New Agenda. Young, 2, pp. 2-19.
Preacher J., Mac Callum, Rucker D.D. ,Nicewander W.A. (2005) Use of the Extreme Groups Approach: A Critical Re-examination and New Recommendations, Psychological Methods, Vol. 10, No. 2, 178–192
Main References