Miss representation”
Carol Pardun writes, “Is advertising a mirror of society? Or an agent of change? The basic premise is something like this: if advertising is a mirror of society, then the advertising industry is not really to blame for all the problems associated with bad advertising. We’re to blame.”
Introduction

Advertising is the process of communication whereby a person or group of people are persuaded to take some form of action, usually to make a purchase or participate in a particular behaviour. Studies undertaken by the Media Awareness Network estimate that on average, the typical North American will see 3000 ads per day (2010). With such a high level of advertising around consumers every day, is it likely that advertising shapes society, or that it merely mirrors pre-existing social trends? This is important because should advertising shape society, the high numbers of advertisements in existence could have a substantial impact to society’s wellbeing, as well as the ethical issues surrounding the messages and behaviours advertisers are trying to achieve.

The question of advertising as a mirror vs. creator of culture is one of the most debated issues of the relationship between advertising and society.
Does the image of woman represented in advertising shapes society or mirrors already prevailing social trends?

Hypothesis
The advertising media produces messages,images and ideas of woman, which therefore affect the process of social change.
Conclusion
The controversy between critical media sociologists, who emphasize the value producing function of advertising, and empirics, who are foremost interested in demonstrating how social reality is reflected in advertising, seems to have subsided in recent years, resulting in a compromise integrating both approaches

The history and change of woman portrayed in advertising
Depression and war: Changing roles

The Great Depression and World War II left indelible marks on society. Through the 1930s, ad copy continued to portray women primarily as homemakers
Woodbury soap featured what is thought to be advertising's first full-figure b&w photograph of a nude woman (shot by Edward Steichen) in 1936.

The conflict between women's actual role in society and the ways in which advertisers portrayed that role came to the forefront during World War II. While wartime propaganda encouraged women to labor for country and family, advertisers urged female factory workers to remain glamorous and keep the home running smoothly.

Many advertisers portrayed women in their newly expanded roles. For instance, Eureka showed three women in its vacuum cleaner ads—one in a military uniform, one in pants and another in typical housewifely garb.

By late 1944, however, women were being prepared, often through strategically placed advertising, to give up their jobs when the soldiers returned home. At the end of the war, advertisers began once again to show women at home, sometimes going so far as to suggest that a working mother was not a good mother. In an advertisement by Adel Precision Products Corp., a young child asked, "Mother, when will you stay home again?"

Return to the home: The '50s

During the 1950s, most advertisers portrayed women as wives and mothers. As more women entered the workforce, however, another kind of advertising made use of them as a means for selling goods and services. Those ads showed women as clerks, telephone operators and secretaries using the latest office equipment and office furniture.

Women in the ads are generally employees not bosses, followers rather than leaders; ultimately, the ads reminded readers that the primary purpose for women at work was to help men succeed.

Feminism and the '60s

One of the chief targets of the revitalized women's movement in the 1960s was the representation of women in all mass media. Advertisers came under severe scrutiny from feminist groups, women's organizations and students of mass communications. Advertising, although a target, also became an ally, as the industry provided a variety of venues and activities for the single, self-supporting woman.

A book called, The Feminine Mystique, written by Betty Friedan in 1963 also had a significant influence on women of that time. In her book, Friedan wrote how she wanted women “to seek new roles and responsibilities, to seek their own personal and professional identities rather than have them defined by the outside, male-dominated society” (Friedan, 1963) Her book was the spark that lit the candle to a social revolution and the Women’s Movement.

As the debate over women's images in advertising intensified, the National Organization for Women, founded in 1966, sought to eliminate gender-based stereotypes in the mass media.

During the '60s, emphasis began to be placed on the independent woman who, although married, drove her own car, had a fulfilling job and participated in or made major purchasing decisions.

Criticism and change

Ad executives were re-evaluating their portrayals of women's roles in society. A classic ad from that period came from the Polaroid camera campaign featuring actors James Garner and Mariette Hartley. Ms. Hartley was shown in a distinctly non-traditional role—fixing a car.

One of the turning points in advertising's portrayal of women came with a landmark campaign from Revlon in 1973. The Charlie perfume campaign featured confident young women in tailored pantsuits pursuing traditionally male-oriented activities

Its intent was to reach the contemporary, confident, career-oriented woman who was not inhibited by her sexuality. Market research (Advertising to Woman founded 1975) conducted showed that women were responsible for most household purchases, 60% of all vacation destination choices and nearly 30% of new car selections.

The superwoman

Advertising in the 1980s portrayed career-minded women as "supermoms," and the industry began to grapple with integrating the traditional and contemporary roles of women. One classic ad from the period was one for Enjoli perfume, which depicted a sexy but capable woman who could "bring home the bacon, fry it up in a pan and never let you forget you're a man."

In 1983, Jockey, a company known primarily for its line of men's underwear, introduced the "Jockey for Her" campaign (from Minneapolis-based Campbell Mithun), which featured real women representing a range of professions, ages and body types. The brand became an instant success; within five years, it was the most popular U.S. brand of women's underwear, commanding a 40% share of the market.

Emerging images

By the 1990s, Other advertisers also abandoned traditional strategies that had been used to depict women. During this decade, advertisers of traditionally male-targeted products—such as athletic shoes, cars and beer—began to focus on female consumers.

A new genre of advertisements came to the forefront, signaling a new attitude: "reverse sexism." Advertisers used the liberated woman's "I don't need a man" mindset to create new ads portraying women.

A breakthrough for women of color occurred in 1992 when Tyra Banks, an African-American model, signed a contract to represent Cover Girl in its ads; she was the first non-white woman used in major cosmetics advertising.

Research that showed a definitive correlation between eating disorders and advertising gained prominence in the 1990s. Because many female models were extremely thin—often two to three sizes smaller than an average woman—psychologists, nutritionists and activists focused on advertising as contributing to the growing numbers of girls and women suffering from bulimia or anorexia nervosa.

By the turn of the 21st century, many key positions in advertising were occupied by women, enabling them to exert a major influence on ad campaigns. Some critics of the portrayal of women in advertising hoped this situation would give rise to more positive images of women.
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