Conceptualizing Beauty: A Content Analysis of U.S. and French Women’s Fashion Magazine Advertisements

Abstract

Although beauty is a major industry, it is elusive and based on culture. The purpose of this investigation is to expand the idea of female beauty beyond physical characteristics through an exploration of women's magazine advertisements from France and the United States. Over 570 ads from ten women's fashion magazines are content analyzed. Among the major findings is that American publications consist of more hair care and makeup products than in France, in contrast, French magazines include more ads for lotions and perfumes. In terms of tone, people in American publications show more smiles, while people in France are more bizarre and sexy. American advertisements present more women, non-working women, and women as decoration than their French counterparts. French publications show more men with family and people in endorsement roles. Differences illustrate cultural priorities and beauty ideas.

Perception of the Young Adults towards the Portrayal of Women in Contemporary Indian Television Advertisements

“…Milner and Higgs (2004) explore in Australian television advertisements women are mostly portrayed in a stereotypical way, which are far from the actual experiences of women. Parallel results are also found from the studies on TV advertisements of New Zealand (Furnham & Farragher, 2000), Poland (Furnham & Saar, 2005), Korea (Kim & Lowry, 2005), Bulgaria (Ibroscheva, 2007), Pakistan (Ali & Shahwar, 2011), South Africa (Holtzhausen et al, 2011) and U.S. (Morris & Nichols, 2013).…”

Looking through Outdoor Advertising Images for Beauty in Argentina, Chile, Hungary, and Romania

“…Wiles, Wiles, and Tjernlund (1995) found in a multiple-country investigation that Swedish advertisements most often portrayed both men and women in family and recreational situations, while American advertisements showed a more marked distinction between gender roles, with a greater prevalence of women in more decorative portrayals, where they have no obvious role or contribution to the message beyond merely appearing in the image. In a comparison of women's fashion magazines, Morris and Nichols (2013) observed that advertisements in American publications presented more nonworking women and women in decorative roles than advertisements in similar French magazines.…”

“…Several variables were used to measure dimensions of women's beauty, including women's activities/roles. For one, and as was done in previous content analyses (Morris, 2014;Morris & Nichols, 2013), models were coded into five role categories: (1) occupation (dressed in a uniform or business clothes, or seen in an occupational setting), (2) family (pictured inside or outside the home with children or a partner), (3) recreation (portrayed in sports or other leisure), (4) model/celebrity (wearing or showing the product), and (5) decorative/ambiguous (displayed in an unrealistic setting, in an awkward position, or not part of the scene). Authority-like depictions were also reviewed with respect to three product affiliation groups: (1) user (model is using the product), (2) endorser (model is recommending or demonstrating the product), and 3symbolic (model is detached from the product or using it in ways not intended).…”

Unveiling Feminine Myth, Semiotic Analysis of Cosmetic Advertisements

“…However, these unrealistic ideal images of women lead to obsession with looking good, causing anxiety, depression, eating disorders and insecurity among women (Morris & Nichols, 2013). Despite this woman still trapped into the "beauty myth".…”