Comments on: The Evolution of Beauty Commercials: Once Upon a Time…

By: Feminist Fatale » 20 years of beauty ads

Feminist Fatale » 20 years of beauty ads — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 20:42:30 +0000

[...] here for The Illusionists look at 20 years of beauty ads and their changing themes, from the aspiring [...]

By: Alisa

Alisa — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 06:16:37 +0000

Glad to have found your site!! Advertising is especially disturbing now that I have children. I have to tell them how ridiculous many ads are, and that they do not depict real women.

By: elena

elena — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 09:18:27 +0000

Hi Betsy,

Thank you for your comment! And great to find you here

Hope all is well,

take care,

Elena

By: Betsy Stone Mazzoleni

Betsy Stone Mazzoleni — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 01:05:37 +0000

I completely agree with the above blog post. The “businesswoman” ads of the past focus on the woman being the object of the gaze of others (and hyper-aware and quite admiring of herself). They feel false to us today as many women work and women, I believe, do not feel especially adored or glamorous or powerful in a suit these days. They feel tired and common!

BUT (ahhhh) to be a woman who doesn’t HAVE to work, who is idle and who finds pleasure running her hands through shiny, soft hair . . . that’s a message hitting “home” now. We want to be beautiful in our personal lives. We want to have personal lives!

I look forward to future posts.

By: Cynthia at PsyShrink

Cynthia at PsyShrink — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 10:22:24 +0000

I believe these messages are reflection of burnout, particularly for women in their 30s and 40s who were exposed to the ‘business/career woman’ ads. While I prefer the business woman ads, they impose the message that to be successful, to have men listen to you and respect you, you must be and remain ‘beautiful’. There are many women who felt/feel overwhelmed by the ’superwoman’ ideal (i.e., be a the awesome career woman, maintain your beauty, and take care of a family), and thus, ads emphasising seduction/luxury might be quite appealing (regardless of how utterly backwards and dis-empowering).

They also might be a reflection of masculine angst and the desire to maintain gender roles. If beauty can be linked to seduction/luxury creating desire for women to take up these practices, rather than go for the high profile careers, then who benefits? Women then are returned to the position of being maintained/contained as dependent, subservient, and powerless.

By: Tweets that mention The Illusionists » Blog Archive » The Evolution of Beauty Commercials: Once Upon a Time… -- Topsy.com

Thu, 03 Dec 2009 16:26:10 +0000

[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by The Illusionists, NoCountry4YoungWomen. NoCountry4YoungWomen said: The Evolution of Beauty Commercials: Once Upon a Time… there were strong businesswomen http://ow.ly/I896 #feminism (via @illusionists) [...]