The fashion industry in a multibillion dollar business dedicated to the making and selling of clothes. The fashion industry is known to be significantly influential in shaping the opinions and views of society. Its impact becomes more influential when it is used in advertising. Advertising is the most persuasive medium in media, which ultimately allows for the shaping of ideals and beliefs in society. The media is a powerful outlet to communicate the roles that society should incorporate into their lives.
The fashion industry is so influential in pushing its ideals onto society which makes it the perfect medium to convey stereotypes, especially gender stereotypes. Society dictates its cultural standards into the roles of everyday life. Fashion magazines are greatly influential in portraying the idealized versions of the female body, which ultimately makes society believe that these are normalized images. Ultimately in fashion advertising, cultural influences are dictated in the portrayals of gender roles.
Advertising in fashion magazines plays a crucial role in shaping the views and opinions of society. Combined with media, fashion advertising continues to be a significant factor in communicating the roles men and women play in society. The way society interprets fashion advertising contributes to the opinions and dictates social norms. How society views sexuality and gender in fashion advertisements ultimately defines roles in society in addition to signifying the meaning of these roles.
Although women have made strides in society, in terms of solidifying the role of women in a male dominated society,women are still portrayed as sex objects, especially in fashion. When utilizing advertising in a global fashion magazine, the content can be seen as a mirror of culture. The cultural background of the viewer can be a determining factor in the way the viewer perceives images and content through persuasive images in advertising. Essentially, due to the fact that society takes direction from cultural factors, advertising is a direct reflection of such.
Thus, the study of a global magazine can shed light on cultural variations between the European and American editions of the same magazine. When researchers have chosen to analyze the impact that advertising has on viewers, it is almost always looked at from an aesthetic point of view. The study is usually analyzed from the perspective of body image and the relationship between fashion advertising and eating disorders. Although those topics are greatly impacted by advertising, the problem is that advertising is only seen a body image issue.
However, the impact of advertising goes beyond that of body image. Advertising has the influence to sell sex and reinforce the stereotypes of gender roles in society, and the impact that culture has on society has not been observed from the perspective of fashion advertising. Cross-Cultural Differences in Sexual Advertising Content in a Translational Women’s Magazine by Michelle R. Nelson and Hye-Jin Paek, supports the topic of cultural differences in advertising content. However, gender stereotypes and sexuality portrayed in advertising has not be observed from the perspective of cultural influences.
They note “Few researchers has explored sexuality in advertising across multiple countries or the factors that may contribute to content”(Nelson and Paek, 2005, p. 371). Though Nelson and Paek (2005) established that there are rules that dictate advertising guidelines, these rules don’t necessarily appear to be heavily enforced. By comparing the advertising between Vogue US and Vogue UK, analysis of the same magazine cross culturally, helped to define the differences in gender roles in two culturally different countries. The most influential women’s magazine in the fashion world is Vogue.
Vogue magazine is fronted by fashion maven Anna Wintour, who is credited as being the most powerful and influential person in fashion. Vogue is a global magazine, with 23 editions for various nations. The magazine focuses on beauty, health, entertainment and lifestyle. Due to its position in the global fashion market, the advertising in certain editions may reflect its cultural standards in order to align with the values and beliefs of the respective country. Culture can greatly affect advertising content, due to the fact that cultural views are not consistent throughout different societies.
Fashion advertising on a global spectrum, must differentiate itself in order to be sensitive to cultural expectations and preferences. These preferences and views can ultimately contribute to gender stereotypes, essentially showcasing what is expected of a certain gender in their respective societies. Essentially, due to cultural influences, gender stereotypes are reflective of ones culture. Advertising is the most persuasive form of media, which can showcase various cultural preferences and continually reinforce gender roles.
Research by Nelson and Paek (2005) explains the portrayal of Westernized sexuality in comparison to advertising in multiple countries. They not that degrees of sexuality differ cross cultures and that there are significant differences in the portrayal of women and sexuality when it comes to respective cultures. Essentially, the question leading this research is whether cultural factors influence the advertising fashion magazines, and if so are gender stereotypes reflected in the advertising.
Additionally, Helen Kopnina’s “The World According to Vogue:The Role of Culture(s) International Fashion Magazines” tries to make an anthropological connection between culture and fashion. Kopnina (2007) states, “Traditional anthropological subjects are closely related to fashion studies. These include ritual and ceremony, dress, body, gender, sexuality, identity, meaning and globalization” (p. 364). Cultural factors can also influence Cultural factors are greatly incorporated into the advertising
