Tide Print Advert 1950s

This advertisement advertises Tide - a laundry powder launched in 1946 - it was used throughout the 1950s and the advert has typical attributes of behavior of the time. Before WWII it was frowned upon for women to have jobs, however once WWII took place women alike were encouraged to work in factories that created rivets, bombs and other weapons. Rosie the Riveter contrasted with the post-war representation of women.

Once the war was over there was slit leeway for women to be employed, however, only "women's" jobs. Although it was still frowned upon  at this time; women could work as teachers, receptionists and assistants but still attitudes withheld them from being successful. Also during this time, when soldiers returned, there was an instant baby boom. The combination of this and the "white flight" created the suburbs, a network of houses where families would live. Instead of employing women into jobs, society dictated that women should become housewives spending all day cleaning their house, looking after children and making sure they looked visually pretty for husbands and fathers. Tide's advert reflects these attitudes in this consumer culture. The women advertising the product creates unrealistic representations of women with perfect skin, make-up, hair and figure which has been created by society's attitudes.

Liesbet Van Zoonen was a feminist who fought against these attitudes and stereotypes. She pointed out that although women could eventually have the 'perfect' family and the 'perfect' house, there is still a 'hole' in there lives which isn't filled. The film 'Mona Lisa Smile' looks at this issue. It shows how these women in this society enjoyed an education and how they would like to go out into the world and have the same opportunities as men. Van Zoonen fought for a non-sexist society and for media to contribute to social change by representing women in non-traditional roles and using non-sexist language. She talks about this in her book "The Feminine Mystique" which has inspired many feminists thought it's publication.

Bell Hooks is another feminist who talks about how lighter skinned women were considered more desirable and fit better in western ideology of beauty. This is supported by the 'white flight' and is reinforced by the advert for Tide. It shows how the modern woman of the time was depicted as.

The target audience could be housewives and husbands. The advert appeals to housewives as it applies with the idea of 'Keeping up with the Joneses' as it is supposedly 'the next best thing' that the perfect woman that is depicted has it too. Husbands would also pick up that it is 'what women want' suggesting that it is the 'perfect' gift.

Uses and Gratification theory can be applied to the advert. The audience demographic demographic is constructed through the woman drawn. Women of the time are supposed to personally identify with her as future or current housewives who can identify the connotations given by the advert which will create the feeling that they have to buy the next best thing.

Stuart hall's reception theory can also be applied to Tide. The use of the woman being indirect to the audience connotes that he relationship with the Tide powder is of upmost importance further creating the sense of 'keeping up with the Jonses'. The dominant or hegemonic encoding of the advert's primary message and expectations is to be received by housewives.

This is idea can also be reflected in Cultivation theory- George Gerbner. Advertising developed significantly during the 1950s, in the late 1970s Gerbner commented on how these media texts affected audiences. Tide cultivates the idea that it is the best brand and that nothing cleans better or more is more desirable than Tide. Levi Strauss's Binary Opposites theory can be applied to the selling points on the page- 'cleanest' and 'whitest' instantly dissociates dirtiest and darkest to the cultivated audience.

Ronald Barthes's 5 Codes

Ronald Bathes's five codes are five ways of describing the meaning of a text in the media. He suggested that texts are either 'open' or 'closed'. If they are 'open it means that the meaning of the text is open to the audience and it can be interpreted in different ways, if it's closed then there is one clear meaning created by the producer.

Hermeneutic/Enigma code

The Hermeneutic code refers to mystery in the text, things such as clues and hints but the meaning isn't directly given. These enigmas in the narrative draw the audience into wanting to learn more about the product or the story. An example of this is at the end of 'Now you see me'; at the very end a stair case is shown through which forms the shape of an eye, this is located in the house that the organisation 'the eye' works under, this symbolizes said organisation.

Proairetic/Action code

The proairetic/action code refers to the building of interest and suspense on the part of the reader or viewer. It is created by having a narrative that could have a number of different outcomes. An example of this could be in Netflix's 'Stranger Things', in the very first episode of the series we see the character of Will taken by an alien-like creature. As the audience we have a need to see the outcome which influences us to watch until we are aware of the outcome of this.

Semantic code 

The semantic code refers to meaning being conveyed through connotations of words and semantics. An example of this could be in trilogy of Star Wars, the antagonist is part of  'dark side' and as 'dark' has connotations of evil we as an audience can identify this with villainy and as being antagonistic.

Symbolic code

Symbolic language is very similar to Semantic code but overall is a "deeper" structural principle that organizes semantic meanings. An example of this is in Pulp Fiction; Samuel L Jackson's character Jules has memorized a quote from the Bible- Ezekiel 25:17, throughout the film he debates it's meaning and this changes his behavior, this symbolizes his conscience throughout the film.

Referential code

Referential code refers to to anything in the text which refers to an external body of knowledge such as scientific, historical and cultural knowledge. An example of this is in the last episode of Netflix's 'Breaking Bad'; the last episode's title is 'Felina' which when separated gives the chemical symbols for Iron (Fe),  Lithium (Li) and Sodium (Na). These three elements are part of the chemicals that  separately make up blood, meth and tears (refers to blood, sweat and tears however is appropriate for the program's genre and story line).

Bell Hooks

In Hook's book 'Reel to Real' she discusses how the media has effects over the audience even though we are aware that what's on screen isn't real life. She focuses on how it effects black female spectators and begins to speak from experience. She believes that to engage in film was to engage in the negation of black female representation in the 
media. She states 

"Representation is the 'hot' issue right now because it's a major realm of power for any system of domination"

Gloria Jean Watkins, or better known as Bell Hooks is a African American feminist born on the 25th September 1952. She is influenced by figures such as Malcolm X, Martin Luther King and Toni Morrison. Noting a lack of diverse voices in popular feminist theory, bell hooks published the book Feminist Theory: From Margin to Center in 1984.


"Women in lower class and poor groups, particularly those who are non-white, would not have defined women's liberation as women gained social equality with men since they are continually reminded in their everyday lives that all women do not share a common social status."

She believes that feminism is a struggle to end patriarchal oppression and the ideology of domination. She has a very strong belief that feminism is a political commitment rather than a lifestyle choice. She further believes that feminism is a struggle to end patriarchal oppression and the ideology of domination.

Front-cover remake

The following image (right) is my attempt of a re-make of a guardian newspaper front cover. I have included typical headlines, strap-lines, splashes and jump-lines to make it seam somewhat realistic.


At the top of the newspaper i have referenced Ariana Grande, a popular pop singer. The guardian often has music icons and other figures of entertainment arts at the top band of the newspaper. This is shown in the other examples with Coldplay and Prince being celebrated or advertised. The typical 'the guardian' icon brand is bellow this and then taking up the majority of the page are political issues, debates and events. Although my newspaper cover only has events from British politics, other covers show political events from foreign countries as well. Unlike other newspapers such as 'The Sun', the guardian isn't swamped with large images, instead it is much more text based. At the bottom band of the page are ads which are also typical of the guardian newspaper

Leisbet Van Zoonen

Leisbet Van Zoonen was born on the 1st of May 1959 in the Netherlands. She has many feminist theories which are published in her books: 'Entertaining the Citizen' and 'Feminist Media Studies'. She talks about how in a patriarchal society women are objectified and men are voyers.

Patriarchy= A male dominated society.

Matriarchy= A female dominated society.

"in western society to be looked at is the fate of women, while the act of looking is reserved to men. Even if women do the looking they do not seam to do it through their own eyes[...] a core element of western patriarchal culture is the display of women as a spectacle to be looked at, subjected to gaze the gaze of the (male) audience"

Hegemony= Leadership or dominance; who is 'in charge' - "a hegemonic society"

Discourse= Discussion, debate, exchange of ideas 

"In feminist terminology media are thought to transmit sexist, patriarchal or capitalist values to contribute to the maintenance of social order"

Magazine construct many traditional representation of gender (in relation to domesticity, motherhood fashion and beauty for example) that relate specifically to the time and society in which they were produced.

Newspaper Analysis: America's Presidential Election 2016

This is the front of the Daily Mirror ‘red top’ newspaper when the news that Donald Trump Was elected as the next president of America. The main image is of the statue of liberty with her head in her hands, this suggests instantly that something has gone wrong in ‘her’ eyes, and seeing as she is the most famous landmark of America that shows power, freedom and of course liberty suggests that it is a big mistake. Furthermore she Is a greyish colour which contrasts to her usual green perhaps suggesting that she has been drained or she is ill.

The headline of the newspaper “IT’S PRESIDENT TRUMP…” doesn’t suggest that anyone is pleased with the election results the ellipsis suggests surprise or disappointment. The strap line "What have they done?" is perhaps linked to the statue of liberty as the expression suggests that this could be her question too.



The front of The Times newspaper has a similar tone. A third of the front cover shows Barack Obama, the well respected and successful predecessor to Trump, and Donald Trump who is the next/current president of America. The image has been chosen because Barack Obama looks unhappy with Trump winning the election, and Obama is often seen in a good light to the public.

The headline 'Meet the Apprentice' suggests that Trump could learn from Obama and is perhaps bellow him. This could also be decoded as Trump is only just beginning. At the top of the page there is a blue jump-line: 'How much will your house be worth next year?' This line is effective because it is short and personal.

Obviously the intended audience are not Trump supporters. Both newspapers have elements that suggest that they are against Trump by framing american patriots to show they are distraught. The unintended audience (Supporters of Trump) may decode these messages differently. They may not see Obama in the same light as the intended audience and therefore decode this as Obama somewhat 'losing' as Trump and Obama have had many disagreements.

Eurythmics - Thorn in my side

Eurythmics's music video for Thorn in my side debuted in 1986 and was directed by Chris Ashbrook and Dave Stewart. It depicts the band in a studio set bar with the biker gang Hell's angels, the band too are wearing leather jackets and trousers.

The music video plays with the idea of gender representation of the time and was intended for a female audience. The lead singer of Eurythmics, Annie Lennox, is the main focus throughout the video amongst other actresses and actors. She portrays a man, and certain characteristics that she uses which were typical of men at the time helps portray this. Firstly, the characteristics of her clothing suggests she is portraying a man based upon the social influences around her-she is the only women dressed as a biker whereas all the other actresses are not. Her short hair and style of makeup is very similar to male pop stars of the time such as Boy George, Prince and David Bowie. Another typical characteristic of men shown is the symbolism of the heart. Typical social roles suggest that men give women roses, but it could be interpreted that Annie Lennox portraying a man can still give women roses.

Stuart Hall

Stuart McPhail Hall is a cultural theorist and political activist

All representation of people and places in any media product are constructions of reality, not reality itself.

Different media language codes influence the meanings created by an image. Being given extra context for cultural codes like facial expressions impacts on the representation comunicated to us.

“Producing meaning depends on the practice of interpretation and interpretation is sustained by us actively using the code” - Stuart Hall

Stereotype= a widely held but fixed and over simplified image or idea of a particular type of person