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Philology: scientific researches
Reference:

The aesthetic ideal of a modern woman in English-language advertising: sociolinguistic aspect

Galyavieva Leisan Shagiakhmatovna

ORCID: 0000-0002-6642-8945

PhD in Philology

Associate Professor, Department of Foreign Languages, Kazan State Academy of Veterinary Medicine

35 Sibirskiy Trakt str., Kazan, 420029, Russia

g-leysan@mail.ru
Karimova Anna Anatolevna

ORCID: 0000-0002-0908-8243

PhD in Pedagogy

Associate Professor, Department of Theory and Practice of Teaching Foreign Languages, Kazan Federal University

420008, Russia, Kazan, Kremlevskaya str., 18

an.carimova2012@yandex.ru
Khasanova Oksana Vladimirovna

ORCID: 0000-0002-4979-3238

PhD in Pedagogy

Associate Professor, Department of Theory and Practice of Teaching Foreign Languages, Kazan Federal University

420 008, Russia, Kazan, Kremlevskaya str., 18

oxana.khasan@yandex.ru

DOI:

10.7256/2454-0749.2023.10.44198

EDN:

EXCWCR

Received:

02-10-2023


Published:

06-11-2023


Abstract: This article is devoted to the topic of gender stereotypes and ways of their verbalization in language by the example of the aesthetic ideal of a modern woman in the texts of English-language advertising. The rapid development of feminism as a social and cultural phenomenon has been reflected in various types of discourse – from artistic to advertising. The redistribution of social roles between women and men caused, first of all, the transformation of the image of an ideal woman both at the level of external characteristics and at the level of the axiological paradigm of a woman's personality as a full-fledged member of society. The main means of constructing the concept of the "ideal woman" at the text level are keywords. The lexical and semantic analysis of the description of women in English-language advertising allowed us to make our own classification of the dominant components of the aesthetic ideal of a modern woman based on the theory of archetypes, which determines the novelty of the study. The most famous archetypes of ancient Greek goddesses are taken as a basis. It has been established that the modern English-language advertising text extrapolates four leading archetypes: "the seductress woman" (Aphrodite), "the hearth keeper woman" (Hestia), "the independent woman" (Artemis) and "the warrior woman" (Athena). The choice of an archetype is carried out according to the practical and social orientation of the advertised product. The perspective of the research is seen in the comparison of these archetypes with female images in Russian advertising discourse, taking into account the specifics of linguistic, cultural and sociolinguistic identity


Keywords:

English language, advertising text, gender, gender stereotypes, aesthetic ideal, archetype, Aphrodite, Hestia, Artemis, Athena

This article is automatically translated.

 The peculiarity of the formation of any language is not only its spontaneity, but also close interaction with culture, thinking, society, as well as the ability of its speakers to recognize categories of reality, "expose" them in linguistic form and transmit them in the form of speech patterns or stereotypes.

The history of codification of such a phenomenon as gender in linguistic reality traces its history back to the moment when people realized their gender identity. However, at present, under the influence of changes in society, which are characterized by the redistribution of the social status of the sexes, the gender concept and gender stereotypes are no longer viewed through the prism of the biological characteristics of a person, but from the point of view of her social and cultural life.

In the focus of this article, the gender aspect is considered as a factor determining the peculiarities of the choice of lexical and semantic means based on well-known female mythological archetypes when constructing the aesthetic ideal of a modern woman in an English-language advertising text.

The relevance of this study is due to the growing interest of scientists in advertising texts due to their short form and complex semantic and structural organization, which takes into account not only language rules, but also cognitive, psycholinguistic and cultural principles of creating works of advertising discourse.

Some aspects of advertising texts as objects of linguistic analysis are currently considered by T. G. Dobrosklonskaya [4], S. V. Mosheva [7], E. N. Serdobintseva [9], D. Ogilvy [8]. Gender aspects of advertising discourse are reflected in the works of I. V. Groshev [2], A. A. Dudareva [5], I. Asema [12] and others. In addition, there are publications by K. Lindner [15], S. Blud [13], R. Kolman [14] and others devoted to the analysis of images of women and men in the English-speaking picture of the world.

However, the question still remains unresolved: what is the ideal woman in the framework of modern advertising discourse in the light of the correlation of well-known female mythological archetypes and the social transformation of national and cultural ideals for the English-speaking society? Has the range of images in which a woman is represented in modern advertising expanded? What lexical and semantic means prevail in the description of the image that should attract the target audience?

The purpose of this article is to describe the most stable mythological archetypes as aesthetic ideals of modern women and ways of their verbalization, appearing in the English–language advertising discourse. The research material was obtained by continuous sampling from popular publications Vogue (V) [21], Cosmopolitan (C) [17], Shape (Sh) [20], Elle (E) [18], Baby's and beyond (BB) [16], Parents (P) [19] on in English. A total of 200 texts were selected for analysis. The novelty of the work lies in the author's proposed classification of female images based on the most famous ancient Greek goddesses.

Advertising, or an advertising message, is a kind of communicative process aimed at establishing effective contact between the producer and the consumer through verbal and nonverbal information [3, p. 1350]. The text representing the advertising message realizes its pragmatism at almost all language levels [1, p. 21]. In our opinion, the lexical level has the dominant suggestive potential.

It is almost impossible to overestimate the influence of the advertising industry, in particular, the content of the advertising text on the process of world modeling of modern reality in the minds of native speakers, including in the field of gender stereotypes formation. This can manifest itself not only at the level of creating actual images of men and women, but also on the projection of interpersonal relations between the sexes, as well as on the perception of their basic social roles. Subsequently, it is stereotypes that influence the self-determination of a person, her adequate self-esteem and attitude to what is happening.

When creating English-language advertising, the key concept for a copywriter is an "aesthetic ideal", which should be understood as "a historically concrete, sensual representation or concept of what is due as beautiful, materialized in art, in the practice of public life and people's productive activities" [6, p. 32].

The basis of the construction of any recognizable image for consumers is the archetype, that is, literally the "primary model", based on the general psychological experience of the people and described in detail in the theory of K. Jung [11]. Such archetypal images are timeless and can be repeated in any era in any society. This kind of universality of archetypes reduces the level of criticality in the perception of the advertising text and makes, under the influence of the collective unconscious, extrapolate the given characteristics of women to their own personality.

Based on the analyzed empirical material, we proposed an optimal classification of images of ideal women in the English-speaking advertising space based on archetypes of ancient Greek goddesses, the most famous mythological images fixed in the social experience of almost all peoples.

1. The archetype of the "seductress" (Aphrodite).

A woman of this type, depicted in the advertisement, realizes the goal of using her sexual attractiveness to attract love and romantic relationships. The archetype is based on the mythological origin of the goddess of love and beauty, who appeared from the sea foam and captivates with her attractiveness. Consequently, the external side of the image within the framework of the social order comes out on top in the narrative of such an advertising text [10, p. 375].

Radiant skin is considered one of the desirable, ideal signs of women's appearance, and it often appears as a keyword in advertising texts: Glowing skin is a natural canvas for jewelry designer (C); real, dewy glow from within (C); 7 nightstogorous (V), radiant younger-looking skin (V). Youth is another hypostasis of the goddess girl, in this regard, rejuvenation is often used as the central idea in advertising:  the Simply Ageless(V); You'll see younger-looking skin in just one week (V); looks younger for longer (C); In one month, see more youthful skin (C); Wake up to youthful, hydrated skin (BB); Keep the fragile skin below your chin looking youthful with our expert secrets (Sh); the sparkle of youth is in your eyes (Sh); Youth is back (Sh).

The attractiveness of the Aphrodite woman is also verbalized through the description of shining hair: Keep hair sleek, Hair satys smooth even in 97% humidity (Sh); glam, shimmering (C); natural shine (C); attractive description of parts of the face (eyes, eyelashes, lips): Eyes appear whiter and brighter (C); Reveal layers of denser, more voluminous lashes for the sensational full fan effect (C); The red kiss you will never forget (C); No matter the current beauty climate, one undisputed all-star remains at fashion's forefront: an ever dramatic ruby lip (V).

Thus, the semantic field of this archetype consists of lexemes denoting parts of the female body, and corresponding attributes having a positive connotation.

2. The archetype of the "keeper of the hearth" (Hestia).

This image symbolizes both home comfort, and warm relations between family members, and the light of joy and life in the family and home. In the advertising industry, the most frequent object of the image of the keeper of the hearth is the image of the mother: smart mom, smart clean (P); All day long, trust me, mama's health and energy, Trust mama, she is here (P); These aren't your mother's cookies. They just taste like it (P); Must-have & must-dos for mom & family (BB).

The peculiarity of child care is especially important for the image of a Hestia woman: Mom's medicine cabinet – from cold stotummy pain and allergies. Mom knows best (BB); Kids love the taste. Moms love that they're baked with 100% real cheddar cheese (P); mother's milk, everyday amazing (P).

The verbalization of the image of the goddess Hestia can be explicated not only in the words mom, mama, it is also considered as part of the concept of "family": A powerful clean with 6 essential ingredients that's safer for your family (BB); One meal for the whole family (BB); Your year-round immune support solution for the whole family (BB).

This archetype is the most stable due to the long-term dominance of the stereotype of a housewife in a patriarchal society.

3. The "independent woman" archetype (Artemis).

With the development of feminism, those qualities of a woman who have been "in the shadows" for a long time are gaining more and more popularity. In ancient Greek mythology, Artemis, on the one hand, is known as the young goddess of hunting; on the other hand, it is associated with the spiritual independence of the individual. The Artemis woman is avant-garde and rational, not constrained by traditional ideas and social stereotypes, sets her own aesthetic standards and pursues her own goals.

Such a woman may not be outwardly attractive, but she is fully aware of her strength. So, one of the advertising posters of a popular women's magazine depicts a shaven–headed black woman who survived cancer with the following slogan: Too confident - not just for me, but for all the girls like me.

Confidence and courage, "authenticity" – these are the key characteristics accompanying the process of constructing the image of Artemis: A confident slash of bright liner, a bold lipstick – this is makeup to transform your mindset and prepare you to take on anything (C); Do anything with Certainty (V); She is boldly authentic, a true original. She leads like a woman (Sh).

Spiritual and mental freedom can be verbalized in provocative slogans against the background of photos of women with androgynous appearance, where the keywords are "different" and "fearless": Different – It means I'm not like anyone else (V);Women everywhere are defying the norms (V); To do the things we love, or to be with who we love. We’re doing it – in our own way. For centuries, we’ve been told what to do and how to be. We have let others define us and our dreams. No more. We know who we are. We are FEARLESS like that (C).

4. The archetype "warrior" (Athena).

He embodies the desire to prove his worth through active actions, the purpose of which is to transform the world for the better. The warrior represents the universal meaning of strength, skills and courage.

Unlike the feminist Artemis, Athena is not only spiritually independent, she also becomes a person capable of any active actions that were originally attributed only to men. The strength of a female warrior is increasingly reflected in the scenes of work and life: The most prevailing constant: strong women (Sh); I now have the strength to call the shots (Sh).

When a brand promotes a series of health products designed for women, it often uses "hero woman" as a key concept: The hero woman, fuel for your life (C);You can be the hero woman. Drive and focus to reach your full potential (V).

Often the image of Athena is based on the image of Wonder Woman created by the American film industry, so her power can be hyperbolized to the ability to control the world or change it for the better: Women run the world(Sh); Harness their passion for food, beauty, sports, and acting to drive real, meaningful change, making the world healthier, happier, more connected, and infinitely stronger – now and for a year to come (Sh); Girls in STEM become women who change the world(C); Rule your world again (V); The best part is I don't have to stop living my life! (V).

The empirical material allowed us to conduct not only qualitative, but also quantitative analysis in terms of the frequency of archetypes presented in the selected advertising texts. The results are shown in the diagram.

Figure 1. Quantitative ratio of texts verbalizing female archetypes

Thus, the analysis of the verbalization of the aesthetic ideal of a woman in modern English-language advertising allowed us to identify the most relevant images based on the mythological archetypes of ancient Greek goddesses.

Thus, the most frequent is the Aphrodite seductress archetype, since beauty and youth products occupy the largest segment in the women's goods industry. The second place is shared by the archetypes of a warrior and an independent woman, characteristic of the goddesses Athena and Artemis. This fact clearly demonstrates the redistribution of social roles in the English-speaking community. In the last place is the archetype of the guardian of the hearth of Hestia, which was traditional for women, which is losing its prevalence due to the increase in the level of emancipation of society. The social aspect of the advertising text determines its lexical content: the keywords that verbalize the above concepts are constants for the texts of a specific subject of goods. Due to the conciseness of the form, they are an ideal suggestive means. For Aphrodite, the semantic fields "appearance", "age" and their corresponding representatives are important. For Hestia – "family"; for Demeter – "spiritual freedom"; for Athena – "social activity". It can be said that traditional gender stereotypes about the aesthetic ideal of a woman in the English-language advertising text are transformed, as a result of which the theories of femininity and masculinity begin to acquire common linguistic and cognitive principles and means of representation.  

References
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The article presented for consideration "The aesthetic ideal of a modern woman in English-language advertising: a sociolinguistic aspect", proposed for publication in the journal Philology: Scientific Research, is undoubtedly relevant, due to the increasing interest in studying the language of the media, manipulative strategies used in advertising. The relevance of this study is due to the growing interest of scientists in advertising texts due to their short form and complex semantic and structural organization, which takes into account not only language rules, but also cognitive, psycholinguistic and cultural principles of creating works of advertising discourse. The purpose of this article is stated as a description of the most stable mythological archetypes as aesthetic ideals of modern women and ways of their verbalization, appearing in English-language advertising discourse. It should be noted that there is a relatively small number of studies on this topic in Russian linguistics. The article is innovative, one of the first in Russian linguistics devoted to the study of such issues. The article presents a research methodology, the choice of which is quite adequate to the goals and objectives of the work. The author turns, among other things, to various methods to confirm the hypothesis put forward. The main methodology was the continuous sampling method, methods of definitional and lexico-semantic analysis, interpretative analysis of the selected material, etc. The practical research material was obtained by a continuous sampling method from popular publications Vogue, Cosmopolitan, Shape, Elle, Baby's and beyond, Parents in English. A total of 200 texts were selected for analysis. Theoretical fabrications are illustrated with language examples, as well as convincing data obtained by statistical methods or corpus analysis. This work was done professionally, in compliance with the basic canons of scientific research. The research was carried out in line with modern scientific approaches, the work consists of an introduction containing the formulation of the problem, the main part, traditionally beginning with a review of theoretical sources and scientific directions, a research and a final one, which presents the conclusions obtained by the author. It should be noted that the conclusion requires strengthening, it does not fully reflect the tasks set by the author and does not contain prospects for further research in line with the stated issues. The bibliography of the article includes 21 sources, among which works are presented in both Russian and foreign languages. Unfortunately, the article does not contain references to the fundamental works of Russian researchers, such as monographs, PhD and doctoral dissertations. Technically, when making a bibliographic list, the generally accepted requirements of GOST are violated, namely, non-compliance with the alphabetical principle of registration of sources. The comments made are not significant and do not detract from the overall positive impression of the reviewed work. Typos, spelling and syntactic errors, inaccuracies in the text of the work were not found. In general, it should be noted that the article is written in a simple, understandable language for the reader. The work is innovative, representing the author's vision of solving the issue under consideration and may have a logical continuation in further research. The practical significance of the research lies in the possibility of using its results in the teaching of university courses on text theory, as well as courses on interdisciplinary research on the relationship between language and society. The article will undoubtedly be useful to a wide range of people, philologists, undergraduates and graduate students of specialized universities. The article "The aesthetic ideal of a modern woman in English-language advertising: a sociolinguistic aspect" can be recommended for publication in a scientific journal.