Ricerc@Sapienza

Numerous studies (Bourdieu, 1979; Edgell, Hetherington, Warde, 1996; Kirkham, 1996; Ames, Martinez, 1996; Dholakia, 1999; Commuri, Gentry, 2000; Gunter, Furnham, 1998) indicate that purchasing decisions and consumption practices help to express (and generate) masculinity and femininity. As one of the most visible forms of consumption, clothing performs a major role in the social construction of gender identity (Crane, 2000). Moreover, as an engine of consumption, advertising has an important function in promulgating gender roles and prescribing sexual identities (Schroeder, Zwick, 2004).
The paper regards women portrayals in Italian fashion advertisements. International studies on gender and advertising date back to the early Seventies and cut across various disciplines, such as sociology (Goffman 1976), mass communications (Busby 1975), feminist theory (Barthel 1988), critical theory (Williamson 1978), and marketing (Courtney, Lockeretz 1971). After an extensive scientific production, the academic research effort on this topic has slowed. To resume the discussion, update the classical findings, and re-examine in a critical perspective the concept of media representation, we studied the old issue of gender in advertising, focusing on the print representation of women (in the Italian Vogue magazine), and analyzing female bodies, roles and intra-gender and inter-gender dynamics, over the last fifty years.
We used the content-analysis, considered as a mix between the Berelson’s "classical" approach (1952) and the analysis as investigation; then we carried out a qualitative research (based on the visual analysis) of some case studies.
The study revealed that the representation of gender portrayals in Italian fashion advertising is still quite traditional. Only a slight decrease in the stereotypical depiction of women was found over time. However, the apparent stiff frames of femininity reflect a moving image. The alternative cases do not constitute a trend, but they show that the topic is more complex than it appears and the issues are much more nuanced than in the past