Analysis of an Advertisement in Vogue Magazine (March)

         

This advertisement from Vogue magazine’s March issue really stood out to me because of the underlying message behind the image. As far as the image goes, I do respond positively to advertisements that highlight women in the workforce. The image shows that the women are serious about their careers because of their suitcases and suits. The suits consist mostly of pants with a few dresses/skirts shown. Even so, the pant suits are predominantly showcased and this image helps cement the prevalence of gender bending in society.

One of the most fascinating aspects of the novel is the lack of minority representation. Funnily enough, when I first saw this image, I did not even think that there was a black person in the advertisement, but upon further review, the black woman is in the spine of the magazine and can barely be seen. For some reason, I found that to be really odd. It could have been on accident, but even if it was, she was still in the background of the shot. There could be other minorities in the advertisement (the possible cut off Asian woman on the right corner and the possible Hispanic woman on the right image), but they did not immediately stand out to me.  

This advertisement implicitly portrays and assumes that only thin, attractive, and mostly white women work and that they dress a certain way for their careers. The advertisement explicitly states that women who wear Jones New York will feel more "empowered" by wearing their clothes. Because of this, Jones New York is attempting to sell their clothes to women and particularly female professionals. On a macro level, the hidden and obvious meanings associated with this advertisement clearly exclude women who work and do not necessarily fit the “professional” image that the advertisement portrays. Moreover, not all women are able to relate to the “perfect” bodies projected to them.

To tie this into the “Women’s Bodies, Women’s Health” chapter, my advertisement only shows the fit, white, and professional aspect of the workforce. The textbook states that there is “…an ideal of beauty defined as thin, lean, tall, young, white, and heterosexual, with flawless skin and well-groomed hair” (Kirk and Okazawa-Rey 208). This ad plays into that message perfectly. On the minority issues, there do appear to be a few minorities, but it takes a lot of searching. Besides that, the minorities and the white women have perfect bodies, hair, skin, etc. and the textbook explicitly states that: “Where women of color are used, they are often light-skinned and conform to the same body type” (Kirk and Okazawa-Rey 208).

            Overall, I found it ironic that the ad mentions that women constitute half of the workforce, but the ad and its message probably does not represent 50% of women in the country.

Works Cited

Jones New York Advertisement.Vogue Magazine. March issue.

Kirk, Gwyn, and Margo Okazawa-Rey. Women’s Lives: Multicultural Perspectives. 5^th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2010. Print.

Word Count: 466