UNIVERSITI PUTRA MALAYSIAPORTRAYAL OF WOMEN IN WOMEN'SMAGAZINE ADVERTISEMENTS COMPARISONBETWEEN HER WORLD AND WANITAKALAIYARASI KATHlRAVELOOFBMK 2001 1
PORTRAYAL OF WOMEN IN WOMEN'SMAGAZINE ADVERTISEMENTS :COMPARISONBETWEEN HER WORLD AND WANITAByKALAIYARASI KATHlRAVELOOThesis Submitted in Fulfilment of the Requirementfor the Degree of Master of Science in theFaculty of Modern Languages and CommunicationUniversiti Putra MalaysiaSeptember2001
Abstract of t;,esis submitted to the Senate of University Putra Malaysiain fulfilment of the requirement for the degree Master of SciencePOTRAYAL OF WOMEN IN 'NOMEN'S MAGAZINEADVERTISEMENTS: COMPARISON BETWEENHER WORLD AND WANJTAByKALAIYARASI KATHIRAVELOOSeptember 2001Ch airman : Associate Prof. Musa Abu Hassan, Ph.DFaculty: Faculty of Modern Languages and CommunicationGender stereotyping is one of the dilemma that still exists and is prevalentin the advertising industry in Malaysia. Advertisements tend to representwomen in limited' roles.AdvertisementsJenerally depict women ashomemakers or mothers or show them as sex objects or sexuallyprovocative figures. Seldom wornen are shown in work settings, businessroles, or in position of responsibility and authority. Since women are alwaysportrayed as decorative objects by media, women's magazines should takethe lead to prevent this culture from being practiced continuously.11
The overall objective of this study is to do a comparison between Her Worldand Wanita advertisements on the portrayal of women for the yearData was collected using content analysis. They were1997.184 advertisementsin Wanita magazine and 344 advertisements in Her World magazine.Descriptive statistics and chi-square test were used to analyze the data.The result showed that, most of the advertisements in Her World andWanita were in bleed pages and in full color, placed at the upper half of themagazine. The result also indicated that advertisers preferred generalsettings with at least one female portrayal to promote their product. Bothmagazines were very keen in portraying women in characterizationstereotypical positions. Besides this, casual wear was the most frequentlyused attire in both Her World and Wanita advertisements. Both magazinealso emphasized more on emotional appeals to gain attention of thereaders. In terms of advertising execution, both magazines preferred factualmessage to place their women portrayal advertisements. The results alsoindicated thaI Her World advertisements emphasized more on personalcare products whereas Wanita advertisements focused more on cosmeticsadvertisements. The Chi-square test results indicated that there weresignificant differences in the portrayal of women between Her World andWanita in terms of advertisements placement, color of the advertisement,role of women portrayal, advertising execution, types of attire and also thetypes of product.iii
Overall,this study revealed that advertisers,especially in women'smagazines do more damage to the portrayal of women by placing them ininaccurate positions. Women portrayal is mainly used to gain attention ofthe readers. Most of the time, the presence of pretty women has norelevance to the quality of the product that is being advertised. Advertisersalso use women as sex symbols to gain attention of the readers.Sincewomen magazine advertisements had failed to acknowledge the currentstatus of women, there should be more research, talk, seminars, andguidelines to tackle this issue.iv
Abstrak kajian yang dikemukakan kepada Senat Universiti Putra Malaysiasebagai memenuhi keperluan untuk Ijazah Master Sains.PENONJOLAN WANITA 01 OALAM IKLAN MAJALAH WANITATEMPATAN: PERBANOINGAN 01 ANTARAHER WORLD DAN WANITAOlehKALAIYARASI KATHIRAVELOOSeptember 2001Pengerusi: Prof. Madya Musa Abu Hassan, Ph.D.Fakulti: Fakulti Pengajian Bahasa Moden dan KomunikasiMasalah stereotaip wanita di sektor pengiklanan masih wujud dan sangat ketaradi Malaysia. Sektor pengiklanan di Malaysia masih menggambarkan wanitadalam kerja-kerja tertentu sahaja. Biasanya wanita digambarkan sebagai ibu,surirumah atau sebagai simbol sex. Wanita jarang digambarkan dalam suasanakerja di pejabat, -.Jrusan perniagaa n, ataupun dalam situasi bertanggungjawabdan berkuasa.Memandangkan media massa di Malaysia masih memaparkanwanita sebagai daya tarikan seks semata-mata, penerbit majalah wanita dinegara ini diharapkan dapat mengorak langkah untuk mengubah imej wanitadalam sektor pengiklanan negara ini.
Kajian ini bertujuan mengkaji penonjolan wanita dalam iklan majalah Her Worlddan Wanita bagi tahun 1 997. Data dikumpul dengan menganalisis isi kandungani klan. Sebanyak 1 84 iklan dari pada majalah Wanita dan 344 i klan dari padamajalah Her World digunakan sebagai sampel kajian. Data kajian d ianalisismenggunakan statistik deskriptif dan ujian khi-kuasa dua.Hasil kajian mendapati kebanyakan iklan penonjolan wanita menggunakan iklanberwarna yang dimuatkan pada bahagian hadapan majalah. Iklan-iklan ini jugadidapati menggunakan keselu ruhan mukasurat ataupun 'bleed page'. Selaindaripada itu, kebanyakan iklan dalam kedua-dua majalah ini menggunakanhanya seorang model wanita dalam suasana umum. I klan-iklan dalam kedua-duamajalah ini memaparkan wanita dalam keadaan stereotaip. Kajian ini jugamendapati, kedua-dua majalah ini menggunakan wanita sebagai hiasan ataupuntarikan seks sahaja. Pakaian kasual telah menjadi pilihan d i iklan-iklanpenonjolan wan ita di kedua-dua majalah ini. Kedua-dua majalah yang dikajimenggunakan pendekatan emosi dalam iklan penonjolan wanita. I klan-iklan yangmengandungi mesej-mesej berbentuk informasi juga menjadi pilihan parapengiklan dalam iklan penonjolan wanita. Kajian juga mendapati, Majalah HerWorld memberi tumpuan kepada barangan penjagaan diri manakala majalahwanita telah memberi tumpuan kepada barangan kosmetik. Ujian khi-kuasa duadi antara Majalah Her World dan Wanita menunjukkan perbezaan yang signifikandalam aspek-aspek seperti ked udukan, warna ,pendekatan , kreativiti, jenispakaian, dan juga jenis produk yang digunakan dalam iklan .vi
Kesimpulannya, para pengi klan majalah Wanita dan Her World masihmenganggap wanita sebagai sumber tarikan seks u ntuk menarik perhatian parapembaca. Kadang-kala gambar wanita yang d igunakan dalam i klan penonjolanwanita tiada kaitan dengan produ k yang diiklankan. Gambar-ga mbar wanitadalam iklan-iklan penonjolan wanita semata-mata menjadi bahan perhiasansahaja. Memandangkan wanita masih digambarkan sebagai perhiasan dalammajalah wanita utama tempatan pelbagai usaha harus dilakukan untukmengubah imej wanita ke a rah status sebenar dalam masyarakat. Kajian-kajiansecara lebih terperinci, seminar dan kempen kesedaran harus d ijalankan bagimenimbulkan keseda ran masyarakat umum tentang status wanita yang sudahberubah.vii
ACKNOWLEDMENTSPraise and Glory to God the Almighty, who has been my ever presentShield and Defender throughout the d uration of my rigorous study in UniversitiPutra Malaysia .My deepest gratitude and appreciation to Associate Professor Dr. M usaAbu Hasssan, Or. Ezhar Tamam and En. Muhamad Rosli Selamat for theirconstructive criticisms, patience and effort, wise guidance and suggestionsduring the supervision of this thesis.My sincere thanks go to my friends especially Thilaga, Vijaya, Audrey andSasi, for all their help that they offered throughout this study.Last but not least.belovedhusband,I wou ldmother,like to express my deepest gratitude to mysistersandbrothersfortheirendlessencouragement, patience, cares and sacrifices that had helped me incompleting this study.viii
25th2001Septemberto conductI certify that an Examination Committee met onthe final examination of Kalaiyarasi Kathiraveloo on her Master of Science thesisentitled "Portrayal of Women in Women's Magazine Advertisement: Comparisonbetween Her World and Wanita" in accordance with Universiti Pertanian Malaysia(Higher Degree) Actand Universiti Pertanian Malaysia (Higher. Degree)RegulationsThe Committee recommends that the candidate be awardedthe relevant degree. Members of the Examination Committee are as follows:1981.1980Narimah bt. Ismail, Ph.D.Lecturer,Faculty of Modern Languanges and Communication,Universiti Putra Malaysia.(Chairperson)Musa bin Abu Hassan Ph.D.Associate Professor,Faculty of Modern Languanges and Communication,Universiti Putra Malaysia.(Member)Ezhar bin Tamam, Ph.D.Lecturer,Faculty of Modern Languanges and Communication,Universiti Putra Malaysia(Member)Muhaman Rosli bin Selamat,Lecturer,Faculty of Modern Languanges and Communication,Universiti Putra Malaysia(Member) AINI IDERIS, Ph.D.Professor/Dean of Graduate SchoolUniversiti Putra MalaysiaDate:ix1 8 JAN 2002
This thesis submitted to the Senate of Universiti Putra Malaysia has beenaccepted as fulfilment of the requirement for the d eg ree of Master of Science.AINI IDERIS, Ph.D.Professor,Dean of Grad uate School,Universiti Putra Malaysia .Date: 14 M6P 2(W)x
DECLARATIONI hereby declare that the thesis is based on my original work except forquotations and citations which, have been duly acknowledged.I declare that ithas not been previously or concurrently submitted for any other degree at UPMor other institutions.(KALAIYARASI AlP KATHIRAVELOO)Date:xi30/ l«I J.OOI
TABLE OF CONTENTSPageABSTRACT. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .ABSTRAKACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .APPROVAL. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DECLARATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .LIST OF TABLES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .iivviiixxixivCHAPTER1INTRODUCTIONBackg round of the Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1Statement of the Research Problem . . . . . . . .4Objectives of the Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7The Importance of the Study. . . , . . 8Limitations of the Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9. .II. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .L ITERATURE REVIEWHistory of Malaysian Advertising . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10Laws and Regulations of Advertising Industry in Malaysia . . . . . . . . 12Theoretical Perspectives. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15Advertising . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . , . , . . . 19Advertising as a Communication Process. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20Roles of Advertising . . . . . . . . . . . . . . '" . . 21Advertising Appeal. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23Informational Appeal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23Emotional Appeal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25. . . . . . . . . . . . . .Advertising Execution. 27Factual Message. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Scientific !Techn ical Evidence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28. . . . . . 28.Demonstration. .28Comparison. . .29Testimonial .29Slice of Life. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30. . . . . .Animation. 30Personality Symbol. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30Fantasy . 31Dramatization. . . 31Humor. . 31xi
Gender and Advertising. . . . . .Gender Stereotypes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Gender Identity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Gender Roles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Presentation of Women in Advertising . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3232333334Portrayal of Women in Magazine Advertisements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39. . . .III. . . . . . .M ETHODOLOGYSteps in Content Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51Specifying Sampling Plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .'" . . . . . . 51Determining Duplicate Ads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55Developing a Category Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55Preparing Code Book and Code Sheets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 1Pretest and Revision. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . " . . . . . 62Coding Materials and Assess Reliability . . . . . . . . . . 63Analyzing and I nterpreting Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONBackground of Advertisements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .64Size of the Magazine Advertisements. . . . . . . . . . 64Color of the M agazine Advertisements . . . . . . . . . . . . 65Placement of Her World and Wan ita MagazineAdvertisements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66Settings of the Advertisements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68Number of Persons and Females in Advertisements . . . . . . . . . . . 69Stereotypes of Women in the Advertisements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70Orientation of Women Portrayal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72Presentation of Women in terms of Role and Attire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73Types of Attire of Women Portrayals. . . . . . . . . 73Role of Women Portrayal in Magazine Advertisements . . . . . . , 74Advertising Appeals in Women's Magazine Advertisements . . .76Advertising Execution in Women's Magazine Advertisements . . .78Types of Products in Women's Magazine Advertisements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79. . . . . . . . . . . . .V.IV. .SUM MARY AND CONCLUSIONSummary83Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90Suggestions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92.xiii. . . . . .
B I B I LIOGRAPHY. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .94APPENDICESAppendix A: Code Book . . . . .1 01Appendix B : Code Sheet. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 05Appendix C : Samples of Advertisements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 07. . . . . . .ViTA. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .xiv1 20
LIST OF TABLESTablePage1The Feelings of E motional Appeals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262The Statistical Data of Local Women's Magazine Readership of1 99753. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3The Selections of Issues and Number of Advertisements ofHer World and Wan ita Magazines. . . . . . . . . , . . . . 54.4. . . . . . . . . . . .N umber of Female in Her World and WanitaMagazine Advertisements . . .7. . .Comparison of Advertisements Settings between Her World andWanita M agazines Advertisements. . . . . . . . 69. . . . .6. .Comparison of Background of Advertisements between Her Worldand Wanita Magazines. . . . . . . . . . . . . 67. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70. .Comparison of Advertisements Stereotypes between Her Worldand Wanita Magazines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8.Comparison of Orientation of Women Portrayal betweenHer World and Wan ita Magazines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 729.Comparison of Types of Attire between Her World andWanita Magazine Advertisements . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7410.Comparisons of Role of Women Portrayal between Her worldand Wan ita Magazine Advertisements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7611.Comparison of Advertising12.Comparison of Advertising Execution of Women Portrayalbetween Her World and Wanita Magazine Advertisements . . . . . . 7913.Comparison of Types of Product between Her World and Wan itaAdvertisements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 1Appeal of Women Portrayal betweenHer World and Wanita Magazines Advertisements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77xv
CHAPTER 1INTRODUCTIONBackground of the studyI n the past twenty years, the world has been advancing in the field ofcommunications and multimedia. When advances in computer technology , satellite,cable television, and g lobal access to information is used democratically , it continuesto increase and expand new opportun ities for the participation of women i ncommunications a n d media (MurraY, 1 992). However a l l these developments bringabout new threats to women.The present g lobal situation shows that media perpetuate and reinforcenegative i mages of women in the advertisement. Advertisement does not provide anaccurate or realistic picture of women's multiple roles and contributions of womenthe changing world. A more serious situation is the use of women's bodytoas a sexreflect or as a sex symbol (Lawrence, 1997). Most of the time advertisement reflectsnegatively on the existing cultures and prevailing values of women in our society.While the Malaysian government is trying to address women's concerns, on thenegative side, gender stereotyping is still perpetuated . Sharifah Zarah (1999) said thatsociety's perception of women and the down playing of their important roles stem from
2cultural and traditional norms which are beyond the reach of laws and policies.According to her, there is a d efin ite need to pay special attention to women's issuesand the importance of integrati
role of women portrayal, advertising execution, types of attire and also the types of product. iii . Overall, this study revealed that advertisers, especially in women's magazines do more damage to the portrayal of women by placing them in inaccurate positions. Wom
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