Beauty and the beast: images of women in advertisements

101
THE IMAGES AND THE MEANINGS
Here are a few ads we can see in some famous women magazines such as
“Femina,” “Kartini,” or “Metropolitan” where most of their ads are directed towards
women. The first picture is an ad on women’s cosmetics. This ad on women’s cosmetics
contained striking photograph and suggestive image. We can see an extreme close-up of a
young woman’s face. The face itself is divided into two. The right side of her face shows
the woman’s face after using the advertised products while the left side of her face shows
her former condition of her face before the products were applied.
In a glance the viewers may not find the left side of her face as having any blemish,
but three suggestive words are attached: 
kulit berkerut, kulit bernoda, kulit kering
(wrinkled, spotted and dry skin). The words above the picture stress a solution for the
problems: 
SOLUSI mengatasi apapun masalah kecantikan kulit anda dengan rangkaian
produk yang alami, aman namun efektif
(SOLUSI overcomes any of your skin problem
with its natural, safe, but effective products
.
)
The intentional meaning evoked by this image in the ad can be:
1.
Wrinkled, spotted, and dry skin should be women’s problems. A beautiful woman
should make them as her enemies that she needs to get rid of. This ad has taken the
advantage of women’s fears and anxieties of having wrinkled, spotted and dry skin,
and shown to the viewers how the products can solve women’s problems.

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NIRMANA Vol. 3, No. 2, Juli 2001: 97 - 106
Jurusan Desain Komunikasi Visual, Fakultas Seni dan Desain –Universitas Kristen Petra
http://puslit.petra.ac.id/journals/design/
102
2.
Wrinkled and dry skin usually belongs to old women and being old for women means
losing their attractiveness and beauty. Dry skin is uninteresting and infertile like old
women’s skin. Being old should be postponed or even avoided as far as they can. Of
course it can only be achieved through the use of the advertised products. The result of
using them will make a woman look young.
3.
These products are also sold as a kind of indulgence for women. The hints of natural,
safe, and effective are strong selling points for beauty aids. Again, it takes the
advantage of our fear of using chemical products that are usually unsafe and therefore
ineffective. Meanwhile what is natural is good and the products can offer natural
beauty for women.
4.
The image of the young woman can be seen as looking directly to the viewer. In a
study of visual design, Kress et.al (in Kilbourne, 1999) describe the position of the
subject in an image looking directly at the viewer as comprising a demand. The gaze
demands something from the viewer. It demands that the viewer enter into some kind
of imaginary relation with her. Here the image seductively pout at the viewer and as if
asking the viewer to desire her look.
5.
The use of two different types of face, before and after the products are applied, can be
seen as selling magic. The change of wrinkled, spotted and dry skin into smooth, light,
and youthful skin is like magic. And magic is mere illusion. It is not real, yet people
are fascinated about it and it forces us to believe it as real.
The next ad is an ad of jewelry products.
An image of a young woman and a man is
used to show the necessity of using the product.
However, the image itself has depicted more about
gender image than the extentional meaning, i.e. the
use of Joensin jewelry.
1.
The words 
Setiap pilihan adalah sangat pribadi
[Every choice is a very private choice] show
dual meanings: First, the choice of showing and
most possibly giving the Joensin jewelry to the

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BEAUTY AND THE BEAST: IMAGES OF WOMEN IN ADVERTISMENTS (Esther H. Kuntjara)
Jurusan Desain Komunikasi Visual, Fakultas Seni dan Desain –Universitas Kristen Petra
http://puslit.petra.ac.id/journals/design/
103
young woman should be a private choice. It should have been a piece of jewelry which
is personally chosen to be given to the woman. Second, the choice could also refer to
the man’s choice of the young woman as a special person who deserves the special
gift. Hence, the woman is specially chosen by the man.
2.
Look at the woman’s face. Her astonishing face and her smile while looking at the
piece of jewelry as if to say that she is very pleased to be given such a gift. Perhaps
she did not even imagine that she would get such a special gift. Hence, the ideas of a
woman being chosen and given should be taken with pleasure and gratitude. Here the
woman is therefore depicted as a passive woman, to be chosen by man and is in need
of man’s special attention.
3.
Such a woman deserves high fashion jewelry like the Italian white gold or diamond
wedding rings. Hence, being passive for a woman is gold. It is the kind of character an
ideal woman should display, especially in her relation to a man.
4.
Look at the man’s face and his smile when looking at the woman. He is as if saying “I
have chosen you and as a token of gratitude, I have chosen this piece of jewelry for
you.” Again, the message is clear: woman is to be chosen not to choose.
The last ad to be discussed here is a series of the pictures of women who can be
categorized as 
cerdas, ceria, cantik
[intelligent, cheerful, beautiful]. This page is
provided by “Femina” magazine prior to the selection of women of ‘
Cita Cinta
.’ It shows
the kinds of women who can be considered as
cerdas, ceria, cantik.
The page contains eight pictures of young women with their actions and gestures which
depict their characteristics:
1.
Saya percaya diri
. [I am confident.]
2.
Saya aktif dan kreatif. 
[I am active and creative.]
3.
Saya cinta kehidupan.
[I love life.]
4.
Saya cinta kebebasan. 
[I love freedom.]
5.
Saya mempesona
. [I am attractive.]
6.
Saya ceria.
[I am cheerful.]
7.
Saya menghargai tradisi.
[I appreciate tradition.]
8.
Saya penuh ambisi. 
[I am very ambitious.]

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NIRMANA Vol. 3, No. 2, Juli 2001: 97 - 106
Jurusan Desain Komunikasi Visual, Fakultas Seni dan Desain –Universitas Kristen Petra
http://puslit.petra.ac.id/journals/design/
104
Apparently they are all pictures of young women. Hence, they give the viewers
impression that in order to be intelligent, cheerful and pretty, women have to look young,
slim and sexy, rich, educated, and lovable. There is no place for an old, poor, fat, or
uneducated woman to be included here. Such image has shaped the viewers’s mind with
ideas of what it is to be an ideal woman. It is no longer the words that they will remember
the most, but the image of a woman driving a car, using a cellular phone, walking with
uplifted face and carrying a case, relaxing, or being embraced by a man.

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BEAUTY AND THE BEAST: IMAGES OF WOMEN IN ADVERTISMENTS (Esther H. Kuntjara)
Jurusan Desain Komunikasi Visual, Fakultas Seni dan Desain –Universitas Kristen Petra
http://puslit.petra.ac.id/journals/design/
105
Many women internalize these stereotypes and shape their mind with what they
should look in order to be considered as an ideal woman. Advertisers use special
technique to create ‘reality effects’ from the unreality. But women grow up thinking they
need to look like the women in the ads, which for most women is impossible. No matter
how carefully they apply these products, they will never look like the pretty women
depicted in the ads. Perhaps the reason why they become so obsessed with trying to look
like the woman in the ads is because that is the kind of woman who is acceptable by her
society, and especially by men.
The success of modern advertising reflects a culture that has chosen illusion over
reality. With the advancement in visual designs, we cannot expect any truly realistic ads
in the future. Yet, women are often unaware of the beast behind the beautiful faces.
Illusion has been taken as reality. Hence, most women would always think their
appearance is never good enough no matter how attractive a woman may appear to be to
others.