Visual Cultures Essay
Using the argument behind the power of visuality, analyse one case study, while taking into account key concepts in Visual Culture.
My second year Fashion Journalism and Content Creation “A” grade visual essay
During the period between the late 1950s and early 1960s, Budweiser, an American style beer company, released an advertising campaign to promote the pale lager. These adverts as shown in figure one depicted women in a subservient role to what would’ve been their husbands in the images, thus suggesting the role of women during this time period. Women weren’t equals but a necessary assistant to their male counterparts in the various domestic settings that were shown through the dated advertisements seen not just in this specific case study, but in others such as cleaning products and grocery commercials. Overtime, those pre existing gender roles have begun to dissolve in wider western society and progressed towards a more balanced equilibrium, more or less. As a result, Budweiser took the opportunity to revisit these advertisements and release updated versions during International Women’s Day in 2019. This case study will allow me to discuss the power of visuality as it denotes ways in which advertising didn’t just reflect, but also influenced western culture in the 1950s and had such an impact that it had to be reevaluated more than 50 years later. To address the advertisement's significance, I will unpack the culture at the time through key concepts such as existing ideologies, female agency, semiotics, mythologies on gender roles and hegemony. My argument will be supported by theorists such as Stuart Hall and Dr Gillian Rose, as well as ideas from Sigmund Freud and Edward Bernays on the power of propaganda to influence mass culture. I have also undertaken personal research in the form of autoethnography as “Theoretical research is a form of social practice” (Eco, 1976, pg27).
To understand the power of visuality one must first define what visuality and power mean in relation to visual culture studies and as independent terms. Singularly the term visuality goes beyond simply seeing, but means to see and understand things once put it into context; It is the act of associating meaning to what is being seen. Power describes the level of one's agency in relation to others’. So to really grasp what the power of visuality is by uniting the two understandings, it means to understand one’s personal agency to attach meaning to what is being seen. Now to define culture, Hall describes it as being a shared meaning among a collective of individuals, “culture is not a set of things, but a set of practices”; It is the culture that participates in the giving and taking of meaning which acts as a circular dialogue (Hall, Evans, Nixon, 2013) meaning that to unpack the case study, it is impossible to ignore the past and present cultures which shaped the ideas about women that were ingrained in society as a result of constructionism (Hall, Evans, Nixon, 2013). This circuit of culture that Hall suggests where the analysis of an artefact “must include five aspects: its representation, identity, production, consumption and regulation” (Hall, Evans, Nixon, 2013) are the basis of my research into the power of visuality of the 1950s Budweiser advertisements.
IDEOLOGY:
The ideology regarding women at the time these advertisements were released represent the power of visuality as it used images to convey subliminal messages. Dr Gillian Rose stresses “the need to take images seriously” (Rose,2001, pg33) so I will begin by analysing the image and assessing its power since “there is no point in researching any aspect of the visual unless the power of the visual is acknowledged” (Hall,1996, pg33).
My compositional interpretation (Rose,2001, pg34) looks at images for what they are. The woman in focus in the advert is wearing a veil which suggests that she is a bride and evokes ideas of marriage which is affirmed in the text she found she married two men. But using Rose's “good eye” theory (Rose,2001, pg34) I can discern that the white veil in which she is covered in has connotations with purity and perhaps naivety; The crown of daisies on her head hints at her femininity and youthfulness. Although the woman is in focus, it doesn’t mean that women are the target audience for this campaign. In saying she married two men suggests that the Budweiser drink is the other man. The reason why this is significant is because it immediately characterises who the drink is made for. It is a drink made for men and when women marry, they come as a package deal. What’s interesting is the woman’s facial expression doesn’t appear to be shocked but more so oblivious. The smaller written text reads as a whisper on the poster, almost as if it's sharing a secret that women are also allowed to consume this beer but only in order to please the men in their life, such as by serving meals with this beer. The advert may be speaking to women since in the 1950s they were tasked with domestic roles such as grocery shopping, but the main consumers were the men. Rose writes of visual connoisseurship (Rose,2001, pg33), which is a progression from visual literacy, which I understand as analysing and comparing multiple sources to form a sound judgement. Therefore analysing both the past and contemporary visuals, the ideology has clearly shifted as the updated version in figure two has no mention of a male and instead stresses an inclusive customer base in the minimised text: Budweiser can be enjoyed by everyone, everywhere which has a stark difference from the original. These two images as a complete case study affirm my aforementioned criticism on the ideas about women pushed through advertising as there was a complete reversal of ideas.
SEMIOTICS:
Visual Propaganda has always worked because of the large audience it reaches unlike any other persuasive tool which convinces the literate and illiterate alike, thus proving the power of visuality. Advertising campaigns such as this case study maximises on semiotics that create a personality for the product (Beasley, Danesi, 2002, pg20) . i.e. being a masculine beverage. Beasley and Danesi draw from Roland Barthes’ ideas on semiology that the meanings based on visuals aren’t indeed fact but are rather mythic and “work psychologically at a subthreshold level of mind” (Beasley, Danesi, 2002, pg20). This means that the surface level ideas have a level of depth that works its way into subconscious culture. If we return to the definition of culture, that it is a giving and taking of shared ideas as a dialogue, it means that semiotics works its way into that conversation that collectives have subliminally. The nature of the visuals in this case study is that they are adverts. These adverts would’ve been displayed in multiple public areas and looked upon by passersby; Without realising those individuals became a part of this conversation on what a drink suitable for men looks like and how women should respond. Figure three and four are weighty examples of this as figure three describes the man in the advert as a practical, hands-on worker looking a little downcast with a hammer, but is reassured by the woman as she pours him a glass of Budweiser. This portrays men as dominant figures as he’s holding industrial tools in the foreground, while the woman is in the background. This composition places women in a supporting role, offering domestic help in the only way they can. The reason why I say this is because it’s the same ideas that were pushed in other advertisements in this campaign at the time. Therefore to address this case study collectively is to understand the adverts in relation to not just culture, but to each other.
Figure four was therefore created in modern day as that conversation was no longer relevant or appropriate for the current culture. “The phenomenon of 'semiosis' must be characterised by this kind of awareness of its own limits.” (Eco, 1976, pg 27) Alternatively one must also consider, were women at the time against this as a majority? If not, speaking from my perspective as a woman in 2024, it would be ignorant to identify all women as repressed characters.
AGENCY:
When considering the power of visuality, one must also consider its limitations as a result of an individual's personal agency. Second wave feminism began around the early 1960s which is the period where this case study began. Cohen and Reeves note that “second-wave feminists were bombarded daily by representations of womanhood and gender relations in news and magazines, on radio and TV, in film and on billboards.” (Cohen, Reeves, 2018, pg 2) meaning that women at the time were unintentionally a part of the dialogue between adverts, such as the one in this case study, and were constantly ingesting the hidden messages from the visuals about a woman’s place in society. However, if there was a subculture of second wave feminism at this time taking place, then the extent of the power of visuality isn’t limitless as individuals have recognised that they have the opportunity, or rather the choice to accept or challenge these pre established norms. What makes this case study greater than simply being a beer advert where men are prioritised in the foreground and women’s needs are marginalised, is the fact that these patterns and ideas were seen in other aspects of society. “Women in universities found that they were up against the ‘male as norm’ problem, in which women were frequently entirely invisible, and men were taken to stand for the whole human population” (Cohen, Reeves, 2018, pg 3) This doesn’t fully address women’s feelings towards this fact however. In the docuseries “The Century of the Self” it is admitted that at the time, Sigmund Freud’s theories on human behaviour was unusual as analysing feelings was uncommon. That being said, his experiments on human behaviour can be replicated in this case study. He used psychology to convince women to smoke by finding out what it meant to them and calling it torches of freedom. Smoking didn’t give women freedom, it made them feel free. In the same way, the Budweiser adverts didn’t domesticate women, but it appealed to their desires to be good wives by providing their husbands with this drink. The adverts imparted meaning onto this object by associating strong visuals connected to existing norms ingrained in society; irrelevant objects can become powerful emotional symbols. (Century of the Self, 2002)
HEGEMONY:
To understand what a woman’s role was and where her place in society is, it is necessary to unpack another definition that has not yet been addressed; what is a woman. Rosdahl affirms Beauvoir’s theory “that one is not born, but rather becomes a woman” since “woman itself is a term in process, a becoming, a constructing that cannot rightfully be said to originate or to end. As an ongoing discursive practice, it is open to intervention and resignification” (Rosdahl, 2017, pg101). The power of visuality is shown in this case study through the failure to accurately represent a woman and instead push ideas of what women should be. The adverts don't necessarily create an idea of a woman but it reflects what society has defined to be a woman and appeals to that characterised version of a woman and what her interests would be i.e. assisting, pleasing and cooking for her husband. It sets these visuals of women as the standard and in turn strengthens a patriarchal society. “Within a hegemonic masculinist signifying culture, the woman is the lack against man and she is therefore defined only negatively against man” (Rosdahl, 2017, pg102). This type of hegemony was made evident in this case study when comparing the existing and updated versions. Figure five speaks to the male audience who would’ve come home expecting a meal to be cooked with the woman waiting expectantly for their approval. However figure five speaks to women as individuals who want to enjoy time to themselves.
What defines the level of hegemony is also the appearance of the women. All the women in these adverts not only appear to be content, but they also have particular visual characteristics. “To Truth, womanhood is created around the idea of a female body that is dainty, white, passive and helpless” (Rosdahl, 2017, pg104). The image painted of women define them as not just successful wives but successful women. This however then alienates a whole group of women who don't identify with these appearances or even with the same type of domestic aspirations.
AUTOETHNOGRAPHY:
I decided to approach my research with a modernised standpoint through analysing the content being fed to me through modern forms of media; such as social media and film since ‘We live in a visual world. We are surrounded by increasingly sophisticated visual images.” (Howells and Negreiros, 2012: 1)
PART 1: SOCIAL MEDIA
I analysed current adverts on social media from Budweiser UK’s Instagram account and reflected on the narrative that the visuals were creating. Figure seven is a screenshot from their current feed and it is overwhelmed with men. What’s even more interesting was the complete narrative change from the 1950s adverts.
The brand has completely broken away from the domestic settings where the male is the provider and the woman offers a drink and instead attaches itself to sports culture. This is significant as it demonstrates Freud's theory with visual culture that you must attach feeling to products to allow consumers to develop a desire for it since it is not a need for them. Sports is already an established leisurely activity, with football being stereotypically associated with men, therefore this union with this activity and a beer establishes Budweiser as a staple in sports culture.
PART 2: FILM
Following on from the theme of characterising women, I reflected on the Barbie movie recently released and its presentation of women. This character is particularly relevant to this case study not just because of her physical resemblance to the women in the adverts, but because of her newfound meaning in modern day. Barbie was created at the same time that these adverts were released in 1959, thus representing the female standards at the time. However, like the adverts, this character also had to adapt to reflect the current social climate regarding women and that is seen best through the speech coined The Women Speech in the 2023 Barbie Movie Adaptation:
“You're supposed to love being a mother, but don't talk about your kids all the damn time. You have to be a career woman but also always be looking out for other people. You have to answer for men's bad behaviour, which is insane, but if you point that out, you're accused of complaining. You're supposed to stay pretty for men, but not so pretty that you tempt them too much or that you threaten other women because you're supposed to be a part of the sisterhood.” (Barbie, 2023)
This is but a segment from the speech that really reflects the inner thoughts of some, not all, modern day women; perhaps also are the thoughts behind the naive smiles in the adverts of this case study. Barbie may seem like a child’s toy, but the meaning behind her iconic appearance is what's important. “Thus, culture depends on its participants interpreting meaningfully what is around them, and “making sense” of the world” (Hall, 2013: xix) Making sense of the world means to not just analyse but to appreciate the impact of things as big as an advertising campaign and as small as a doll to understand the power of visuality.
CONCLUSION:
Based on my findings, the power of visuality was and continues to be evident in society. It is a concept that allows us to understand further abstract terms that make up our culture. Through ideology, it can be understood why visuals have such power in certain cultures while the study of semiotics allows us to unpack how it is implemented. Agency explores the extent of the power that visuality has and how it is embraced or countered through hegemony. However, it was through personal studies in demystifying the concept of visuality and really defining what culture is that allowed me to understand the case study and connect its relevance in modern day. Although this case study was for commercial purposes, I was able to use it to understand how images can be used as a time capsule that reflects ideas of a time period.
WORD COUNT: 2720
