THE COMMERCIALIZATION OF FEMALE EMPOWERMENT

Abstract

The theme of female empowerment has assumed a prominent place in recent years, and its increase in advertising is noticeable. The adhesion of feminist discourses by advertising was named “Femvertising”, a combination of the words “Feminism” and “‘Advertising” and has female empowerment as its fundamental value. However, it is observed that the term has acquired different meanings depending on the context in which it is used, and sometimes it deviates from the political ideals of its creation. Considering the role of advertising in the construction of modes of subjectivation in contemporary times, this study investigated whether the way in which empowerment has been communicated through advertising contributes or not to the struggle for women's emancipation, collaborating for the construction of critical and disalienated subjectivities. For this purpose, a Content Analysis of six advertising pieces from different companies in three segments was carried out: Breweries, Cosmetics, and Banking Institutions, broadcast on Youtube in the last four years. To carry out the analysis, two central categories were established, one referring to the ways in which empowerment is transmitted, considering the audiovisual characteristics of the play, and another referring to the concept of linked empowerment, which was divided between empowerment based on internal states, or subjective, and empowerment based on countercontrol, or objective. The results showed that empowerment is sometimes understood based on feelings, such as autonomy and freedom, sometimes as economic independence, and almost never appears as a transformation of the social structures that produce the oppression to which women are subjected.