Systematic Literature Review of the Female Stereotypes in Advertising Within the Different Periods of Feminism: An Abstract

Abstract

With the rise of feminist and social movements, new sorts of advertisements have emerged, signaling a change toward a more gender-neutral portrayal. Femvertising is a new type of advertising that aims to show women in an equal and diverse way. It strives to empower women while avoiding depictions of traditional gender stereotypes and sexuality. The aim of this study is to analyze all the research on female stereotypes in advertising conducted between January 2000 and March 2021 during the various stages of feminism: pre-feminism, feminism, and post-feminism. The systematic literature review method is used in this study, and it discusses the key research methods, the context (country, sector), and the main research topics related to female stereotypes in advertising. In addition to identifying future research directions, the current study seeks to determine the place and role of femvertising in relation to the different feminist periods.

The findings reveal that the vast majority of the studies rely on data from a single nation, with research in the United States and the United Kingdom dominating the field. About half of the studies in the current article gathered data from only one sector, with the apparel industry receiving the most attention. The other most prominent sectors in the research were beauty, personal care, and advertising. Except for the studies related to femvertising, qualitative studies predominated in all periods of feminism. The reviewed articles identify the major research trends related to consumer attitudes, the evolution of female portrayal in advertising, the objectification of women, and the social movement of women empowerment. The number of articles on the latter topic has been rapidly increasing in recent years, owing to the femvertising trend.