In the past, the beauty industry represented different classes, for example in the 15th century; blonde hair represented a ‘sign of beauty and high class’. Individuals would purposely dye their hair in order to gain more status and power which evidently shows that the beauty industry has been around for a long time, and influenced the identification within class systems.
The three texts, ‘Young Love Perfume’, ‘The Joy of Living with Fragrance’ and ‘Coty Lipstick’ were all produced in the 1960s. Briefly in this decade, it was the turn of women and how they started to become less domestic; trying to pursue careers and independence. Through research, BBC made a short video on the freedom for women in the 1960s; 26,000 women in this decade went to study higher education and ‘advertisers celebrated these new women’. This crucial change between being a domestic housewife and being independent led women to improve their appearance which changed the dynamic of what men looked for in women. These appearances were generated by the increase in using women as protagonists in advertising and enhanced other ‘ordinary’ women to aspire to have greater status. This idea was represented in the one minute advert ‘The Joy of Living with Fragrance’.
The advert is set in one room; with many couples all dressed smartly, men in suits and women in long dresses. Emphasising on the use of ‘long’ dresses elicits the innocence and respect women had in the 1960s compared to the 21st century where women show off more flesh and have become more sexualised. In this historical text, the woman wearing a fragrance enters the room, and the narrator quotes ‘what is there about her that turns everyone’s heads?’ By analysing these scene, the camera uses a long shot to get a full appearance of woman, who looks sophisticated and described as ‘lovely’ doesn’t look at all different to other women in the room. There are no exaggerated features on the protagonist to make her stand out hence the narrator purposely narrates in detail in order for target audience to understand situation. This is a key comparison to Rihanna’s perfume advert, there is no narration, the mise en scene, music, and clothing tells the full story without audiences having to listen. This difference is due to the changes in society and what people now see as acceptable. In the past, women being domesticated, looking after children and providing food while men hunt for food and work was the society’s culture, and being a sexualised woman in public was frowned upon, however as decades went by, privileges were increased. For example, in 1928 women were allowed to participate in the Olympics, followed by the women’s Army Corps in 1940s and lastly Geraldine Ferraro to be the first woman nominated for Vice President in the 1980s. More and more successes were arising which transferred into the beauty industry allowing women to show off these assets and achievements representing a change for feminism in society. Even though adverts were conservative and innocent such as ‘Young Love Perfume’ where men and women were mature and loyal to one another, they still represented a big change for women within the beauty industry.
In the historical adverts, the general consensus was to sell the features of the product rather than the protagonist whereas in Rihanna’s advert, the centre of attention is on her and her actions, predominantly sexual. In ‘Coty Lips’ again the narrator explains the different shades on lipsticks, and men and women are dancing hand in hand respecting one another. It became evident that in all historical beauty texts, a male figure was always present to supplement the woman’s actions, whereas in Rihanna’s advert, her actions control the force between the opposite sex representing her independence and dominance over them, which reflects the society in the 21st century. Some would argue that white middle class men still are the leaders but times are constantly changing especially with flaunting women’s femininity.
Overall, this whole change and comparison between texts and society in the past and present represent a zeitgeist culture in which beauty and other popular culture reflect the spirit of the age. As society changes, popular changes to accommodate it to ensure everything is parallel to avoid judgement.
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