Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree Master of Technology: Graphic Design, Durban University of Technology, Durban, South Africa, 2014. / The aim of this study was to investigate how images of women in the media that espouse women’s empowerment can indeed have the opposite effect and may even contribute to lowered self-esteem in women. To this end, this project is intended to explore issues such as body image and image manufacture in order to find a possible answer to the question of what is ‘real beauty’ in the South African context. A semiotic approach seeking to review the ways in which women are seen through visual communicative images was undertaken. This visual research revealed the importance of the ‘gendered gaze’ at the centre of issues that relate to self-esteem. An in-depth analysis of the literature, pertaining to self-esteem, interrogated the works of Naomi Wolf, John Berger and Susie Orbach, amongst others. This was carried out in order to understand more about how the dictates of consumerism pervade the work of the style industries. These sectors are well supported by the diet, food and cosmetic surgery industries who tend to effectively increase and add to a sense of body related insecurities. In addition, content analysis of selected South African editions of Cosmopolitan magazine was conducted. The images described represents a significant development period in the emergence of certain beauty ideals in South Africa. The British Unilever marketing campaign, The Dove Campaign For Real Beauty, was used as a base model for the applied design component of this study. In addition an action research approach was employed through a series of interviews and questionnaires directed at mostly female participants in South Africa. This method revealed that self-esteem issues have far reaching implications, affecting women of all ages. As a response to the perceived need for a South African based campaign, this research project informed the development of The Sisterhood Self-Esteem Crusade. In contrast to The Dove Campaign For Real Beauty which was created to promote increased sales of beauty products, The Sisterhood Self-Esteem Crusade’s focus is to interrogate and raise awareness of self-esteem. Underpinning this was an attempt to build confidence, cascade new ways of understanding and to propagate sense making, informed through action research, amongst South African women.

D.Litt. et Phil. / The growing number of married women with children who enter the work force is widely documented. In addition, the last decade has seen the number of self-employed women increase dramatically. The homemaker role, which remains an important adult attainment fora large segment of the female population for at least some portion of their adult lives, has received little attention. The career of the homemaker is omitted both in the traditional definition of the labour force and by the career counselling profession. Because of the rise in women's labour force activity there has been increased concern with the psychological implications of occupying family and work roles simultaneously. Married women who obtain employment typically experience role expansion and such expansion has potential repercussions for the women themselves, for their families and for their employing institutions. Although these women are assuming the demanding role of employee, they are typically not free to relinquish any of their previous traditional roles - the major responsibility for household work and parenting chores still appears to be the province of women. Presently, the empirical evidence of the psychological effects of maternal employment is equivocal, suggesting both positive and negative effects are possible. On the one hand paid employment has been related to increased self-esteem, status and life satisfaction in working mothers. On the other hand, maternal employment has also been associated with role conflict, life dissatisfaction and family stress. A wide variety of correlates of home-career conflict has been studied. The accumulation of empirical studies has not, however, been integrated in a way which advances understanding of the interrelationships of variables associated with home-career conflict. The purpose of the present study was to investigate from within an integrated framework the relationship between work and family domains and their impact on the life satisfaction of women who re-enter the labour market, women entrepreneurs and homemakers.