Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / In this study, narrative analysis, informed by the perspective of standpoint feminism, is applied to movies featuring female protagonists throughout the past five decades of the “rape and revenge” genre of filmmaking to understand the extent to which probability and fidelity function in these five films to create empathy for the victims of sexual violence. Narrative criticism is used to assess motives behind stories told in media texts, while standpoint feminism illuminates epistemological implications to cultivate intersectional viewpoints. This study provides a narrative analysis through standpoint feminism of five films that each consider female portrayals of violence as a central part of its plot. Each film represents their respective time frames over the past five decades, falls under the criteria of what constitutes a “rape and revenge” film, have been viewed overall by mainstream audiences as films that are relatively well known, and portrays women as protagonists in the plot lines. Using the theoretical insights of narrative criticism, this study investigates the common themes observed in the films that fit these specific criteria to illuminate violent female portrayals in film and identify the extent to which probability and fidelity function in these five films to create empathy for the victims of sexual violence. Standpoint feminism provides the framework to reveal the broader cultural implications of violent rhetoric in gendered media portrayals of films from the past five decades featuring female protagonists.

Femvertising etablerades som begrepp av det amerikanska medieföretaget SheKnows Media år 2014, och innebär reklam som förstärker kvinnor. Då begreppet är relativt nytt finns lite forskning i ämnet. Denna studie syftar till att genom tre studier undersöka vad som utgör kvinnligt förstärkande reklam, och hur medieföretag kan arbeta med femvertising för att undvika traditionella stereotypa porträtt av kvinnor. Den första studien är en experimentell studie, där en kontrollgrupp och en försöksgrupp observerat och värderat hur stereotyp eller icke-stereotyp, och problematisk eller icke-problematisk de ansåg att porträtteringen av kvinnor var i två reklamer. Studien visade att gruppen som observerade femvertising uppfattade kvinnoporträtteringen i videon som lite problematisk, medan gruppen som endast observerade traditionell stereotyp reklam uppfattade porträtteringen som mycket problematisk. Nästa studie var en diskussion med fokusgrupperna där de fick utveckla sina tankar kring de observerade reklamerna och kring reklam i allmänhet. Undersökningen visade att grupperna ansåg att kvinnor ofta är passiva och används som accessoarer i reklam, samt att reklam har en påverkan på den som tittar på den. Detta visar på att det är av vikt för reklamskapare att fundera kring vilken samhällspåverkan kvinnoporträtt har. Den sista studien är en visuell innehållsanalys som gjordes av sju vinnande bidrag i SheKnows Medias #Femvertising awards. Studien visade hur femvertising används i praktiken. Resultatet av samtliga studier ledde fram till en metod för hur reklamskapare kan använda femvertising i syfte att motverka stereotypa kvinnoporträtt i rörlig reklam. / In 2014 the American media company SheKnows Media established the expression “femvertising”. Femvertising is an abbreviation for “female empowerment advertising”. As the notion is relatively new there is not much research made within the subject yet. With the help of three studies, this report aims to explore what makes advertising empowering for females, and how media companies can utilize femvertising to avoid traditional stereotyped portrayals in commercials. The first of three studies were an experimental study, where two groups watched and assessed how stereotype or non-stereotype, and problematic or non-problematic they found the portrayals of women in two commercials. The experiment revealed that the group that watched a femvertising commercial assessed the women in it were portrayed in a much less problematic manner, compared to how the other group assessed a traditional stereotyped commercial. The following study was a focus group study, which demonstrated that the respondents found that women in commercial often were portrayed in a passive manner, and that women often were portrayed as accessories rather that characters. Furthermore, the groups expressed that advertising in general has an effect upon its viewers which proved that it is of importance for advertisers to consider what effect their female portrayals have on society when creating commercials. The last study was a visual content analysis which revealed how femvertising is used in practice. The empirics from the three studies, in relation to previous studies of stereotyped gender portrayals and femvertising, resulted in a three-question method of how advertisers can utilize femvertising to avoid traditional stereotyped portrayals of women in commercials. Meanwhile, the report proved that a deeper understanding of femvertising is necessary for advertisers to further implement it in their production of commercials.

This paper is about femvertising which is used as a strategy within marketing to attract female consumers. This strategy is done by companies by pushing for gender equality and female empowerment in their ads. There is a lack of research regarding how femvertising affects consumers' purchase intentions and buying behavior. Further research also needs to be done examining female portrayals on digital platforms. The study is done with a qualitative method and inductive approach. In this paper, 20 respondents have participated in in-depth interviews and the respondents are all born between 1995 to 1998, which is called Gen Z, and are also all women. The paper is based on finding codes and converting them into categories which results in themes based on the different interviews. The conclusion of the paper is that social media are leading to purchases due to the possibility of targeting its consumers. Although, consumers easily tend to feel monitored when companies use them for targeting. Influencers can be successful for companies to use if the fit is good so it generates trust for the consumer. Another conclusion is that companies need to use different female portrayals, showing women in all of their uniqueness for them to be more relatable. Social media is an important part when it comes to if consumers will make purchases as it makes information and products easily accessible. Femvertising needs to shine through all of the company, not only the advertising. Companies should also monitor which type of WOM is out there about them as the point of view of other consumers is weighing heavily in affecting purchase intentions.