This study explores the symbolic significance of women’s hair, in the context of Greek television commercials produced by transnational cosmetic companies. It especially navigates how gender roles are shaped and power dynamics are created in different cultures and different outlets. I will use a small selection of Greek television hair commercials to assist me with my exploration, trying to uncover the underlying messages about gender, power, and identity from an intersectional perspective of “global” visual culture. The starting point for my investigation is the amassing evidence that we are living in predominately patriarchal and capitalist societies in Europe. Furthermore, these power structures are inherent and part of the cultural and visual heritage of symbolism and associations that (not hide) convey intricate layers of power dynamics that give shape, in turn to, perceptions of gender and identity, also in Greece. With this study, I aim to delve into a better understanding of how visual media and commercial advertising, instrumentalize women's hair as a symbol that ultimately are shaping societal attitudes and promoting stereotypes in the Greek context of hair product commerce. Expectations of femininity as “to-be-looked-at-ness”, to use a prominent concept from 1980s feminist film scholar Laura Mulvey, confirms, for instance, stereotypes of heterosexual male looking, or “the male gaze”, as something women consumers are expected to internalize in “buying into” these television commercials and hair products. From an intersectional gender studies perspective to representations of beauty, this thesis explores such visual expectations and symbolic assumptions about femininity, heteronormativity, and imagined “Greek-ness” in a transnational corporate world. Key Words: Hair symbolism, power dynamics, gender roles, visual media, male gaze
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:liu-205336 |
| Date | January 2024 |
| Creators | Mavridi, Christina |
| Publisher | Linköpings universitet, Tema Genus |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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