Shine Strong A Feminist Post-structuralist Discourse Analysis of the Representation of a Strong Woman in Pantene
Dilig, R.C.N. (2018). Shine Strong: A Feminist Post-structuralist Discourse Analysis of the Representation of a Strong Woman in Pantene #WhipIt. Unpublished Undergraduate Thesis, University of the Philippines, College of Mass Communication.
This study identifies the strength of women as presented in social media advertisements. Specifically, this study explores the representation of a strong Filipino woman in the Pantene #WhipIt ad campaign.
Through the lens and methodology of feminist post-structuralist discourse analysis, and taking into consideration feminist linguistics and visual analysis of advertisements, the study analyzed the video commercials under the #WhipIt campaign with an aim to thoroughly inspect the images of a strong Filipino woman portrayed in the commercials, in order to reveal how these meanings were constructed.
This research analyzed all three of Pantene‟s #WhipIt video commercials. The researcher first defined the existing denotations of “empowerment” and “strong Filipino women.” Then, working in this milieu of meaning, went over the language choice in relation to feminism and the representation of and situation of women, and the production aspects, the cinematography, music, framing, and the like in relation to how the ad‟s messages are constructed and delivered.
The detailed analysis of the data gathered revealed that there is a disconnection between behavior that empowers women, and the behavior of women expected by society. Women in Philippine society navigate three discourses of the Familial Woman, Sexual Woman and Working Woman. They can only choose empowerment in certain domains while their male counterparts enjoy the freedom of an array of avenues of empowerment.
The researcher also found out how the women in the #WhipIt videos became strong. Within the framework of "slippage‟ women have three choices in acting upon the labels forced on them These are to accept, ignore, or to resignify the meanings of these labels.
Finally the researcher analyzed the messages about strong women emphasized by the Pantene #WhipIt commercials. The important messages were that strong women acknowledge that double standards for men and women are present in society, but these must not hold them back.
KEYWORDS: Feminism, Pantene #WhipIt, Empowerment, Post-structuralist feminist discourse analysis, Linguistic feminism