Running head: WOMEN IN MEDIA 1

Women in Media

Emily Walker

JMC 1013-010

10/05/17

Dean Walker
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Table of Contents

Abstract .............................................................................................................................. 3

Women in Media .............................................................................................................. 4

Beginning………………………………………………………………………………4

Middle…………………………………………………………………………………7

Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………….10

References……………………………………………………………………………….11
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Abstract

Women have been portrayed on television shows, movies, and other social media

platforms as not as strong as men or as just a stay-at-home wife/mom. Recently though there has

been some very powerful commercials that show women are strong in their own individual ways

no matter what they are doing in life. Specifically, one commercial that is very moving is

Always’, “Always #LikeAGirl.” Throughout this commercial, it is implied that young girls

believe that they are strong and powerful. It also shows how older women don’t show as much

confidence in themselves after puberty. The women show a different reaction than the young

girls when they are told to act out different sporty moves “like a girl”. These women show a

different reaction because of negative connotations of society presenting this idea that doing

things as girl is weak. Overall, it is a female empowering commercial that encouraged women all

over the world to express their strength and power (Vagianos, 2015).

Keywords: Always, commercial, women

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Women in Media

In the commercial, Always #LikeAGirl, it is obvious that the motive behind this very

moving piece is to empower women and show that the negative connotations behind women

doing sporty or active moves is not true. Many articles over this commercial are very positive

and supportive towards empowering women, however it is still likely to end up coming across

the few that disagree. In this analysis over the commercial Always #LikeAGirl, there are articles

over this commercial that are analyzed as to why this commercial is beneficial or not. Always

#LikeAGirl while empowering women by telling them that they are strong and beautiful, is also

advertising Always on an emotional level to achieve consumer loyalty.

Beginning

Description: In an article posted by Huffington Post, it is a very positive post and

supportive of the brand Always and the motive behind the commercial. The very first thing that

is read when opening this article is, “The Reaction to Always #LikeAGirl Is Exactly Why It’s So

Important” (Vagianos, 2016). It immediately catches the readers eye and is screaming in big

letters that it is a positive reaction to the commercial. Most people wanting to read something

positive, will be drawn in alone by this title.

Analysis: Throughout this article, there are many different examples of proof that this

commercial has done a positive impact for society and that it has empowered women even more.

The author uses different social media examples of women showing off their strength with either

being in the military or a track superstar. “After the commercial aired during Sunday night’s

Super Bowl, women took to Twitter to describe what they did “like a girl” and how their gender

doesn’t stop them from being strong and powerful” (Vagianos, 2016). As the article progresses,
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it is shown through a pattern that the author of this commercial was receiving a positive impact

from it. Even towards the end of this article there is still no negative feedback about the

commercial. In fact, there is even more female empowerment and feminism behind the article, at

the end of the article.

Interpretation: From an overall outside perspective, this article was written from a very

feminist standpoint and had no other side to what the author felt was right. It is a very

controversial topic that many support because many believe it is important to empower women

and uplift women, when many women are effected by low self-esteem. However, it is important

to also have an equal sided article to gain more of an audience but also to make it not seem too

bias towards feminism when some might not be as supportive of it as others. The meaning

behind these patterns can be interpreted that the author wanted to pull the audience in and

persuade them that empowering women is something that should be normal so that confidence in

women doesn’t fall.

Description: Another article that responds in a positive way towards Always’, Always

#LikeAGirl, commercial is the magazine, Time. In this article, which was written shortly after

the commercial was released, it is positively talked about in the way that says the commercial

was ‘Refining the phrase ‘Like a girl’. The author exhibits that the reason the commercial was

redefining the phrase “like a girl”, was because the video was something strong and powerful.

This Time article also states that most people after watching this will “probably never use ‘like a

girl’ in a negative way-intentionally or not-again” (Goldberg, 2014).

Analysis: This commercial showed more of an equal review and wasn’t as biased as the

Huffington Post article. At the end of the article, Time pronounces that this video could take a

similar path with other female empowerment commercials, dismantling gender stereotypes but
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even if it didn’t, it was worth taking a few minutes out of your day to watch it and seeing how

these young girls believe in themselves. The author even adds at the end that one of the girls

says, ‘I am a girl and that is not something I should be ashamed of’ (Goldberg, 2014). This

statement to end the article leaves the audience wanting to go check this video out and see for

themselves how powerful this video is, as well as adds to the idea that it is an empowering

commercial.

Interpretation: Overall this article is not shoving the authors opinion down the reader’s

throat but it is still voicing the authors thoughts on the video to the public. The author

appropriately handled his or her response to the video and it was in an unbiased response

compared to some other reviews/articles on this commercial. Even with a lot of women being

bias that female empowerment is important, after stepping back and putting it in the perspective

of other people’s opinions, this Time article does a good job of making the reader feel

comfortable with this fair-sided article. With the idea of staying at a fair-sided level, it will most

likely make people more interested because they get to make the decision for themselves if they

thought it was an empowering video and not feel as though they are pressured to one side.

Description: Looking at more articles and sources of reviews on this commercial, there

were a few that were not as accepting to the idea behind the commercial. Daily Beast is one of

the few that thought it was a great commercial but also had other opinions about the commercial.

The tagline that Daily Beast has for their article on the Always #LikeAGirl commercial is “Yes,

Always’s ‘Like a Girl’ Campaign Is Great—but It’s Also Deceptive” (Shire, 2014). It could

either turn you away instantly or intrigue you to want to read more and why they think it’s

deceptive. Some might agree that reading it would help one to see another view or opinion so

that it isn’t a one-sided opinion.

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Analysis: In this Daily Beast article, the author states that the short video was very

powerful but then ‘you’re hit with the message Join us to champion girls’ confidence at

Always.com’ (Shire, 2014). The author feels as though it was weird for a maker of “feminine”

products to be the claiming lead to empowering young women. Other words used to describe the

feelings behind this commercial included “shamelessly emotionally exploitative” (Shire, 2014)

and that it was demonstrating real problems and “femaleness as a derogatory statement” (Shire,

2014).

Interpretation: Once it is realized what the brand is for this commercial, it does kind of

shock the reader but some would say as though it wasn’t degrading women or shaming women in

any way. This commercial should encourage and motivate women and young girls more because

it’s in a way saying to not be ashamed of what naturally happens to your body. It is also a good

reminder to young girls who haven’t hit puberty that it is in fact something every girl goes

through and that they’re still strong and powerful women. From an unbiased opinion, one might

say it covered too much of one side and wasn’t equally showing support to both opinions. It gave

the idea in the beginning that the author thought it was great video but then quickly went straight

into supporting the fact that it wasn’t empowering after all and that it was mainly saying

femaleness was shown as a derogatory statement.

Middle

Description: An article by Institute for PR shows the research Always did for this

commercial and it was found that at puberty, a girl’s confidence plummets. In this article, it is

also stated that through research, puberty is a sensitive time and harmful phrases such as doing

something “like a girl” throw doubt on how powerful a girl can be and that the comments can

affect her for a lifetime. Another key point that was mentioned in this analysis was that Always
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wanted to “redefine confidence in a way that would resonate with consumers and be true to the

brand” (Institute for PR). The “LikeAGirl” campaign was created “to empower girls during this

time when their confidence is lowest and give the brand a powerful, relevant and purposeful role

in this empowerment” (Institute for PR).

Analysis: Throughout this short but straight to the point review, there are different

patterns of how the author states the information that is gathered. Institute for PR divides the

article by Situation Analysis, Research, Planning, Execution, and Evaluation, which is very

similar to the way you analyze a piece of media. This pattern of organizing the research done on

this commercial is very efficient and organized where you can fully understand what they are

doing in each section.

Interpretation: Overall, this article was a very scholarly source that had correct data and

facts from the brand Always to provide to the audience. This source would be a great one to use

for an unbiased opinion and just having correct facts in general. The reader would most likely

use this source if they are wanting an unbiased and fact-loaded article. This article breaks down

each section very well to show the thought and process behind the idea of this commercial. The

breakdown of this article would give answers, to some of the other articles, as to why they made

this commercial the way that they did.

Description: An article posted by Adweek uses the phrase “Don’t Be Afraid of Failure,

Says Latest Inspiring ‘Like a Girl’ Manifesto From Always” (Monllos, 2017) to catch the

attention of many to describe the commercial Always #LikeAGirl. This very new article, just

recently posted in August of twenty seventeen, is an inspiring and well thought out message to

women and the public. In this article Monllos takes a different approach and talks about the idea

that most girls believe if they can’t do something, they think they are a failure or not good
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enough. Monllos’ very first statement comes off empowering, “It’s easy to believe that other

people know how to do something—sing, dance, play sports, whatever it may be—because

they’re talented and you’re not” (Monllos, 2017). This statement automatically makes any

female reader feel empowered and intrigued to read more.

Analysis: Throughout this article, there is a pattern of empowerment and use of different

statistics to prove the facts behind this commercial, to be true. Monllos (2017) said that “For

young girls growing up today, that combination can have a detrimental impact: “50 percent of

girls feel paralyzed by fear of failure during puberty” and “75 percent of girls agree that social

media contributes to girls’ fear of failing during puberty,” claims a new study by Procter &

Gamble’s Always” (in 2017). She uses different statistics to show that young girls really do have

a fear of failure during puberty as well as that social media has had a large factor into play with

that insecurity. The author then uses the Always #LikeAGirl commercial to empower women that

they aren’t failures and are just as powerful as they allow themselves to be. Monllos claims that

“That’s why Always has made failure the focus of its latest “Like a Girl” campaign” (Monllos,

2017) and that the commercial “tells young girls that it’s OK to fail because that’s how you learn

and grow” (Monllos, 2017). These different patterns that Monllos uses to catch the readers

attention are ways that also show the truth behind the commercial and creates an emotional

connection.

Interpretation: Why does Monllos create this emotional connection for the reader? The

reader is instantly intrigued by the statistics and will want to read more because of seeing the

numbers displayed. In this article, Monllos has the pattern of using statistics to draw the reader in

and intrigue them to read more. She also uses an emotional connection with her writing to make

you feel really inspired to spread the word about female empowerment and letting young girls
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know it’s okay to fail, because you learn from it. Another way she uses the emotional connection

to pull the reader in is by pulling quotes from the associate director of Always. ‘Always will do

all that we can to normalize and reframe failure as something that is not to be feared, but

something that is crucial to growth and building confidence’ (Monllos, 2017). This quote that

Michéle Baeten, associate director of Always made, makes the reader feel empowered and ready

to help younger girls learn to love themselves for who they are.

Conclusion

Throughout analyzing this piece of media, Always #LikeAGirl is a commercial that is

very moving and powerful to anyone that watches it. Without even having an opinion over the

subject of empowering women, it emotionally pulls on the viewer. Always #LikeAGirl while

empowering women by telling them that they are strong and beautiful, is also advertising Always

on an emotional level to achieve consumer loyalty. Always does a very worthy job of making

women want to believe in themselves as well as letting them know it is normal to fail. Overall

this piece of media is very moving and powerful to any audience. Always will continue to be

known in the future to have made an impact on young girls’ lives because of the Always

#LikeAGirl campaign.
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References

Always-LikeAGirl [Review of pdf file Institute for PR]. (n.d.). http://www.instituteforpr.org/wp-

content/uploads/Always-LikeAGirl-Turning-an-Insult-into-a-Confidence-Movement.pdf

K. (2017, August 18). Don't Be Afraid of Failure, Says Latest Inspiring 'Like a Girl' Manifesto

From Always. Retrieved October 31, 2017, from http://www.adweek.com/brand-

marketing/dont-be-afraid-of-failure-says-latest-inspiring-like-a-girl-manifesto-from-

always/

Like a Girl: New Always Ad Plays on Gender Stereotypes #LikeAGirl. (n.d.). Retrieved October

17, 2017, from http://time.com/2927761/likeagirl-always-female-empowerment/

Shire, E. (2014, June 30). Yes, Always's 'Like a Girl' Campaign Is Great-but It's Also Deceptive.

Retrieved October 31, 2017, from https://www.thedailybeast.com/yes-alwayss-like-a-girl-

campaign-is-greatbut-its-also-deceptive

Vagianos, A. (2015, February 03). The Reaction To #LikeAGirl Is Exactly Why It's So

Important. Retrieved October 17, 2017, from

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/03/why-like-a-girl-is-so-

important_n_6598970.html