The Representation of Women in Cinema Magazine Advertising
The Representation of Women in Cinema Magazine Advertising

Summary/Abstract: When examining the representation of women in Romania's communist society, the women's magazine Femeia is often cited and used as a case study. My paper examines the representation of women in advertising that appears in Cinema magazine between 1968-1974, a periodical that aimed to address all those interested in film, regardless of gender. I first examine the context in which advertising appeared in Cinema, arguing that it was symptomatic of the beginning of the brief period of relaxation in Romanian politics of the time. As advertising is usually associated with the consumer culture in Capitalism, I consider the differences between the way advertising functions in Western magazines as opposed to how it functions in Cinema, a magazine published in the communist context. I use close textual analysis of specific examples of adverts from the magazine highlighting the central role that women had in them. I consider the representation of women in terms of the double burden as both workers and caretakers for the family but also in terms of how they are used to showcase specific products. In doing so, I hope to add to the area of scholarship that examines the representation of women, with a case study that has not been analysed from this perspective.

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