CONTRASTIVE ANALYSIS OF WOMAN BEAUTY CONCEPTS IN DIFFERENT CULTURES VIA PANTENE PROV COMMERCIALS IN DIFFERENT COUNTRIES

Abstract

ABSTRACT

The feminine beauty ideal is "the socially constructed notion that physical attractiveness is one of women's most important assets, and something all women should strive to achieve and maintain". Feminine beauty ideals are rooted in heteronormative beliefs, and heavily influence women of all sexual orientations. Beauty ideals vary from culture to culture. Pressure to conform to a certain definition of "beautiful" can have drastic psychological effects. These ideals have been correlated with depression, eating disorders, and low self-esteem, starting from an adolescent age and continuing into adulthood. This study focuses on how differences of cultural values in several countries reflect woman beauty concepts through Pantene Prov commercials. To investigate underlying cultural values together with perception discrepancies, four advertisements were collected. A cross-cultural framework is applied to compare and content-analyze these advertisements. After analyzing, remarkable insights into cultural reflection in television advertisements of four nations are figured out. Lastly, the research provides some suggestions on studying cross-culture and gender stereotypes, double standards for English learners as well as advertising practitioners.