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RESEARCH PRODUCT

Girls’ portrayals in fast fashion advertisements

subject

description

This study analyses the visual construction of girls and notionssurrounding young femininities articulated by 15 contemporaryadvertisements of Nordic fast fashion companies, available on theirpublic Facebook pages in Finland. A visual discourse analysis identifiessome blatantly stereotypical and a few complex visual constructions ofgirls as heterosexual, caring, innocent, sexy posers, active self-presentersand self-surveyors, carefree and environmental activists. Theimplications of our findings, particularly in shaping societal notionssurrounding girls, are discussed. The study contributes primarily to theresearch field of visual commercial representation of girls by unpackinghow their complex portrayals can create an equivocation thateventually resurrects stereotypes surrounding young femininities. Itadvances studies on Nordic consumer culture by highlighting that girls’portrayals by Nordic companies may not clearly reflect the values ofstate feminism. The study can benefit marketers by sensitising them to how the complex visual representations of girls may (re)producestereotypes. Funding: Academy of Finland [320370]; Strategic Research Council [327237]