Values on Femininity in Chinese Cosmetic Advertisement Discourse

Abstract

         This paper aims to examine linguistic strategies that represent values on femininity in the cosmetic advertisement discourses via the concept of “Critical Discourse Analysis”. The data consist of 126 advertisements from Vogue fashion magazine, published from January to December 2019. The study found that femininity was expressed through linguistic strategies: lexical selection, metaphor, overstatement, rhetorical questioning, presupposition, and problem-solving pattern. The study found that the conceptualization of femininity expressed in advertisement discourse consists of 3 concepts: 1) values on the femininity of how “desirable women” and “undesirable women” look like, 2) values on femininity by mindset, 3) values on femininity role in the modern public life. The study also showed that language has a very important role in conveying values of femininity and representing the cosmetic products that help women to be the ideal women. Those ideas reflected consumers’ thinking and ideology overdominance to make a profit for suppliers’ business.