Like many theoretical ideas in the critical tradition, feminism has several different theories dealing with women's rights and women's issues. Additionally, feminist theories can be split into modern and postmodern categories. This paper will explain and compare one theory from each of those categories. From modern critical traditions, the paper will discuss radical feminism. From the postmodern traditions, the paper will discuss feminist cultural studies. The paper will also use Agent Provocateur's advertisement "Proof" featuring Kylie Minogue to further explore the similarities and differences between these two critical feminist theories.

Why are scantily clad women used to sell everything from beer to motorcycles to chewing gum? Why is it almost unheard of for an ad that portrays a corporate board room to show a woman sitting at the head of the table? According to critical feminist theories, it is because most advertising focuses on men. It assumes men will be making the decisions about major purchases. More than that, the ads also reinforce the image that woman are subservient to men. They are employed as workers, not managers. They are also meant to be objects for male gratification. Of course, while most critical feminist theories of communication would agree on those points, they tend to differ on who is responsible for those messages and on what needs to change in order for women to be considered equal to men.

Critical feminist theories can be broken down into two major categories: modern and postmodern. Theories from both categories share many beliefs and assumptions about how women are portrayed in the media. However, they tend to disagree fairly sharply when deciding where those messages originate. This paper will explore those similarities and differences by looking at radical feminism from the modern critical tradition. It will then discuss feminist cultural studies from the postmodern critical tradition. Finally, it will use Agent Provocateur's lingerie advertisement "Proof" to further explain and highlight the key similarities and differences in the two theories.

Radical feminism believes that social structure is patriarchal. "The patriarchy perpetuates a set of gender-laden meanings that promote masculine interests and subordinate feminine ones" {Littlejohn & Foss 2005:323}. Society's structure focuses and encourages male interests and goals. This naturally leads to women's interests and goals being given significantly less priority. Moreover, women in society are oppressed. "Women are oppressed because the very fabric of society is a constructed reality that devalues and marginalizes women's experience" {Littlejohn & Foss 2005:323}. Society has been built in such a way that women are subordinated to men. The structures that we created to construe society act to insure a status quo of female being dominated by male.

The structures at the focus of radical feminism, and in fact all modernist critical theories, include everything from corporations, to political systems, to families, to even gender itself. All of these structures are socially constructed. The problem, according to radical feminists is that these structures are all man-made and hence, place women in subordinate roles {Littlejohn & Foss 2005:323}.

Like most critical theories, radical feminism includes a call to action. However, it goes significantly further in its call to action than most other theories. "The term radical is appropriate for this movement because it goes to the root of social structure and demands basic redefinitions of all facets of society" {Littlejohn & Foss 2005:323}. In short, the only way to correct the problem of a male-dominated patriarchy is to completely rebuild society from its foundations to include women's values and needs on equal footing with those of men. It is not enough to simply give women more of a voice in society. Radical feminists believe that society's structure as a whole needs to be recreated.

Radical feminism focuses heavily on the patriarchal structure of society. It is that focus on structure that marks it as modern critical theory. "In contrast, the postmodern version teaches that there is no objectively real structure or central meaning and that the oppressive 'structures' are ephemeral. There is a struggle, but it is not a struggle between monolithic ideologies. It is a struggle between fluid interests and ideas" {Littlejohn & Foss 2005:317}. As a postmodern critical theory, feminist cultural studies look at how communication and interactions, not structures, serve to maintain the oppression of women.

Feminist cultural studies, like radical feminism, see women as being oppressed. They believe society acts in such a manner to maintain that oppression. However, instead of looking at society as a structure, they instead look at it as a compilation of interactions, ideas, and communication. "Feminist cultural studies suggests that power relations are constructed in social interactions of various types and that the language and symbolic forms are constantly creating categories of thought as well as social relationships" {Littlejohn & Foss 2005:327}. This means that the subordinate status of women is not maintained by the structure of society, but instead by the interactions of the various individuals and groups within that society. Moreover, society is not a fixed ideological structure, but instead is a constantly evolving and changing idea.

Because feminist cultural studies doesn't consider society to be a structure, it also doesn't recognize the need to completely rebuild that structure. Instead, the focus is on studying the power relations in an attempt to empower women. "In this sense, feminist scholarship undertakes the emancipatory aim of cultural studies, not only for culture generally but for its own scholarship" {Littlejohn & Foss 2005:327}.

Advertising often reflects the values of society. This makes sense since for an ad to be effective, it needs to resonate with its target audience. It can even be argued that ads help to create and recreate the values of the society that they reflect.

Sex sells. There is nothing particularly new or surprising about that statement. Advertisers have been using that basic concept for as long as they have been advertising. However, the majority of ads feature scantily clad women, not men. Both radical feminism and feminist cultural studies agree that this is the result of a male-dominate society. One such ad featuring a very scantily clad female is "Proof" from Agent Provocateur. The ad consists primarily of pop star Kylie Minogue wearing a lacy bra, panty, and garter set while riding a mechanical bull. This advertisement can be broken down into three phases: Kylie addressing the audience, Kylie riding the bull, and Kylie addressing the men in the audience (Field Notes, 15).

The advertisement begins with Kylie wearing an outfit that looks like a generic uniform. It has the company name, Agent Provocateur, embroidered above her left breast. Her hair is pinned up. Her entire outfit is designed to look like those worn by waitresses, nurses, or any number of other jobs primarily reserved for females (Field Notes, 17).

According to radical feminism, this outfit serves to demonstrate that Kylie is an employee only. The company name on her left breast visually reminds viewers she belongs to the corporation. The fact that the uniform is similar to those worn by other women in non-managerial jobs is also intentionally chosen to maintain her role in the structure of society. Simply because she is wearing a uniform and not a suit also serves to further establish Kylie as a worker and not a leader of the company.

While radical feminism focuses on how Kylie's appearance is meant to demonstrate where women fit into society, feminist cultural studies look at as being more of the idea of how the average woman is expected to look.

Kylie's outfit fits the "idea" of your average woman. Since this advertisement focuses on appealing to men, the advertisers used an outfit that would be instantly recognized by men as belonging to your average female. This makes it significantly easier to picture their girlfriends or wives in the ad, even if their own significant others don't actually wear a uniform. The key point is that Kylie looks like society's idea of a generic woman.

The next phase of the ad consists primarily of Kylie riding a mechanical bull after removing her uniform leaving only the lacy lingerie set Agent Provocateur is selling (Field Notes, 15). Both of the feminist theories would agree that Kylie has now been reduced to an object of male sexual gratification. However, they would differ on exactly what that means.

From the radical feminist perspective, Kylie's new role represents her place within the structure of a relationship rather than a corporation. Kylie is there to serve the needs and wants of her husband or boyfriend. She is in effect in just another uniform. Instead of being the generic waitress or nurse type uniform, though, it is now the bedroom uniform. Her purpose is to provide for the sexual gratification of her man. She has gone from being the subordinate part of the corporate structure to the subordinate part of the relationship structure. In either case, her wants and needs are irrelevant.

Feminist cultural studies, on the other hand, doesn't consider where her new outfit puts her in some new structure. Instead, it focuses on the simple fact that she has been objectified. Men are aroused by women in skimpy and revealing clothing. The ad keys in on that concept and gives them what they want, a woman in skimpy and revealing clothing. The wants of men are all that are being considered here. Men enjoy looking at women in their underwear, so that's what the ad lets them do.

Kylie's behavior during this phase is also of note. She does not act like she is reading a bull. Instead, she is simulating sexual intercourse. Her facial expressions, her body movements, her hand placement are all more representative of sex than of anything to do with rodeo. She also does not speak during this phase of the ad (Field Notes, 18).

This aspect of the ad produces no conflict between the two theories. Both of them agree that Kylie is now a sexual object, not a person. Her behavior serves merely to reinforce that concept. The fact she has no dialogue in this section also highlights the fact that for the majority of the ad, Kylie has no purpose other than the gratification of men.

In the final phase of the ad, Kylie addresses the men of the audience. She makes a joke that the men will be too embarrassed to stand up after watching her performance because it will reveal their physical arousal. This is the "proof" of the ad that Agent Provocateur is the most erotic lingerie in the world (Field Notes, 16).

From the radical perspective, it is of note that Kylie is addressing the men of the audience, not the audience as a whole. They are the ones who society has decreed are important. Even though the majority of Agent Provocateur's products are worn by women, they are meant to be enjoyed by men. No consideration is given to whether the lingerie is practical, comfortable, or supportive. Women's place in society is subordinate to men, so such considerations are of secondary importance.

From the cultural studies perspective, the fact she remains in her underwear is important. The ad works with the idea that women are sexual objects. By keeping her in lingerie even when speaking, her words become secondary to her appearance. Kylie's ideas as expressed through her communication are not as important as Kylie's appearance.

Throughout the advertisement, the camera focuses heavily and has a number of close-ups of Kylie's breasts, buttocks, and groin (Field Notes, 115). Like so much of the rest of the ad, this is done to highlight the fact Kylie is not meant to be viewed as a person. By focusing on parts of her body, rather than on her entire person, it is much easier for the viewers to objectify her. As for the parts that are chosen to focus on, both theories would agree that the choice was made based on which parts men consider most important.

One final point that needs to be addressed, although it does not necessarily deal with the content of the ad, is that this advertisement was viral. It was shown originally in London theaters in December of 2001 and available on Agent Provocateur's web site. Word of the advertising spread rapidly via the Internet leading to over 400,000 people from around the world viewing the ad on Agent Provocateur's website in January of 2002 alone. In January alone, over 400,000 people saw the ad.{Agent Provocateur - Chronology 2001} There are no estimates of how many people viewed it at the literally thousands of other websites that also started showing the ad and continue to do so.

While radical feminism is not readily able to address the viral nature of the ad, there is no tradition marketing structure in place to consider, feminist cultural studies can. Because cultural studies view society as nothing more than the interactions and ideas communicated, it makes perfect sense that an advertisement that accurately reflects one of the significant desires of the dominant part of society would receive widespread communication throughout society. And, as it moves through society, it serves to reinforce the ideas of what a woman is, what she should be, and that men's desires should be considered first and foremost.

It is easy to understand why feminists believe that society has placed women in an oppressed position. So much of our culture focuses on male gratification and desires, rather than those of women. However, while feminists agree that society is male-dominated, they disagree on why that is, or even what constitutes society. For radical feminism, society is a patriarchal structure created by and for men. As such, the only way for women to achieve equality is by completely rebuilding the basic structures of society so that they include women's interests. Feminist cultural studies, on the other hand, reject the idea of society as a structure. Instead, they focus on the fluid ideas and concepts that are created though interaction and communication. It is those interactions that serve to create the male-domination in society, not some rigid patriarchy or any other structured ideology. It is through studying the interactions and male-centric communication that women will become empowered to enact social change.

For me, radical feminist theory suffers from the fundamental assumption of all modernist critical theories, the idea of social structures. As someone who leans towards cybernetics when considering society, I don't see society as a structure, but instead as a dynamic system of actions and interactions of the people and ideas that make up the system. That system is always changing and evolving. This means I also disagree with the idea that for women to achieve equal power status with men they need to rebuild the basic structures of society. If there are no social structures, then there is no need to create new ones to fix a potential problem in society.

This focus on structures is highlighted by the inability of radical feminism to explain things like viral marketing. Viral ads spread independent of and across structures. They do not need anything other than interaction to carry their message.

The above is why I see feminist cultural studies as a better choice for trying to explain male-domination in society. Because the assumptions about what society is and my own are similar, the foundations for the explanations fit me better. It also explains how so many different ideas seems to cross through those structures that do exist.

At the same time, though, I do not believe feminist cultural studies is enough in and of itself to empower and emancipate women. While understanding how society's ideas and interactions serve to maintain women in an oppressed role is useful, by itself that knowledge is not enough to invoke social change. In fact, simply studying the culture and how it relates to females doesn't even suggest why society should change.

Instead, I believe the next step should be answering that why. Although my answer to the why women should be given equivalent status to men would be a significantly longer paper than this one, the short version is this: humans succeed by maximizing their intellectual potential. Our lives are improved when we get the most ideas from the most people and have as many people as possible working to make things better. That means that women's ideas and intellect need to be as fully tapped into as those of men. And, the only way to achieve that goal is to put them on equal societal power status as men.

Radical feminism and feminist cultural studies both provide some framework for looking at communication and how it relates to the power differences between men and women. Although feminist cultural studies seem to be a better fit within my own worldview, I believe it still falls short in some significant areas, not the least of which is why exactly we should care that women and men are not considered equal.

"Proof" opens with the camera focused on a red velvet mechanical bull sitting in front of a red leather background. Immediately, a spotlight comes on lighting the mechanical bull. The camera cuts to an old woman sitting in a chair reading, and the sound of footsteps on a hard floor is heard. The camera cuts back to the bull, but now a woman's legs can be seen as she walks towards the bull and away from the camera. The camera quickly moves up as the woman spins around. The woman is pop star Kylie Minogue. Kylie is wearing a white, one-piece uniform dress with Agent Provocateur embroidered above her left breast.

"Agent Provocateur is the most erotic lingerie in the world," begins Kylie. The camera then focuses on her chest as she unbuttons her uniform revealing a black mesh bra with a white string holding the front together. She then continues, "And with your help, we can prove it."

Kylie then removes her uniform revealing the rest of her lingerie. She is wearing see-through black mesh panties with a black garter and stocking set. She then walks over to the bull as the music starts. She looks at the bull, biting her finger almost apprehensively before mounting. While she gets on the bull, the camera focuses on and zooms in on her buttocks. She finishes mounting, then looks over at the old woman and nods. The old woman pushes a button, and the bull begins to buck, albeit fairly slowly.

Kylie starts moving with the bull. However, her movements are more representative of sex than of rodeo bull riding. She flexes her hips and runs her hands over her body. There is a short cut at approximately the forty second point where Kylie is not on the bull but is instead dancing up against the old woman in the chair. This cut lasts less than five seconds before the camera cuts back to Kylie riding the bull. She continues simulating sex while riding the bull for another twenty-five seconds.

"And now," says a panting Kyle, "for the proof."

Kylie dismounts the bull and the camera zooms in on her groin. Like the bra, there is a white lace tied into her panties. She walks away from the bull, kneels down, and addresses the audience through the camera.

"Would all the men in the audience stand up."

Kylie purses her lips and tilts her head, looking about as if studying the audience.

"No?" she asks in a mocking tone while shaking her head.

The old woman laughs and then says before going back to her reading, "Didn't think you'd be able to."

Kylie then stands up and walks off left with the camera centered on the bull in the background. She says in voiceover, "The world's most erotic lingerie - as proven by you."

The name Agent Provocateur comes up on the bottom of the screen and the advertisement ends.

The advertisement is set in an open room. The walls are covered with red leather. There is a mechanical bull in the center of the room that is covered in red velvet. There is a chair to the right of the mechanical bull that an old lady sits in throughout the ad. The bull is the primary object of interaction for Kylie.

The time of day is not apparent in the ad. Also, the entire scene lasts roughly ninety seconds and is meant to be an interaction between Kylie and the audience so no overt indications that any significant time passes other than that ninety seconds. However, the ad can be broken down into several distinct phases, each of which covering a different set of actions and interactions.

Phase one shows the room, the bull, and has Kylie talk to the audience. It ends when she finishes undressing and speaking. This phase lasts roughly fifteen seconds.

Phase two begins with Kylie walking to and riding the bull. It lasts from about fifteen seconds until sixty-five seconds.

Phase three begins with Kylie still on the bull but talking to the audience. She dismounts and specifically addresses the men. This phase runs from sixty-five seconds until the end of the advertisement.

The only two people physically present in the scene are Kylie and the old lady. However, because Kylie addresses the audience through the camera, she makes the audience an active part of the scene. Chronologically, the interactions are:

• Kylie and the audience: Kylie addresses the audience and states that Agent Provocateur is the "most exotic lingerie in the world." The purpose of this statement is to give meaning for the entire rest of the scene. She is attempting to prove that Agent Provocateur truly is the world's most erotic lingerie.
• Kylie and the old lady: Kylie nods to the old woman when she is ready for the bull to begin moving. There is also a brief cut in the middle of the bull riding when Kylie dances up against the old lady.
• Kylie and the audience again: This short interaction is a set-up to the final interactions. It serves only as a transition between Kylie talking to the entire audience, and her talking to just the men.
• Kylie and the men in the audience: Kylie admonishes the men in the audience to stand up. She then mockingly says, "No?" while shaking her head. This not quite subtle joke is the proof of her claim. The men watching her ride the bull while she wore nothing but Agent Provocateur lingerie are assumed to have become aroused. As such, they will not stand up for fear of embarrassing themselves by revealing the physical symptom of that arousal, an erection.
• Old lady and the men in the audience: Her interaction serves merely as reinforcement for the punchline of the ad.

The first performance of note in the ad is the old lady sitting in the chair reading. She also is the one who starts the bull. And, she points her finger at the camera when she makes her final statement. Throughout the ad, she appears to be a controlling figure. Additionally, she serves as a stark contrast to the obvious physical attractiveness of Kylie Minogue.

The second performance is that of Kylie Minogue. Kylie starts out in a uniform with her hair up. This uniform bears strong similarities to uniforms worn by women in a number of different professions: waitresses, nurses, etc, and marks her as an employee of Agent Provocateur. She then removes the uniform leaving her wearing only the lingerie. Kylie then rides a mechanical bull while performing more as a person engaged in sexual intercourse than a person riding a bull. Her performance ends with her addressing the audience.

The first mundane detail, but one which likely has major significance is that the company name is embroidered on Kylie's uniform. This is what identifies as a uniform and not simply a dress. Such a detail is commonplace on uniforms in other professions.

Next, most of the background is red as is the bull. This serves two purposes. First, it makes it very easy to pay attention to Kylie as the background and bull blend together and nothing else stands out to distract the audience from focusing on Kylie. Second, red creates strong feelings in viewers.

The final point here is that Kylie was not acting like someone riding a bull. Instead, she used gestures and facial expressions that are more reminiscent of sex than of rodeo.

The mood of the ad shifts at each phase. In the first phase, the mood is simply average. No raised voices or strong gestures to created any heightened emotions. The second phase is marked by significant, and highly erotic, behaviors designed specifically to create sexual arousal in the viewers. While the punchline of the ad might have mentioned men specifically, it is likely that the creators wanted to excite both men and women. The end of the ad is lighthearted. There is the old lady laughing and Kylie's playful mocking.

Since there is so little dialogue in the ad, and all of that dialogue is directed at the audience who cannot actually respond, nonverbal behaviors become the focus of the entire ad.

Kylie starts out as just any woman in a uniform. However, she lets her hair down and unbuttons her dress which transform her into a sexual object. Then, during the entire time she is riding the bull, none of her nonverbal cues have anything to do with bull riding. Instead, she is running her hands over the various erogenous zones on her body. She flexes her hips and writhes in pleasure. Her facial expressions border on ecstasy. Her nonverbal signals all indicate she is having sex, not riding a bull.

At the end, the nonverbal communication of both Kylie and the old lady are used to indicate the playfulness of the ad's punchline. The old lady laughs as Kylie mocks the men in the audience. Her tone of voice as she delivers her final lines before the voiceover carry that same light-heartedness.

One of the more significant elements of the ad is the camera work. Through the ad, the camera spends significantly more time focusing on parts of Kylie's body rather than showing Kylie in her entirety. Additionally, the camera focuses on her breasts, buttocks, and groin areas more often than anywhere else.

I suspect this ad was as popular with women as it was with men even though strong arguments can be made that the entire ad did nothing but treat a woman as a sex object.

The fact that Kylie starts out in a uniform is very significant. Rather than the pop star / lingerie supermodel that she is best know for, she appears as just any woman. It is much easier for men watching the ad to picture their girlfriends and wives as being able to look just like that. It is also far easier for women to see themselves as the "any woman" that Kylie starts out as.

Also, this ad was a very successful viral. While it was first shown in London cinemas, it also appeared on Agent Provocateur's website and has since been copied to thousands of other websites which is why it is still available even though Agent Provocateur no longer has it on their own site. The primary means by which people heard about the ad was from their friends who sent them links in e-mail or messengers. In short, all of the messages that serve to objectify women were likely being passed around by a significant portion of society.