Rhetorical Analysis: H&M Commercial, "She's a Lady"

My rhetorical analysis project was based on the ad “She’s a Lady” produced by H&M. This ad addresses the modern appeal to the popular skepticism of the traditional expectations of what makes a woman a woman. H&M addresses this topic of feminism through displaying and encouraging body diversity, freedom of expression and opinion. This advertisement is geared towards women of all ages but naturally attracts the younger crowd of women because of the twenty-first-century values weaved throughout the video. Something that stood out about my project was that I chose an advertisement that didn’t cause a negative emotion but a more empowering advertisement that politely challenged the concept of woman.  

She's a... Lady?

What is woman? Is she delicate or strong? Is she black, white, Latino? Is she poised and put together? Does she wear size four or fourteen? From “She’s a Lady” by H&M, we can see the modern appeal to the popular skepticism of the traditional expectations of what makes a woman a woman. This advertisement is geared towards women of all ages but naturally attracts the younger crowd of women because of the twenty-first century values weaved throughout the video.

H&M begins the conversation of what makes a woman a woman with her body. The body of a woman has been the emphasized aspect of her life since the day she was born. Women have so many ads telling them what type of body they should have by the body diversity displayed (or lack thereof).

Figure 1: Curvey model looking at herself in mirror.

In this advertisement, H&M purposely shows women like the one in figure one as well as skinny, tall women. What they don’t do is put the skinny women in revealing lingerie. They avoid doing this because as a women audience, we see plenty of thinner women in that type of clothing. Instead, they wanted to show us a curvier woman accepting her body as it is and feeling sexy in it. Being curvy does not mean you can’t love yourself and that’s exactly what H&M communicated.

Figure 2: Black transgender woman looking at herself in mirror.

Figure 3: Smiling woman with underarm hair.

Another aspect of the body H&M touched on is what is considered masculine and feminine. In figure two H&M shows a black transgender woman is shown admiring her muscles. In figure three, a smiling woman is pictured in bed with her unshaved underarms showing. These two figures both depict what is thought to be masculine body features but is in fact just a feature of being human. They also depict more of the diversity in body types and skin color in figures two and three. On the topic of a woman’s body, H&M addresses that a woman’s body can be anything they want it to be and your body doesn’t dictate your femininity or sexuality. Women are not only taught that a delicate, doll-figured body is necessary in order to be considered feminine but also by how they compose themselves.

Throughout the advertisement, women are expressing themselves fully in the circumstances they are in. In figure one, she is feeling sexy. In figure two, she is feeling strong. In figure six, she is annoyed. In all the figures, the women have one thing in common, they are feeling fully empowered in their individuality which is the opposite of what the traditional woman has been taught. The lyrics in the background of the song, “She’s a Lady” by Tom Jones tell you exactly what the perfect traditional woman looked like in the seventies. The ideal woman “[has] style... grace... knows her place... always [has] something nice to say... never asks very much... the lady is mine.” The producers purposely picked this song to prove why they chose to make this ad: To tackle the expectation that women must always be a poised, well-mannered and quiet piece of property for men.

Figure 4: Women smiling, having fun and eating. 

In figure four, the women are seen eating, laughing and talking and the people around them seem to be disturbed by their behavior but the woman don’t care. In figure five, a woman is pictured slouching along with a man in the background. As women we are expected to always appear poised, but this slaps this notion in the face.

Figure 5: Woman slouching in subway.

The most apparent standard to women to me that is demonstrated is the sexual nature of women. The traditional woman was taught to not embrace her sexuality and desires. In this advertisement, H&M clearly plays into desires that all humans want but are only accepted by men. For example, a woman is only sexy if another man thinks so. But what happens when that woman decides that she, herself, is sexy? What if a woman thinks another woman is sexy? This video gives the freedom for the woman audience to feel that acceptance and freedom to express themselves to the fullest degree that the world so hardly encourages.

With full expression of self, comes opinion and confidence. In a male-dominated culture, it difficult to feel like a “lady-boss” but so many women desire that power (that is, to be equal with men in status and importance).

Figure 6: Woman annoyed by two men conversing. 

In figure six, a professional woman seems annoyed by two men having a conversation and eventually walks off on her own. This represents the fact that women do not have to stay without opinion, especially around men. Women don’t always have to have “something nice to say”. Another example of a woman taking her power back is in the scene shown in figure seven. An Asian woman is shown walking into a room with a table full of men and she passionately places the stack of papers on the table.

Figure 7: Woman in meeting room presenting ideas.

This scene demonstrates the desire of women to be passionate about what they believe in, their ideas and their intelligence. Woman is normally overlooked due to the unconscious (and conscious) subordinate role that is associated with women. H&M relates to struggle that so many working women have and shows the audience that they can take their power back with one simple act of confidence in themselves.

H&M says a woman is... Whatever they want to be. They can be delicate, strong or both. They can have porcelain skin, skin rich in melanin, or anywhere in between. They can be loud, passionate, and opinionated, in love, sexual, hairy, and emotional. The producers of this advertisement aggressively and effectively give a voice to every type of woman and that is what makes it so excellent. It makes woman not only want to just buy the cute clothing displayed but it makes women want to financially support a business that encourages such values. For H&M to not just throw cliché models in their merchandise is what sets this ad apart. It gives something women to believe in and invest. H&M beautifully demonstrates all these qualities by appealing to the world’s slowly changing definition of what makes a woman a woman.