Den feministiska rakhyveln : En kvalitativ studie av marknadsfeministiska tendenser i Estrids kommunikation

The use of feminist messages in marketing is not a new phenomenon. However, there has been an increase in using this as a strategy in later years. Estrid is a Swedish company that sells a razor subscription service with an entire marketing strategy based on using feminist messages. This contradictory paradox motivated this thesis' subject and aim: to examine how young women interpret feminist messages in parts of Estrid's communication, and to critically discuss the use of a feminist strategy in communication from a company that sells razors to women from the perspective of commodity feminism according to Rosalind Gill. The research questions are thereby: 1) Can Rosalind Gill's aspects of commodity feminism be identified in parts of Estrid's communication? If so, how?; 2) How does young women interpret the feminist messages in parts of Estrid's communication?To answer the purpose statement, a semiotic analysis was conducted with pictures derived from Estrid's website. Two focus groups with women in the ages 20–25 was held to get the perspective from a potential target group. The material was then analyzed through the lens of commodity feminism. Through this analysis we could identify the use of multiple of Rosalind Gill's aspects of commodity feminism through different semiotic connotations in the material, as well as in the commentary from the focus groups. Further, the study demonstrated a feeling of internal ambivalence amongst the focus group participants. On the one hand, everyone showed a positive attitude towards Estrid including diverse models and body hair in their advertisements. On the other hand, they were all skeptical towards the genuinity of the feminist messages included in the same material. What inspired this thesis was therefore present in all stages throughout it: the paradox of selling razors using feminist messages