Päivitetty 16.10.2003  –  Palautteet

Virittäjä-lehti  >  Hakemistot  >  Kirjoitukset ja tiivistelmät: 3/2003 (107)

IDEAL PARTNERS AND DREAM RELATIONSHIPS IN PERSONAL ADVERTISEMENTS

The article compares personal advertisements published between the mid-1900s and the start of the new millennium in two newspapers: Helsingin Sanomat and the provincial Karjalainen. The aims of the study were to examine how ‘self’ and ‘other’ are described in the advertisements, how male and female descriptions vary and how social change is reflected in this. The study focused on the most common means of description – adjectives – and their different categories. It also looked at the descriptions of the imagined time spent together.

The results indicate that throughout the period covered the advertisements have been formulated in very much the same way. Custom has generated norms that have gradually established themselves and helped perpetuate the practices. Some adjectives have remained long-time favourites: a reliable person, for example, will always be valued in creating a sense of ‘we-ness’. The advertiser’s linguistic choices are also driven by the desire for sufficient individuality, allowing him/her to stand out from the crowd. Despite the conventions, personal advertisements have been adapted to new demands. For example, the relationship between a man and a woman is now represented in more ways than before: a financially independent woman is not necessarily looking for a partner for life but may instead seek companionship for particular purposes, such as travel or hobbies. With greater sexual freedom, there are also few inhibitions about looking to meet for ‘coffee at noon’ (euphemism for sexual rendezvous), and the heterosexual norm is also receding.

On a more general level, the study reveals that the advertiser looks to find a balance between detail and generality in the description, hoping to attract a reply from someone but not just anyone. Although an advertisement will, in principle, allow contact with many potential ‘others’, demand and supply will not always match, and so there is no guarantee of achieving the goal of pairing up.

Pirkko Muikku-Werner