During class on Friday, we talked about various symbols that represent a man and a woman. I had thought of that 'mud flap' silhouette woman and wanted to move on from that idea. While brainstorming about this assignment, I was thinking about advertisements I have seen in the past that have portrayed women negatively. I found this Dolce & Gabbana advertisement in a Cosmopolitan Magazine a while back and knew this was the perfect advertisement to discuss. Since I no longer have the magazine containing the ad, I retrieved this image online from http://blog.lib.umn.edu/conn0406/feministtheory/
When looking at the overall craftsmanship of this advertisement, it is absolutely gorgeous. The simple typeface is placed in an unexpected location in the composition, the lighting is perfect and let's face it ladies, the men look sexy as hell. However, that's what really irks me about this advertisement. I understand to the fullest extent that sex sells, but this has really gone too far. It's more that selling sex, but signifying rape and degrading the female audience. The woman is very attractive, high heals and the whole damn package, and yet she's being forced on the ground while three other men watch intently,...ready to pounce on her. It just screams GANG RAPE and I don't know why the hell this should attract women to purchase Dolce & Gabbana products. Even the text is encouraging this derogratory meaning because it's placed directly over their private parts and the opacity is turned way down. It makes me feel like I shouldn't be seeing this, that it's private and quite frankly, I should be calling someone of authority to put an end to this. I'm interested to see if more companies will pursue this type of advertising because this one has created such controversy among viewers around the world. It's been noticed (for all the wrong reasons) and unfortunately, that's how businesses roll in the dough. Get noticed, get sold,... but women, don't sell yourself like this.
I really liked how you connected what we did in class with your image of the week. At first I was like "What does this have to do with what we talked about?", then I remembered the drawings of men and women. I think it's a really creative twist on what you drew on the board Friday. And I do agree with you on it being regrading towards women.
ReplyDeleteWell said Melissa. I find it very interesting how you drew a comparison between simple pictographs of women and what women symbolize today. I like how you mentioned the opacity of the typography. Heaven forbid that it would cover that awful image even the slightest.
ReplyDeleteSince I wasn't in class on Friday, I can't really comment on how your image connects, but I'll take your word for it. It is an interesting ad and does say a lot about how women are being portrayed in society just to sell a product. Hopefully this negative image changes soon.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the advertisement degrades women. I see how it has to do with what we talked about in class last Friday. It also think it is interesting how the letters cover all of her parts. As soon as I saw the advertisement I thought of one thing: rape.
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