It's not surprise or shock to me that our media (especially fashion ads) consistently portray sexual violence against women in order to sell their product. I thought these two first fashion ads were great example. Both ads have only one woman, who of which is being pinned down to the floor by the several other men in the background. And while being pinned down the other men in these ads are either just standing around watching or aggressively taking her clothes off (especially in the second ad). Basically both ads (to me at least) imply sexual violence against women or even gang rape. Apparently the second ad was so offensive to some that it had to be taken off bill board ads:
“The Board considered that whilst the act depicted could be consensual, the overall impact and most likely impression is that the scene is suggestive of violence and rape,” he said. “The Board considered that the image was demeaning to women by suggesting that she is a plaything of these men. It also demeans men by implying sexualised violence against women.”
After reading about these ads on this sociology blog site I started to think about how many fashions I see and barely even realize the implications behind it. I think its scary that we have become so desensitized to these images.
Hear hear! Fashion has always been a great interest of mine and I've certainly came across some very explicit, sexual advertisements of women dominated by men. Of course, the reason fashion labels use such method to advertise is because sex sells (well it got your attention didn't it?). But the fact that we are so desensitized to these commercials illustrates our need to evaluate our value of women as plaything.
ReplyDeleteThese ads are disturbing, but not exactly unexpected. Woman are often portrayed as weaker and less strong than men, making then easy victims. I personally find the ads above disturbing because of the mixture of sexuality and violence. The ad seems to be reflective of gang rape or a collective bruatalization of women. Either way it shows a disreard to women's safety, independence, and choice.
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