Then, using your template for "joining the conversation" (that latest green cheat sheet), use the details from the ad to respond to any of the arguments or analysis (in favor or against) made about that ad.
Your response should include:
1. at least one phrase from your template
2. and at least one detail from the ad, along with your analysis of that detail.
3. Your analysis of that detail should help support your argument about the ad.
Dolce and Gabbana Ad Pulled from Spain
Domenico Dolce y Stefano Gabbana (Dolce & Gabbana) say they don’t understand accusations from Spain that their latest advertising campaign is sexist and encourages violence against women.
According to several Spanish organisations, including a department of the Spanish Women's Institute (Observatorio de la Imagen del Instituto español de la Mujer) the advert encourages violence against women. Because of the controversy the advert has created here and the protest that has been registered in different areas of Spanish politics and society, the designers have decided to withdraw the advert, but only from Spain.On announcing their decision, the designers Dolce and Gabbana accused Spain of being "in the dark ages". They defended the advert by saying that the artistic photo was a piece of art, not an instruction manual for real life. The advertisement in question shows a woman being held down by her wrists by a man with 4 other men watching. Various other Spanish organisations have complained about the advert and requested its withdrawal. Spain has one of the most worrying records of domestic violence in Europe, and despite the attempts of this government and previous PP governments to stem the growing tide of domestic abuse, the number of crimes committed by men against women continues to rise.
Dolce and Gabbana released a statement saying that "We will withdraw that photo from the Spanish market alone, since they are behind the times. What does an artistic photo have to do with the real world?" If Spanish views held sway, they said, "you'd have to burn museums like the Louvre and all the paintings of Caravaggio."
But Spanish women objected not to the supposed sensuality or eroticism but the image's glorification of sexual violence. "The advert suggests it is acceptable to use force as a way of imposing oneself on a woman, reinforced by the passive complicity of the men looking on," the Labour Ministry said.
At present, the advert is on display in an exhibition which opened yesterday in Milan showing other photos from their new advertising campaign. The exhibition is called Secret Ceremony and shows photos of nude bodies and erotic scenes taken by the photographer Steven Klein. According to the designers, the images explore the thin line between morality and immorality. The question remains whether or not the advert withdrawn by the designers today has crossed that line.
16 comments:
Hi this is Miriam Meza,
I agree with several Spanish organizations that the Dolce and Gabbana ad encourages violence against women because the pose of the ad reveals violence, power and dominance over the female model.
In the ad the male is "pinning down" the woman with severe violence. The position of the woman's legs appear as if she is trying to get away but the male is holding her down. The position of the men in the background show power and dominance over the woman.
Alexandra Castro
I think the Spanish Womens Institute are mistaken because they overlook the beauty and seduction the women reveals in the ad and claim that the advertisement suggest violence. The women is laying down in a very seductive manner. The position she is laying in suggest sexuality as her skin seems to radiate very attractively. Her beauty is what makes her so desirable that a man is actually on top of her in the advertisement (almost revealing that she is so desirable its hard for the man to resist her). To emphasis her beauty there are also three other men admiring her in the background. I think she represents power since all of the attention is on her.
Hi this is Benjamin Barajas
Although i agree with Alex up to a pointI cannot ccept her overall conclusion that this ad shows the womans power. This is because if she is being pinned down and she is power, isnt that subdued power? the man is retraining her power as other men jsut look on in awe. This is not as violently associated as the Spanish Womens Institute has claimed. However everyone has there own degree of severity and seeing things in context. She is pinned semmingly struggling to get up and even if she is power the men are in more control one by sheer number and secondly for the restrain they have on her.
this is laurel...I believe that alex was correct in her statement about women being powerful in the ad. The woman is so powerful that she has men surrounding her in admiration, and even a man trying to " take" her. That's what i believe alex meant and i agree. The ad tries to leur women to buy the shoes. The mentality becomes, "If i want all the attention, I must have those!"And since the audience is women, then I don't see why it was twisted in spain to be such a bad thing. D&G just was trying to say their shoes attract eyes when you wear them, not that women who are being raped and violated wear D&G shoes!
I believe that both Alex and Laurel have made very good points. The ad has the man and woman in the traditional missionary position that clearly creates a sensual, passionate mood. The aim of the ad is to make women think that with those shoes they become that sensual, desirable woman that can have handsome men lined up to be with her. In this day and age time and time again the idea that sex sells has been reinforced and supported by the number in sells from all kinds of items that use sexual images in their advertisement. It seems that what really holds the power here is the woman and of course the shoes.
This is Ashley Hart...
I agree with Alex completely. The D&G ad creates an atmosphere of sensuality mixed with intense sexual tension. The woman is also the main point of attention. Each man in the photograph is focued on her emphasizing the control she has over these men. Her outfit also heightend the dominance that she radiates. She is wearing what she wants to wear and is attracted attention which also emphasizes her right to decide what she wants for herself. When the ad says the woman being "pinned down" shows severe violence, they have missed the part where the woman is thrusting her body upward into the man showing eroticism. This shows that the woman is dominant and knows how to focus all the attention on herself.
Hi this is Martin A
Although I agree with Fernando up to a point, I cannot accept his overall conclusion that the ad displays the sensuality of the woman. Instead the ad conveys the superiority of men while showing women as being inferior. The imagery of the men towering over the female leads the audience to see the male control on females. The men have complete confidence of their position in the image while the female seems to struggle compared to the men.
daniel martinez
i think that martin A. is mistaken because he overlooks the fact that the woman in in this picture is indeed one way seen as if she is struggling to be away from the men, but her facial expression also lacks much emotion, which can also be seen as her disregard for the whole situation and supportive of the idea that the shot is purely art. I think that if the woman in the picture would have expressed a face of fear then the Spanish community would have significant evidence that the woman was being held against her will, but since the woman seems to have no real care or interest in the situation she is in, it seems like the Spanish have no real arguement.
Miriam Orrego says:
Spanish organizations have suggested that the advertisement by Dolce & Gabanna unveil the violence and superioty that there is with men on women. From my perspective I don't really see a negative connotation as Spanish organizations tend to see. Like D&G say, it's an artwork. If you were to look at the surroundings, it has a heaven like theme. The scene looks like hey are in the sky the furniture or whatever it is that they are in are white. You can associate white with peace. The lips on the female model are red. Red can be seen as sensual and very provocative. The models don't have a masculine view like powerful or evil; they are more like slaves for the woman. Their expressions seem to be more like awe and amazement. This ad shows more of an attraction than violence. It's like a regular ritual, a man is always going to be attracted to a woman who is gorgeous, dresses really sexy, and provocative. Men would like to take control of that and women would love the attention. It's sounds weird but it's as if the woman would say, "take me as you please." A man seeing this would be excited and fall down for the woman.
I agree with alex,laurel, and fernando. It shows the power of women. Besides some women are sometimes really strong in their character. Women would like to look amazing. These make the model amazing. D&G would like to make this effect on women so that they go off and buy the shoes. Like the model w/o the shirt. I feel like the image says "Wow, how beautiful, but I can't touch."
Shows how far women could go.
Even D&G who are the designers put the female model as the center of attention.
I disagree with several Spanish organisations' view that the ad encourages violence against women because the ad doesn't show fear in the model's expression. The model doesn't show like if she was stuggling because she has the male model holding her down, it seems more as if the males want her and she knows this, explaining why she has the facial expression of strength and confidence. I agree with Miriam Orrego that the model is shown as the center of attention and the men want her and aren't the ones controlling her, but her sensuality controls them in a way. I believe the woman isn't being controlled because the woman isn't shown as if she was struggling to get away and the red of her lipstick and her provocative clothing shows that her intention was to look attractive and sexy, and as seen by the men's expressions, they find her that way.
Hi this is Stephanie Hernandez. Sorry Ms. Levine, I accidentally put chiquis_for_ever on my comment instead of Stephy (I forgot that I wasn't logged on).
Hi, this is Magaly Franco.
Though I concede that the ad tries to signify the power of beautiful women who can recieve full attention from men, I still insist that the Dolce and Gabana Ad symbolizes male dominance over women.
The poses of each person suggest the power of men over women. The male who is pinning the woman down shows the most power because he is clearly positioned above her and limits her ability to do anything. Her pose also demonstrates his power over her. I disagree with Ashley who says that the woman is thrusting her body towards him because if she was she would have one leg on either side of him signifying that she does want to have contact with him. Instead, both of her legs are on one side of him away from his body, which shows that she is trying to escape and not touch bodies with him. Similarly, the men surrounding her also emphasize male power because they are all standing above her just watching. One guy in particular above her head, stands with his hands on his hips looking down on her without a shirt to reveal his muscles. His pose shows that he feels superior and his muscles emphasize his strength.
Therefore, I believe that the ad does signify male dominance over woman.
Hi, this is Nancy Matias.
Though I concede with Spanish organizations that the ad emphasizes some male dominance, I still insist that the ad mainly emphasize female dominance. I can see why the Spanish organizations see that the ad is portraying males as being stronger since in the ad the woman is being pinned down with force. As well as this, there are other males looking down upon what is going on. Through this they give off the impression that they see themselves as stronger because like Magaly said, they are showing off their muscles and power by the fact that it's not them being pinned down and through their postion. However, the Spanish organizations overlook the fact that this is an advertisement for a pair of shoes and that, that pair of shoes is being worn by the woman in this ad. The fact that they are being worn by the woman, emphasizes a sense of strength and dominance for the female. This is true, since in this ad the one who seems to have the most power is the female. This can be seen from the fact that in this ad, she is positioned and made to look in a way that is very provocative. This can be seen from the fact that she is wearing the typical little black dress, has radiant skin, and is wearing red lipstick which emphasizes a sense of desire and passion. In this ad, the woman is being depicted as having an enormous amount of power because of the fact that the male is pinning her down because of the simple fact that she is mesmorizing. She is soo beautiful that she's almost hypnotizing in a way. It's like her beauty is causing the male to act the way that he is doing. It's causing him to feel the need to pin her down and it's also hypnotizing the men in the back that are looking at her with such intensity and desire. In this ad she's the one who is superior because she is bold and not the men who are overlooking her without thinking but rather acting from emotion and amazement. In this ad the designers were trying to show the fact that women who wear their shoes will be so powerful and will make such a statement that everyone will want to grab a hold of them. I don't think that the designers were trying to emphasize the fact that rape or domestic violence is alright even though they are from a country that has high rates of domestic violence. In this ad the woman looks onto the audience with an almost blank stare which again shows how she is in no way affected by all of this. It's almost as if she is used to being the center of attention. If she were being portrayed as weak she would look on to us with eyes that scream help or a facial expression that shows disguist or desperation.
Post a Comment