Fantasy? or Reality? Part 2

The advertisement on the right, promoting Skyy brand vodka, is another ad that I found to perpetuate negative stereotypes of women as well as male dominance over the submissive woman. One will note that there are two main characters, a man and a woman. The woman is lying on her back while her male counterpart is standing, his legs on the ground and above the woman’s waistline. The man is in his full suit, formally dressed while the female on the ground woman half naked. On initial review, it appears that the man is in full confidence with all the freedom at his disposal whereas the woman is breathing at the man’s mercy. There seems to be no human interference that could prevent the man from hurting the woman. The upright and attentive position the man stands at indicates that he may have not consumed alcohol but could have perhaps forced it down the woman’s throat. From this angle the advertisement portrays women as sex objects easily moved people who do not stand by their principles. It is my belief that this image also makes women appear as persons who easily get carried away by simple things such as alcohol. This notion of drunken females being “easy” is common among college males and most likely one of the leading reasons why rapes and sexual assaults on college campuses increase with each year.
In contrast to the two advertisements I've written about in this two part post, I found it interesting to learn that Dolce and Gabbana were criticized for printing the following image, an image that from first glance seems to empower women:



Within the media, women and their circumstances have rarely been portrayed at an equal proportion as their male counterparts. In fact, print, video and electronic advertisements have at several occasions brought to the public a notion that women are a weaker sex. Therefore, I found it rather interesting that the same company, who once displayed such a graphic image of female weakness (such as the one above) could at the same time display an image of female empowerment. In other words, display an image where men are put in a submissive position rather than women. However, this ad was too good to be true.

According to Stefano Gabbana, “Since these images have offended someone, we want to stress that we wanted to represent a strong and dominatrix woman, as is today’s woman. It’s the vision of a dream more than reality, where the whip symbolizes women’s power and where the naked models refer to a classic beauty inspired by Michelangelo.” He continues by saying, “We wanted to place this artistic reference above everyday reality, but there was no intent to be vulgar or offend anyone’s human dignity” (Codi Carsten Blog Post). I think it is important to point out that within these two quotes Stefano Gabbana refers to the image as “a vision of a dream more than reality.” In other words, he acknowledges that strong and independent women are rarely seen within today’s media, but wanted to make his company seem as though they support such an image, when in reality they don’t. Objectifying men is “above everyday reality,” but objectifying women is no big deal