Some basic definitions from this unit:
Ideology: The shared set of values and beliefs that exist within a given society and through which individuals live out their relations to social institutions and structures.
Interpellation: A term coined by Marxist theorist Louis Althusser to describe the process by which ideological systems call out to or "hail" social subjects and tell them their place in the system.
Scopophilia: The drive to look and the general pleasure in looking.
Gaze Theory: The "gaze" is a term used to describe the relationship of looking in which the subject is caught up in the dynamics of desire through trajectories of looking and being looked at among objects and other people.
All definitions are from Marita Sturken and Lisa Cartwright's book, "Practices of Looking: An Introduction to Visual Culture".
Analysis of "Gucci" ad
If you want to see this image up close you can find it here
I found this ad for Gucci on this blog, which discusses controversial ads in the 21st century. Many of the ads on the site are for social issues, although some are for products or clothing lines.
Denotative Meaning:
The signifier in this image is the words GUCCI which lets us know right away that it is an advertisement for the brand, Gucci. The ad shows clothing hanging on a wall and the bottom half of a woman, who seems to be hanging from the clothes. You can see her hand pulling down her undergarment to reveal a "G" made from her pubic hair. A man is kneeling in front of her clutching her leg.
Connotative Meaning:
The signified meaning of this image is that wearing Gucci clothing will make you seem sexual and risque. The ad is depicting the woman as passive and submissive while the man is actively viewing her. Culturally, this doesn't seem far from what has historically been thought of as a women's role in society. However, the fact that she is pulling down her underwear to reveal her pubic hair to the man is aggressive and sexual and can be seen as the new, modern role of women.
The roles of men and women in this ad are very suggestive. I found that there are two ways of looking at the man and woman in this advertisement. The woman can be seen as submissive as she stands against the wall letting the man view her. Her top half and her face are not shown which signifies that she herself is not important, but rather, her body, her clothing, and her sexuality are the focus. The man doesn't care to see her face and as a result, neither does the viewer. The other way to look at this image is as the woman being an active participant and sexually forward. She is pulling down her bottoms to show off her pubic hair, which is stylized into a "G". The man is also an active viewer in this ad as he clutches her thighs and looks at her pubic hair.
What I see in this ad doesn't really relate to how I think of women or men's roles in society and how they interact. I don't think that women should be submissive but I do think that women tend to try and use their sexuality to their advantage, although hopefully not to the length that the woman in the advertisement does! For example, in a "Sex and the City" episode (I cant remember the name of the particular episode), the character of Samantha encourages the character of Charlotte, to use sex in order to get an artist to show his work at her art gallery. Samantha is generally seen as the sexually forward member of the group while Charlotte is much more repressed in her sexuality. Samantha is a great example of the two sides of this advertisement. On one hand, she is encouraging the acceptance of sexuality in women, but on the other hand, she seems to be acknowledging that men can use women for sex.
Classmate, Baindu Saidu responded to this ad by saying that the image served its purpose of grabbing her attention. She felt that it was necessary to push the limits in order to get the attention of viewers. I agree and disagree with this. It's true in terms of today's fashion industry-with so many designers and brands its important to get the attention of consumers and sometimes this can be done with shocking images such as the one seen in the Gucci ad. I also agree that sexuality is so common in America that we are almost numb to images such as this. However, I don't feel that it is necessary to shock people into buying your products. When I first saw this ad I actually felt angry at they way they so obviously oversexualize the model. Her face is unimportant, the man is only interested in her body. If I were Gucci, this is not the kind of message I would want to be sending to my female customers! Honestly, after viewing this ad, I'm less inclined to buy merchandise from them (not that I could afford it but you get the idea).
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