Sorry, I saw this on Buzzfeed and it wouldn't get out of my head. After all these years of trying to get equality, of trying to achieve good role models, and trying to raise women above subjugation, I see this and have to ask how...why...what happened? I have so many thoughts and feelings about this, I'm finding it hard to write them down coherently. So bear with me, please.
Notice the "relish it" in the lower right hand corner. Sickening, Yeah I'm sure women would love to be brutalized and sexually manhandled.
Allowing this man to to kick or shove her shows women they should tolerate abuse. Is this the lesson we want our children to learn?
This Dolce & Gabbana ad, suggestive of a gang rape, is tame compared to the October 2010 Calvin Klein (below) that was banned in Australia.
It can be debated whether or not this type of advertising promotes violence towards women, but I feel it desensitizes society to these situations making it easier for them to happen and making it harder to report such actions. Through these ads, the victimization of women becomes normal to both men and women. The shock at such actions become dull. It becomes accepted that men can do it and women have to take it.
It shouldn't be that way. It just shouldn't be.
Note: What we, men and women alike, should do if we ever see any kind of ad that victimizes women, go to that manufacturer's site and really bitch. Tell them you'll never buy anything of theirs until they get their act together and that you'll tell anyone and everyone about their disgraceful ads.
How can these manufacturers think violence towards women would attract them to buy their products? How is this glamorous? They have the nerve to trash women then ask for their money. Let's face it, they wouldn't dare put anyone of color or religion in the same situation because it isn't right and there would be such an uproar from around the world it would shake their walls down but yet it's okay to show a female in a degrading way.
Oh, by the way, that Johnny Farah bag she has over her head costs $545.00. He demoralizes women then expects them to pay an exorbitant amount for his damn handbag.
Notice the "relish it" in the lower right hand corner. Sickening, Yeah I'm sure women would love to be brutalized and sexually manhandled.
Allowing this man to to kick or shove her shows women they should tolerate abuse. Is this the lesson we want our children to learn?
This Dolce & Gabbana ad, suggestive of a gang rape, is tame compared to the October 2010 Calvin Klein (below) that was banned in Australia.
It can be debated whether or not this type of advertising promotes violence towards women, but I feel it desensitizes society to these situations making it easier for them to happen and making it harder to report such actions. Through these ads, the victimization of women becomes normal to both men and women. The shock at such actions become dull. It becomes accepted that men can do it and women have to take it.
It shouldn't be that way. It just shouldn't be.
Note: What we, men and women alike, should do if we ever see any kind of ad that victimizes women, go to that manufacturer's site and really bitch. Tell them you'll never buy anything of theirs until they get their act together and that you'll tell anyone and everyone about their disgraceful ads.
Maybe the bags/clothes come with pepper spray and built in panic buttons with alarms?
ReplyDeleteSOLD!
With ads like these we're going to need them.
DeleteThanks for coming by.
So here's my question: Do any of the people putting together these ads have daughters?
ReplyDeleteYou brought up a good point about the lessons children would learn from seeing these. And I think you're right -- if this was a person of a different color, for instance, there'd be an uproar. What on earth makes a client think people will want to buy a purse tossed over a woman's head while she's strangled? How does it make the jeans look good in an ad outlined in blood red where the woman's naked from the ribs down and one guy's yanking on her hair while the other's moving in? That has to do with selling pants?
Am I an old fart? No. Okay, maybe. But still - ugh.
Somebody in those groups has to have a daughter or sister.I don't understand it all, how can't they see what they're portraying. Like you said, it has nothing to do with the clothes/accessories.
DeleteAnd no you're not an old fart. :)
Appreciate your thoughts.
The thing is,(and publishing is just one place this is happening) the message being sent by badly done BDSM (FSOG) and some of the recently released new adult books, which are selling like crazy, is that pretty much "anything goes." Authors may not intend for this message to be sent, but this is what the media has picked up on. Women are buying it. Their domination fantasies are right out there and the ad agencies are using it.
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness! I had no idea about these. Terrible, just terrible. I can't imagine what this conveys to young girls who see these ads about themselves and about men.
ReplyDeleteIt is a pretty crappy image. It just makes parents jobs of distilling confidence in their children that much harder.
DeleteThanks for stopping by.
This might just be me, but I think people have a lot less respect for each other (as human beings) than as recently as 20 years ago. The way I hear people talking to each other (on TV, which often serves as mentor for better or worse) just amazes me. The way I see people treating each other makes me shake my head. So, honestly, these ads go right along with what I see from people. If that makes sense.
ReplyDeleteI hadn't seen any of these. Thanks for pointing them out. I'm appalled. That's it. I don't even know what else to say.
ReplyDeleteYeah, sometimes words just don't cover it.
DeleteThanks for coming by and for sharing this on your Facebook page. Appreciate it.
This stuff is truly horrifying. It's not just that these ads are disgusting in themselves, it's that the more there are of them, the more people become desensitized to them until they start to look acceptable. Is it particularly scary that these are all high-end companies?
ReplyDeleteI only wish I could afford to buy the stuff they're advertising so that I could NOT buy it.
Both Dolce and Farah were high-end but American apparel and Relish were moderately priced. Calvin Klein is in the middle.
DeleteBut really it doesn't matter about price, it's the mentality. I agree don't buy their products and tell them why.
Thanks for popping in.
Agree with Jeannie; these companies are trying to make a buck off the 50 Shades craze.
ReplyDeleteI say boycott them all.
Yes boycott them and tell them why.
DeleteThanks for stopping by.
I agree with you completely. We need to be very careful. I have noticed an increased trend that promotes or condones violence towards women. None of these advertisers is in any danger of getting even a penny of my money. My husband found a picture just last week, it was a woman on the ground being beaten by two police officers. Susan B. Anthony. What prompted the beating? Not only did she register to vote, but she actually went to vote. We need to continue to fight for our rights as women. I agree, we should not have to, but if we need to, then we must do it. For our daughters and grand daughters, fight against any and all violence towards women as well as any and all ads that condone violence towards women.
ReplyDeleteDonna, you are right on the mark here. Sex and violence are what sells and it's all about the money. But say a racially charged word and corporate America will ruin your life and run you out of town, off the air and off the shelves. Rap lyrics have been degrading to woman and society for years and no one says a word. That's really the legacy we're leaving for our children - the power of the almighty dollar. Forget morals and the way we treat each other. Sad commentary on our culture.
ReplyDelete