Here are a few questions to think about while you view the following image:
* Does the advertisement glamorise violence?
* Does the advertisement legitimise violent behaviour and attitudes?
* While violent imagery might help sell a product, what are the wider social consequences of using that imagery?
As the active audience theory would suggest, the audience has the power to give meaning to the message conveyed by the picture. – Professor Strangelove
In this scene, the woman is nearly naked, wraped in saran with her breasts completely exposed. This represents a disjoint between reality and the dipiction of women in advertising. As her face cannot be seen, individualism is not represented and as the audience we don’t create a relationship with the victim. Instead, the generalization of the female gender is symbolized through this illustration. Violence, once again is expressed as an accptable societal value.
This ad is an example of advertising that could trigger growing public awareness about violence towards women. This representation has sociological implications towards understanding inequalities regarding gender relations. It speaks to the idea of male dominance and male supremacy. This image is political in nature as its purpose reflects awareness to the treatment of women in society. It is entirely up to the audience to balance or interpret the ideas emitted from the picture adequately, as this image was created to speak to the audience in a bold manner. A girls is about to be shot and murdered and the only thing that will save her is a purse. This ad is saying that fashion is worth dying for.
Jean Kilbourne, a professionnal advertising theorist, explains that society adopts immoral values after viewing violent ads against women. In reality, violent ads inflict violent behaviour. Kilbourne explains this idea more clearly. She states, “Ad imagery equating gruesome violence against women with beauty and glamour works to dehumanize women, making such acts in real life not only more palatable and less shocking, but even aspirational. Pretty-as-a-picture crime-scene challenge epitomized the worst of an insidious industry trend that, ahem, just won’t die.” It is not alright to ‘normalize woman brutality. Rape and murder should not be glorified to the point where viewers are motivated by the idea. Beating women is not normal and should never be referred to as normal.
Im sorry. But I am pretty sure that this is an ad for a gallery exhibit in france. . . ‘Helmut Newton Interpreta’ is the second line in the ad. Helmut Newton was a famous fashion photographer. And although most of his wok does objectify women, in this particular case I think that this ad is mocking his work, and is thus against objectifying and violence against women. So you might want to check the actual source of this photo.