3. Advertising's Image of Women

Protests: "Dolce & Gabbana Ad suggests gang rape!"

In advertisements women are mostly presented either as the capable, efficient, “ready to work” housewife who knows how to use domestic appliences, who is informed about the best cleaning powder etc. or as the young, beautiful, attractive woman, desired by numerous men. The second one, of course, is more preferable in the advertising industry because “sex sells”.
The primary purpose of the media is to sell products and advertising sells products but it also sells a great deal more than products: values, images, conepts of love and sexuality, romance, success etc.
Beautiful women are used to make the female audience try as hard as possible to look like those attractive women in the ads (which can be possible only if they buy the right products) but they also serve as objects, which encourage men to purchase the promoted product.

As above mentioned ads sell values, images and concepts. Subjects like the image of women in society, the concept of gender roles, etc are often debated on. Now one question arises: How does the advertisement industry deals with these issues?
An advertisement of the worldwide known label Dolce & Gabbana has given cause for serious criticisms and protests in Italy.
It shows a half naked man holding a woman who is lying on the floor. At the background four other men are presented, all of them looking directly at the woman on the ground. The ad was perceived as pornographic and misogynistric. Both of the famous fashion designers had to deal with serious accusations: “the add is an instigation, a provocation of gang rape” (Italian newspaper).
Eventhoug this example is a bit exaggerated it shows us that sexism, sexual harassment and the culturally portrayal of woman are inextricablly linked.

The Dolce & Gabbana woman lays on the ground: she is in a passive position. The men, in contrast, are all staying. This is pointing out their actif status.The fact that the woman is lying automatically makes the men look superior. They are all above her; they are all looking down at her.
This passiveness reduces her to the status of an object. That she is neither moving nor resisting contributes to the display as an object.

The men obviously outnumber the woman, which shows the dominance of men. The men are presented powerful, strong, tough in contrast to the powerless woman.

According to Jean Kilbourne turning women's bodies into objects has serious consequences: Turning an human being into an object is the first step of violence. The thought that women are less than human leads to violence against women.
So it is not surprising that the Dolce&Gabbana ad has caused this much protest.