I cannot help but think that the advertising we see literally everywhere in the city is a large factor that, whether subconsciously or not, maintains the general misogynistic attitudes of New York. Lately I have been noticing more and more just how drastically these patriarchal values shine through in our city’s advertising, especially ads having to do with fashion or alcohol..hmm…
These are some pictures I found displaying exactly what is described above. Some can be found in New York City…others have been used in random cities either in the US or in Europe. It’s scary to realize that one of the biggest selling factors of popular commodities today is the objectification of women’s bodies.
So this is one of the first images I found. Pretty straight forward…I’m sure we have all seen ads like these before. Reminds me of some bourbon advertisement that was around in NYC subway trains for awhile. The ad consisted of an image of two females, dressed as if they were out at a bar, laughing and pulling at each others necklaces. The text next to them said “Things Are Getting Interesting.” So basically if you buy some random hot girl and her friend this brand of bourbon the next time your out on the town they’ll feel so great and crazy and drunk that they’ll start making out with each other.
This next Dolce & Gabbana ad I actually found on the blog Feministing.com. I’ll just post for you what Feministing blogger “Jessica” wrote about it:
Dolce & Gabbana “fantasy rape” ad pulled
After protests in Spain, and Italy outright banning the ad, Dolce & Gabbana are pulling a controversial print advertisement that some say glamourizes rape.
NOW President of the National Organization for Women, Kim Gandy, called the ad a “stylized gang rape.” Dolce says the ad was meant to “recall an erotic dream, a sexual game.”
What do you think?
For those of you who know Houston Street, this American Apparel ad was above the Sugar Cafe, a little coffee/pastry shop facing oncoming traffic on a main road that brings drivers back and forth from Manhattan’s West to East side. If you haven’t seen American Apparel’s advertisements before, you should. Go to their website and you’ll experience the quite perturbing quintessential American Apparel style. The photography has basically become soft-core porn and sells clothes on sex appeal, almost always the sex appeal of women. This attribute, now the main feature of AA clothes, has become more prevalent the past few years, in my opinion in order to sell more. If sales are slow, why not amp up the sensuality of your promotions and see what that does? The words “American Apparel” induce more controversial issues than just extreme forms of advertising for me, though.
