I cannot fathom what the minds behind these ads were thinking!

 

But to say whatever it was they were thinking was ridiculous and disgusting is the understatement of the year.  The representation of a child and the word sexy should never be used in the same paragraph, let alone sentence.  Younger and younger, girls are placing value of beauty over brains.  They are buying into the beauty myth.  They are mindful of how images can determine in a society who they are and how they are to be perceived.  Teenagers are becoming wanton sexual creatures that cannot be sated.  And why not?  Almost every single ad they are surrounded by involves images and content of sex.  This ad is not only distasteful but sends a negative message to the youth.  

And how can we forget to mention the effect this ad had (or continues to have) on some perverted, dirty-minded soul.  Jean Kilbourne say, "advertising images do not cause these problems, but they contribute to them by creating a climate in which the marketing of women's bodies - the sexual sell and dismemberment, distorted body image ideals and the use of children as sex objects - is seen as acceptable" (Beauty...and the Beast of Advertising).  We need to stop having sex and six year olds synonymous in ads.  We as a society need to stop feeding into the idea that advertisement doesn't play a huge roll in our lives and in the decisions we make.  By becoming aware of the issue, we can embrace how we see it and how it affects us, but more importantly, what we can do to fix it.

People will see this ad and know exactly what it is the advertisers are trying to sell... sex right?  I mean, a woman with her mouth wide open, seven inches traveling to her awaiting mouth, and a caption that reads "it'll blow your mind away" would have me thinking of a sandwich too.

Sandwiches are not a sexy item.  And when you picture the person driving to Burger King to indulge in this "super seven incher" you do not consider the person to be sexy.  But the 40 year-old virgin man, that's still living in his mother's basement will see this ad and wonder if he'll get this lucky and get his "mind" blown away.

Racism still exists.  And when they tell you it doesn't, consider the above advertisement as living proof.  Bell Hooks say, "white and black people alike believe that racism no longer exists."  She goes on to say that this "mythic" way of thinking allows for "assimilation and forgetfulness" as well as a way to "perpetuate the terror by providing a cover, a hiding place" (Representations of Whiteness).  By unconsciously allowing this way of thinking cloud our mind, we cannot break the barriers of the truth.  We continue to let the lie fester.  Ads like this then become inevitable.

Stereotypes concerning women of minority are always the same.  They are often viewed as promiscuous and Jezebels, are considered wild and uncultivated and are seen as "oversexed."  Like Melissa Harris-Perry in "Crooked Room" says, how will women of color be able to stand in a room that is crooked and filled with stereotypes?  And the answer is less than simple.  Either take a deaf ear to the problem or show society they are more than what they make them out to be.

Controversy is a wonderful thing to advertisers.  The more controversial it is, the more people are talking about it.  Talking creates buzz.  And buzz creates sales.  "You have to push a little harder... to jolt, shock, break through... Today, business wants even more desperately to seduce..." (Naomi Wolf, Culture). And what's more shocking and controversial than rape?  There is, unbelievably, a method to their madness.

Not only are women victimized in Dolce & Gabbana ads, gay men are as well.  The above victims are dehumanized; forced to be seen as body parts in order to sell clothing.  And men, if you want to get away with this behavior, buy Dolce & Gabbana.  It's acceptable, or at least that is the portray given in the images above.  Pretty soon, you won't hear "the video game made me kill them" instead you'll hear "the ad made me rape her."  Something to think about.

One way in which we can deconstruct ads and the negative it conveys is to start looking at women as a whole.  Women are more than black and white.  Women are more than fat and skinny.  Women are more than images.  Women are a whole.  They are not their breasts, or their ass, or their mouth.  They are people.  They are real.  Anthony Cortese says women are creating ads mocking ads they find great displeasure with.  I believe that's a great way to combat what advertisers are doing (Constructed Bodies, Deconstructing Ads: Sexism in Advertising).  By bringing attention to the issue, more will open their eyes and stop living as a spectator.  They will be conscious of what ads are really selling.

Love Who You Are