D&G&R-A-P-E
Posted by candyposes on 24 Feb 2007 at 08:25 pm | Tagged as: Uncategorized
Does this image offend you?
It offends me. This ad from the designer company Dolce and Gabbana was recently pulled from the Spanish market.
It offends me not because it implies a rape. It offends me because it implies a rape not to create art and make people think, not to create porn and get people off- but to sell something.
Does anyone out there honestly think that Dolce and Gabbana is out there to do anything besides sell their products? And, what better way to do that then to present a sanitized and glamourized interpretation of a rape?
You have to hand it to them- it worked. They got the attention they wanted, and their name out there.
You can say that people who create pornography with non-consensual aspects to it are in it for the money- I agree; of course they are. But Dolce and Gabbana sells purses, not sexual fantasies. They have no need to use something like rape as a promotional tool, of all things.
D. Brian Nelson, January 2007.
My first impression of the photo was of a bulimiac nymphette in a low blood sugar stupor, arching her hips in lethargic futility at a crowd of gay men, sphincters clinched trying not to throw up in their mouths a little at the thought of sex with a woman- plastic or otherwise. But that’s just me.
Seriously, given the upwards cant of her hips and the lack of disgust, anger, or fear on her face, I’m hardpressed to see rape- and, trust me, I’m no fan of anything even suggesting lack of consent.
There simply isn’t any other explanation for the way this is posed. Nothing in advertising is ever accidental- the models were given specific directions with what they had to do. From what I can tell, D&G hasn’t announced that it’s not meant to imply or echo a rape. D&G executives sat down and thought, “what’s controversial, and how can we make it so that we can get away with it?” For the most part, they succeeded.
I can see what you see on one hand.
I can also see, on another hand what the photo might be about.
What I believe it REALLY is about - is Stopping people in their tracks and making them take notice.
There is no mistake that this is rather deliberate, and an intentional attempt to force people to look and see the D&G name. You will notice that you have to look thru D&G to see what is there.
Another aspect to consider is I know little of Spanish Culture, and when we make comments on items, consideration for what is normal for us, might not be normal for others. What might be abnormal for us, might be Normal for someone else.
One can say the view of Muslims towards Women is one that is primitive. This is a broad genaralization but it serves to make my point.
The funny thing about advertising, is that the more the name is out, the better people generally do. You have heard the saying that there is no such thing as bad PR. A&F caused a ruckus each catologue they put out for a while. Because of the scantily clad girls? No, the ruckus was about the Boys, but no one ever talked of it much.
So I will end this with I can understand your point and empathize with how you feel. The larger issue is sometimes we are all played like flutes in this song we live.
Lastly, the thing that really irritates the shit out of me- Why at major outdoor sporting events does some part of the US Millitary have either Planes, or Helicopters flying overhead?
Proud to be an American, or subtle hint that we can send one of our precious B2 Bombers over a stadium ( that costs thousands of dollars to operate ), and it is nothing but a thing. It is a vague threat and symbol of superiority.
Billions of people see that shit.
Billions of people are concerned.
We Americans tend to worry about things that are of little or no real importance, but ourselves.
Sorry to go off on a rant, as Dennis Miller would say.
PS.
There are those who believe that a woman tied up sends a message and fantasy to men that Bondage is a way to make women subserviant, and that should be the norm.
There are probably guys jerking off to your images as we speak.
Does that condone the cases of Kidnapping, and forceful events that you hear of from time to time?
NO.
Just as you were a willing participant in a photograph, and you gave up a certain thing to do it, does not mean that you are sending a message that this is OK or normal.
The audience is expected to have some thinking power of their own.
Not defending anyone, just iterating a differing viewpoint.
Candy-
Someone just pointed your blog out to me…as another naked feminist sort, I just wanted to say hello…
The D&G image is depicting one of the most common female sexual fantasties (I obviously read too many psychology books about womens’ fantasies). Presumably they are sending the message that D&G can make your hidden (sexual and otherwise) fantasies come true?
However they don’t do it very well, and raindogzilla is right. These men look gay to me too.
Candy,
As others have said, your point of view is certainly valid, but not the only one. Life is not always black and white. Even this photo is in color…
We could debate the hidden pretext…is it rape, well, the guy seems to have adopted a less traditional approach of keeping her legs together. Could it be the opening scenes of a porn shoot? Both rough sex and gang bangs are very popular in the porn industry these days, so it could be a still from that. How about the start of a live sex performance art piece? The two center performers could be about to copulate for the gratification of an audience, with the other men symbolizing the audience or even being a social commentary on society and how voyeuristic we are.
At some level you see what you want to see. You see rape. Many people look at your photos and see all levels of misogyny. We all are guilty of bringing our personal experiences and points of view. While yours is valid, it is not the only valid one.
Frankly, we should be far less concerned about an image such as this than the actual issue of rape.
RNM
I know too many women with complicated and long-standing rape fantasies to be offended by the image. My only problem is that it’s such a LAME representation of a rape fantasy. I was recently asked my advice by a photographer dabbling in “erotic” imagery — my advice to them was to decide whether they were trying to REVEAL something in their images or just to SELL something. The idea here is merely to SELL something, so nobody involved had an emotional investment to make in the image; nobody had anything to REVEAL. I think if they had, it would be a totally different image [and probably not one D & G would want to use].
you`re absolutly right on this.