contradictions: women as sexy robots / women as natural nurturers

After seeing these Svedka ads, I had to share these finds from the Condé Nast travel magazine I was reading in a waiting room the other day (yes, I ripped them out). They're from the same issue of the same magazine.

First, we have another Svedka ad:


And we have an ad for Citibank's "Women & Co." that describes women as "natural investors" investing "our time, energy and love with the proficiency of experts."
So which is it for women? How do women negotiate these contradictory expectations?

Illustrating Gender as Performance

Andrea G. in Switzerland snapped these pictures of an ad campaign for TerraSuisse natural agriculture. Their tagline translates as "TerraSuisse guarantees natural Swiss agriculture." They might be useful for a discussion of doing gender (West and colleagues) or gender as performativity (Butler). As Andrea S. noted, it's obvious instantly that the bird is supposed to be female and the chipmunk (ferret?) male by their pose alone.

Posed like a chick:

Posed like a dude:

They might, also, be a nice contrast to this one for which a gender is not immediately apparent (to me... but who knows in Switzerland):



Thanks Andrea!

The Miley Cyrus scandal

Sarah S. pointed us to a blog post by Bluemilk about the recent outcry over 15-year-old Miley Cyrus in this month's Vanity Fair (below) and the more general sexualization of little girls.



Bluemilk calls out Abercrombie and Fitch, Fred Bare, and, elsewhere, Bratz Dolls.

Abercrombie and Fitch marketed a pair of thong underwear that says "wink wink" and "eye candy" to ten-year-olds. The product was pulled after protests:



Fred Bare's summer collection includes a slide show with many images of little girls hinting at a sexuality utterly inappropriate for their ages:



And Bratz Dolls, well, are Bratz Dolls:

(found here)

(found here)

Halloween costumes too (found here):


I think it's interesting that the Miley Cyrus cover is getting so much negative press, when these other instances include girls who are so much younger. Thoughts?

Thanks to both Sarah S. and Bluemilk!

Also in the sexualization of young girls.

Male Bodies in Interior Design Magazine Ads

I thought these two images were interesting because they are using sexualized images of men in a magazine called Metropolitan Home. It struck me at first because it's pretty unusual to find sexualized male bodies used in ads targeting a general audience that might include straight men. Then I started thinking--maybe the fact that it's in an interior design magazine means advertisers assume the readership is mostly female or, if male, gay, so there is little fear of offending straight men with these types of ads.

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Hearts of Fire Diamond Ring Ad

The smaller text says,

Every hearts on fire diamond is cut and polished at 100% magnification to guarantee a life of intensity.

I honestly don't know what we're supposed to get out of this--that buying this ring will bring so much passion and "intensity" to your relationship (by setting your "hearts on fire") that there will be no reason to stray? That buying her a ring will turn her on so much that the sex will be fantastic enough to satisfy him? I really don't know.

From Metropolitan Home.

Theorizing Feminism and its discontents

This photo art by Sarah Maple might be useful for starting a conversation about what feminism is and isn't (and is and isn't), who has control of such definitions (seems like Rush Limbaugh has had quite an impact), and what's so scary about it:


Thanks to lawgeek for the tip!

Even Post-It Ads Have Sex in Them

Oh, honestly.

So you can use a Post-it to help you remember the name of your one-night stand. Apparently Jade either has a better memory or doesn't care to know the guy's name.

Thanks to Ivaylo S. from Bulgaria for sending this one in! He found it here.

Keys To The VIP

Here is a clip from the Canadian TV show "Keys to the VIP":



Laura K., who sent the link to us, says:

I recently came home from work to find my boyfriend watching "Keys to the
VIP" and was fairly disgusted. It is a Canadian TV show wherein two men "battle"
to seduce women. The men are sent to a bar and compete in various games to try
to secure a woman's phone number within a set time limit. There is sports-style
commentary by four "pick up experts". The men lie, flatter, do anything to get
these girls' phone numbers. I thought it would tie in with the Hunting for Bambi post because women are depicted as challenges and conquests.

Thanks, Laura!

Safer Sex In Spain: Differing Opinions

Alex in Spain sent us some links to this safer sex ad campaign. I think the image below is particularly interesting. In the U.S. anyway, we rarely see safer sex principles being applied to oral sex. Also, I much prefer the musical instrument metaphor to the gun metaphor.


Thanks Alex!

More safer sex campaigns: Milwaukee, New York, the United Kingdom, and France and Germany.

GWEN ADDS: I want to point out Oxydo is a sunglasses company. I think these images are advertisements for their sunglasses, not a safe-sex campaign. Here are two more posters:

Notice that in all of these, the woman is a faceless body to have sex with, whereas the guy is presumably supposed to be cool because he's wearing sunglasses. I'm not sure it's an AIDS awareness campaign at all--I think it's actually an ad campaign for Oxydo, and "protected" sex means wearing their sunglasses. They add the AIDS ribbon at the bottom to make a connection to anti-AIDS campaigns. See Copyranter's discussion here. Did anyone else notice the musical score in the first image is for "The Magic Flute"?

So there you go, folks--polysemy in action. People read images differently, and not always as the creator intended. This might be a unique AIDS-awareness campaign, or it might just be an ad that makes a superficial nod to AIDS awareness.

Apparently Women Want What Porsche Symbolizes

Thanks Miguel! Found here.

Also in cars as replacements for sexual partners: driving is sexual stimulation, is that a hand break in your pocket?, and conflating women and cars.

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Location, Location, Location...on A Woman's Body

From Las Vegas Weekly.

Perplexing Censorship

WARNING: As you scroll down, this post is not safe for work.

We've posted about Tom Ford's most recent provocative campaign (see here), but Urban Artiste drew our attention to an interesting development. The Italian Advertising Institute has banned one of his ads for being too "vulgar," "sexually implicit," "beyond bad taste," and an "offensive gesture which insults women and the dignity of all" (quotes found at The Daily Telegraph). Which ad?

Not this one (found here):



Nope, not this one either (found here):



Nope, not even this one (found here):



Or this one (found here):



Nope, they banned this one (found here):



To be fair, I can't find out much information on this. I don't even know for sure if the other ads circulated in Italy (though I don't know of any reason why they wouldn't be). I'd love your speculations as to why the last would be singled out for censorship, as well as any additional information you hear about the ban.

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Axe Skin Contact Shower Gel Ad

I just saw the American version of this Axe ad (here in French) while watching Comedy Central:



This could be interesting for a discussion of how media portrayals imply that "hot" sex is extremely athletic and may include rough-housing or mild (or not-so-mild) violence.

Bud Lite X-Ray Vision Ad

In this ad for Bud Lite, we see a reversal of the usual gender pattern--in this case, a woman has x-ray vision and uses it to imagine what men look like under their clothes. When a chubby man appears and she sees his body under his clothes, she's disgusted and looks away.



An interesting example of men's bodies under scrutiny.

Men Doing Housework Fantasy Calendar

This British calendar, found here, consists of photos of beefy men doing housework. And I thought I Love It When You Talk Clean to Me was just a joke.

Also note that it's another example of social activism through consumption--the company makes a donation to breast cancer research for every calendar sold.

What Do You Think?

A reader saw this ad in Cosmo. Word on the street is that it is meant to look like a vulva.



Thanks aa bb!

Also in suggestive of sex (as if our 113 posts under the label "sex" doesn't count): not just a parking break and more not-so-subliminal sex.

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The M.I.L.F. Sale Sequel

Looks like Spirit Airlines is back at it again, as seen on The Consumerist.

Sex Tourism In Thailand

A reader, Kate K., drew our attention to this 32-minute documentary about sex tourism in Thailand. The entire video is quite interesting! If you scroll over to the 18 minute mark, you can hear the men and the women explain that European men like Thai women specifically because they, unlike European women, submit (my words, not theirs).



If you have any trouble with the embed, here is the documentary on google video.

Thanks so much, Kate!

"No" Doesn't Really Mean "No"

Here we have a young woman (possibly a teenager) with a vial of Fetish perfume hanging between her breasts. The text of the ad, which ran in magazines targeting young women, says:

Fetish #16: Apply generously to your neck so he can smell the scent as you
shake your head 'no.'

I assume I don't have to explain the implication of that one. I found it here.

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"WIFE" T-Shirt

Also see these.

Thanks, pj!