MrsSpringsteen
Blue Crack Addict
This is irresponsible advertising in my opinion. Yes it gets them attention- but anyone who truly loves women, as D and G say they do, would not create an ad such as this one. I find it very difficult to believe that they had no idea this ad looked like a rape/gang rape/rape fantasy scene.
Is rape in the eye of the beholder? Women's groups called this ad violent, the designers called it an 'erotic dream.'
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17490782/site/newsweek/
KIM GANDY
NEWSWEEK: Where is the line between an ad that is about a sexy fantasy and something that is offensive?
Kim Gandy: The line there is whether one considers rape to be a sexy fantasy. The Dolce & Gabbana ad was a stylized gang rape. It's in Esquire, so they probably don't think a stylized gang rape will sell clothes to women, but what is more likely is that they think it will get them publicity. It's a provocative ad but it is provoking things that really are not what we want to have provoked. We don't need any more violence."
NEWSWEEK: You've got a number of ads on your "Love Your Body" Web site that you've deemed offensive to women. Should they all be removed from circulation?
Some of those ads are just insulting and of course there's a difference between being insulting and portraying women as less than human—as people to be raped or assaulted. The bourbon ad that said "Your bourbon has a great body and fine character. I wish the same could be said for my girlfriend," is more insulting. I think that insulting various groups of people has become a lazy way of getting laughs or attention.
NEWSWEEK: Men are insulted a lot in ads too. Fathers and husbands are often portrayed as clueless. If everyone is being insulted can we pick out one ad or another for criticism?
The sexualization of girls is different. It has gotten extreme and that can't be good for our kids or our society. I don't want my two middle school daughters internalizing images which objectify women and I especially don't want their male friends internalizing them. They are bombarded with the message that women are there for sex and are available for sex at anytime. And as strong as parents try to be in educating our own kids and giving them good values, they get bombarded by messages from the outside for more hours per day than their parents have them.
Here is that "Love your body" site, the section on the ads
http://loveyourbody.nowfoundation.org/offensiveads.html
NEWSWEEK:Is advertising more demeaning to women today than it was 10 or 20 years ago?
Advertising is far more demeaning to women today than it was 20 years ago. In the 1970's and 1980's, we had a national project where you could send post cards to companies who used offensive advertising. It said that they were the recipient of a bad ad award. I'm sure if we looked back at some of the ads we were talking about then, they probably wouldn't even register as offensive now.
Is rape in the eye of the beholder? Women's groups called this ad violent, the designers called it an 'erotic dream.'
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17490782/site/newsweek/
KIM GANDY
NEWSWEEK: Where is the line between an ad that is about a sexy fantasy and something that is offensive?
Kim Gandy: The line there is whether one considers rape to be a sexy fantasy. The Dolce & Gabbana ad was a stylized gang rape. It's in Esquire, so they probably don't think a stylized gang rape will sell clothes to women, but what is more likely is that they think it will get them publicity. It's a provocative ad but it is provoking things that really are not what we want to have provoked. We don't need any more violence."
NEWSWEEK: You've got a number of ads on your "Love Your Body" Web site that you've deemed offensive to women. Should they all be removed from circulation?
Some of those ads are just insulting and of course there's a difference between being insulting and portraying women as less than human—as people to be raped or assaulted. The bourbon ad that said "Your bourbon has a great body and fine character. I wish the same could be said for my girlfriend," is more insulting. I think that insulting various groups of people has become a lazy way of getting laughs or attention.
NEWSWEEK: Men are insulted a lot in ads too. Fathers and husbands are often portrayed as clueless. If everyone is being insulted can we pick out one ad or another for criticism?
The sexualization of girls is different. It has gotten extreme and that can't be good for our kids or our society. I don't want my two middle school daughters internalizing images which objectify women and I especially don't want their male friends internalizing them. They are bombarded with the message that women are there for sex and are available for sex at anytime. And as strong as parents try to be in educating our own kids and giving them good values, they get bombarded by messages from the outside for more hours per day than their parents have them.
Here is that "Love your body" site, the section on the ads
http://loveyourbody.nowfoundation.org/offensiveads.html
NEWSWEEK:Is advertising more demeaning to women today than it was 10 or 20 years ago?
Advertising is far more demeaning to women today than it was 20 years ago. In the 1970's and 1980's, we had a national project where you could send post cards to companies who used offensive advertising. It said that they were the recipient of a bad ad award. I'm sure if we looked back at some of the ads we were talking about then, they probably wouldn't even register as offensive now.