The Contradiction of Commodifying Social Awareness

  The racist and sexist power hierarchies that shape Western and even global society are reinforced, represented, and perpetuated by the modern media. The sexist and racist images have taken on a different guise since its conception during the Renaissance and Enlightenment eras (respectively) that have shaped Western thought. Under the guise of black president and female CEO's, the mainstream media is hiding behind the false claim of existing in a post racist, post sexist society. 
  John Berger in Chapter 3 of "Ways of Seeing" traces the origins of modern sexist images, concerning the objectification of the female body and the marginalization of the female as less than male, to to the tradition of European oil paintings from the Renaissance Era. He notes how "the nude in European oil painting is usually presented as an admirable expression of the European humanist spirit...of a highly conscious individualism" (Berger, 62). Berger does not fail to notice the contradiction of the Renaissance claim. He states: "on the one hand the individualism of the artist, the thinker, the patron, the owner: on the other hand, the person who is the object of their activities -- the woman -- treated as a thing or abstraction" (62).  

Man Drawing Reclining Woman, Dorer - as cited by Berger, 62

    Maggie Wykes and Barrie Gunter in "Conclusion" from The Media and Body Image, contextualize the ways advertising images adhere to these sexist traditions while simultaneously purporting to accept and reflect the progress of the women's liberation movement. They explain how "from the late 1960s women's magazines reflected the impact of feminism by focusing on careers and sexual liberation" and  though "women do appear to be represented as [such] these representations are confusingly embedded in the much more traditional gender narrative of 'finding the right man'" (Wykes and Gunter, 210). Though these two factors are clearly contradictory, the narrative put forth is "so pervasive and repeated that they seem to make sense" (211). 

Fig. 1 Cover Girl ad. 

   Susan Bordo in "Hunger as Ideology" continues the analyzation of this subversive commodification of feminism by exploring the manipulation of the "contemporary woman". Bordo suggests, contemporary advertisements reveals continual and astute manipulation that psychology and the popular media have targeted as characteristic dilemmas of the 'contemporary woman'" (104). 
    Bordo supports this claim by pointing to the use of the word "Control" in cosmetic, beauty advertisements targeted to the "contemporary woman". She notes, "'Control' -- a word that rarely used to appear in commercial contexts -- has become a common trope in advertisements for products as disparate as mascara and deodorant...[the word] 'Mastery' also frequently figures in ads for cosmetics and hair products" (Bordo, 105). 
   Fig. 1 is a contemporary example of this advertising strategy of manipulating feminine symbols to sell products that help marginalize women (beauty products). The tagline of this Cover Girl mascara reads: "lashes that want it all, can have it all!". The word "lashes" is meant to be in interchangeable with the word "women", nodding to the current struggles of feminist women who "want it all" -- to be career women, sexually liberated, and good mothers. Furthermore, this advertisement shows the dangers of when pop cultural icons and subversive advertisements merge. Drew Barrymore, a Hollywood icon known for her rebellious - yet reserved, "tomboy" - yet elegant, fun - yet intelligent nature. She is depicted by the media as the girl who (now) has it all. The advertisement uses her well known reputation to sell their product, sending a message to girls: buy this and you will be like her.    

Fig. 2 Susanna and the Elders

   The mainstream media at large, continues to perpetuate images that  encourage sexual violence on the objectified female body. Fig. 2 is an image of the painting Susanna and the Elders (1517) by Lorenzo Lotto of the Renaissance. The painting depicts a popular theme in Western oil paintings of this era. An unclothed woman turns away from and raises a hand towards three fully clothed men who are approaching her, one of whom is in the act of entering the sphere she inhabits. This image depicts the moment before rape, and more specifically, the rape of one vulnerable woman by multiple men.

Fig. 3 Broomsticks ad.

   The advertising image for Broomsticks from the 1960s shown in Fig. 3, is an example of the historical adaptation of this theme of sexual violence on the vulnerable female body. As this advertisement is attempting to incorporate some of the feminist notions of the '60s, it reflects a superficial sense of sexual liberation. Compared to Lotto's painting, the woman in the advertisement is depicted as enjoying herself and playfully resisting the firm grasps on her arms, and the men are smiling and are depicted in a less threatening manner. Nonetheless, the image is of five fully clothed men circling in around one woman, barely clothed in just her bra and panties. The tagline of the advertisement reads:  "Ring around the Rosie. Or Carol. Or Eleanor, etc. Fun. But you can only play if you wear Broomsticks slacks". If the image hasn't made the marginalization of women clear enough, the text drives the message home. Women are expendable. The female body is for the pleasure of men. It is for "fun". 

Fig. 4 Dolce & Gabbana  ad.

   Contemporary advertisements such as the one for Dolce & Gabbana shown in Fig 4., demonstrates how the same trope of sexual violence and objectification of the female body continues to play out while pretending to exist within a post-sexist society. In this advertisement, though the theme of multiple males surrounding one female persists, this time around, it is two of the men who are partially unclothed, and the one woman who is clothed (somewhat). The advertising image is made to seem post-sexist for the mere fact that now men, too, are being sexually objectified. The two men are greased up and presented like slabs of meat -- in the same way that white women have been depicted for centuries. 
   The racist tropes used in modern advertising images share a similar history with that of the sexist. Similar to sexism, which was naturalized by the contradictory beliefs of the Renaissance; racism, too, was naturalized by another contradicting, oppressive, yet celebrated European tradition -- the Enlightenment. The Age of the  Enlightenment promoted reason, science, curiosity, and freedom over tradition and celebrated the intellectual capacity of man. This Awakening coincided with the beginnings of the colonization of the "New World", including the enslavement of one group of human beings and the genocide of another. Clearly, there was a stark contradiction here: the same purporters of freedom were taking away exactly that from others.
   And thus, was the birth of the classification of race. "Science" in the form of craniology and physiognomy claimed to be evidence of different "races" of human beings, white or "Caucasian" being the original, supreme race and the others
 whites were the "original" and "superior" race, and all other "races" such as "Ethiopians" and "Mongols" were inferior degenerates. This "Science" also purported that blacks were savage and near animals, incapable of intellectual thought nor complex emotions. The creation of race and racism worked to justify the abhorrent, inhumane act of enslaving and killing other human beings. Being that it was masked as a "science", naturalized the concepts that white is good, black is bad - in every sense of the word. 

Fig. 5 Dove ad.

  Advertising images may at first glance, seem to have evolved since the shameless racism and sexism of the past, but sadly, beneath the surface of a fabricated post racist and post sexist society, the images continue to represent and reiterate the same symbols associated with the racist and sexist tendencies of Classic European culture. 

    Fig. 5 is an advertisement for Dove body wash. It is part of a campaign that promises to portray more women of different color and of different size, other than the generic thin, white model. Here, the image presents women of different sizes and different skin tones (albeit it is arguable that 2/3 still fit the mold of being thin and white) standing in front of a "before" and "after" shot of a patch of (light colored) skin. The displeasing, unwanted "before" picture is placed behind the black woman while the desirable "after" picture is placed behind the white. While under the guise of representing a post-racist society, the image still manages to subversively communicate to viewers the simply absurd racist notion that black is bad and white is good. 

Fig. 6 Nivea ad.

   Fig. 6 shows a Nivea ad, featuring a black man in business attire, is even more direct in its reiteration of the racist trope that black is savage, white is civilized. It reads: "RE-CIVILIZE YOURSELF". The man in the image is portrayed mid-motion in the act of throwing the decapitated head of a black man with racial hair and an an Afro. The advertised image sends the message, "re-civilize yourself": throw away the more "savage" look of the Afro and facial hair, but moreover -- do it with by buying this lotion. This traditional racist trope of black being uncivilized, is utilized to play on the more modern racist stereotype of black skin being "ashy" and abnormal. The product sells by continuing to naturalize the idea that black continues to be inferior, and less civilized -- only this time around, in new forms and new symbols. 

Fig. 7 Intel ad. 

   Even more blatantly racist in its representation of classic forms of racism is this ad for intel shown in Fig. 7. It features a white man in business attire standing in the middle of an office, with six black man, bowing down before him. This image of white dominance  that is clearly reminiscent of our country's horrific history of slavery, attempts to justify its overt racism by the guise of dressing the black men in track suits. It it assumed that the image makers tries to justify: they are not actually bowing, they are athletes positioned in the race stance. However, this justification in itself is a representation and perpetuation of the modern racist tropes that black people are naturally athletic and able to endure more physical activity. This modern trope of course, is a mere adaptation of the aforementioned "science" of the Enlightenment, that purported blacks to be animalistic and incapable of cognitive, emotional functions - compared to the "natural" qualities of whites as the enlightened, superior beings who embodied reason, justice, intelligence, and compassion. 
    Alternatives to these mainstream images that retain racist and sexist traditions are only made possible by the active dismantling and denying of the continuous use of racist and sexist symbols. It requires representing all members of the consumer base, rather than giving precedence to whites (Fig. 8). It is calling attention to and exposing the true side of the advertising industry that exist on the naturalized notions of female inferiority and preys on the low self-esteem of young girls. It also calls specific attention the ways in which symbols of feminism have been co-opted in advertisements to reiterate sexist tropes (Fig. 9). It must speak to the true experiences and concerns of the consumers (Fig. 10).  

Fig. 8 A Sikh-American featured in a Gap ad

Fig. 9 Rosie the Riveter represented in a Swiffer ad

                                    
             Fig. 10 "First Moon Party" video advertisement from HelloFlo