Saturday, March 03, 2007

uproar over Dolce & Gabbana´s recent printed ad

Amnesty International has asked Dolce & Gabbana to remove their clothing ad which consists of a male-nuded torso, pinning down a model by her wrists while four other men look on..one other with his torso also bared. Many other groups have also intervened arguing that the ad is an apology of violence against women. Spain seems to be proud of this new call from Amnesty Int´l since the said ad was apparently denounced here by the spanish Institute for Women about a month ago. when the advertisement was banned in spain, the designers accused the Spanish market of being backward and not appreciating the meaning of art!!! In Italy, trade unions have already warned that if the ad is not removed before International Women´s day on the 8th of March, the clothing company will be boycotted. The designers are being asked to issue a public apology to women for thier ad which is seen as promoting a culture of female submission and "generating machismo" based on violence.
there seems to be unanimous calls for the withdrawal of the ad, with thirteen Italian senators also joining the bandwagon. I wonder if this decision is simply based on growing outside outcry over the whole ad or if the ad is genuinely seen to promote violence against women... i also wonder how many women would look at this ad and not find anything wrong with it at all... just goes to show how much our reactions and responses are based on conditioning and constructions and media brainwashing etc. I also think that if this ad is to be removed, then it should be done so properly, establishing some kind of precedent or certain regulations and standards as to what is appropriate and what is offensive.. and who is to decide what should be censored or not.. I personally have seen worse ads- can´t name any right now- which have gone by totally unnoticed, which only underlines society´s inconsistencies and double standards. This does not mean i condone the ad, simply that we should be more responsible and consistent, and also realistic and truthful when protesting about what constitutes an "apology for violence against women".
On the other hand, as to be expected, no image has only one interpretation, so there have been various counter-versions to the original argument (of inciting female violence), one going so far as to say that the men are all gay and one of them becomes attracted to the woman he pins down, cause he is confused about his strange attraction, while the other men´s reactions are also re-interpreted.. i guess this is the beauty of interpretations, images and language... that there is no single truth...

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