International Women's Day came and went by quietly. A few websites mentioned it. Jason Kottke had a link to a photo exhibit called Women of Our Time.
Blank Noise Project attempted to “to understand how different women ( across age groups/ cultures/ communities) have dealt with street sexual harassment in their everyday lives.”
And Mike Davidson asks “What EXACTLY About This Ad Is Offensive?”
“The ad shows a man and a woman, presumably about to have sex, with four other men at various levels of undress looking on. There's no denying that the ad is extremely racy and people are well justified to be offended if strikes them negatively, but from a design perspective, I'm interested in *exactly* what elements of the ad push it over the line.”
Sexy or Sadistic? Here is the image:
You decide. Take the poll.
*With apologies to Wilfred Owen, the author of the poem Dulce Et Decorum Est, for the title of this post.
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octavia says
It’s such a stylized image that I think it ends up being less offensive than the subject matter would indicate. However, the implications of the scene are still a little disturbing (which is pretty much what we expect from Dolce & Gabanna, no?) The fact that the woman seems, at best, disinterested; that the central male figure seems to be exerting force against her; the casual voyeurism of the onlookers … those are the elements that make it a bit squicky. There’s also a sense that the viewer is participating in the voyeurism – like the bystanders, we’re looking on without acting.
And isn’t the next line of the Owen poem “pro patria mori”? Odd title choice for this post.
octavia says
It’s such a stylized image that I think it ends up being less offensive than the subject matter would indicate. However, the implications of the scene are still a little disturbing (which is pretty much what we expect from Dolce & Gabanna, no?) The fact that the woman seems, at best, disinterested; that the central male figure seems to be exerting force against her; the casual voyeurism of the onlookers … those are the elements that make it a bit squicky. There’s also a sense that the viewer is participating in the voyeurism – like the bystanders, we’re looking on without acting.
And isn’t the next line of the Owen poem “pro patria mori”? Odd title choice for this post.