Gender has historically influenced the way the body has been made visible and for whom, specifically in the advertisement industry. Even as recent as ten years ago, we would have never seen half of the promiscuous commercials that we see in the media today. Berger makes many points about this dynamic of the body and whom it is visible to. A few of Berger’s points are, “To be naked is to be oneself, To be nude is to be seen naked by others and yet not recognized for oneself. A naked body has to be seen as an object in order to become nude” (Berger, 54).
His argument can be applied to many genres but one that comes to mind is advertisements; specifically television commercials. For example look at the commonality of the role that nudity, being seen naked by others plays in advertisements targeting males AND females. Berger states that “nakedness has a positive visual value in its own right” (58) and I am certain that the media has taken to a similar ideal. In his book Berger writes about women being treated as the object in European art form and how this gender difference is still rooted in our culture today.
I can think of numerous commercials and ads in magazines that have nude or almost nude women in them in order to allude to the idea of men attracting more women if they use the specific product. Not only do certain ads target men but also women. Take for example Kim Kardashian’s Shape Up commercial. This is making women view her body and desiring to have it, therefore believing in the effectiveness of Sketcher Shape Ups.
The women’s’ bodies are to be seen as objects that are obtainable in both the Axe Body Spray and the Sketcher Shape Up advertisement. Kim Kardashian’s body in the Sketcher commercial is obtainable for women by purchasing the Shape Ups and the women themselves as objects in the Axe commercial are attainable for men by wearing the body spray.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9tWZB7OUSU The Axe Body Spray Commercial
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQWG__N9so0 Sketcher Shape Up Commercial
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI'll have to admit that I agree with your quote from Berger that says "“nakedness has a positive visual value in its own right” (58)." The first thing that comes to mind is the FX series NIP/TUCK - which is famous for its near pornographic content. I believe a lot of the allure of the show stemmed from these ideas of nakedness that we all feel in one way or another. Media like NIP/TUCK and the AXE Commercial capitalize on the taboo. In this regard audiences are like children; when they are told not to do something or that something is wrong, they only want to do it more.
ReplyDeleteHere's a link to the opening credits for NIP/TUCK that furthers Shayna's argument.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOnQOhROJvs&feature=related
*Note although there is no actual human nudity in the intro, I believe the "naked" mannequins are equally provocative*
What do you think?
Holy molly! I needed a little warning there. I was at work when looking at the commercial. Commercials really have gone off the deep end when it comes to what they show and don’t show but it really does grab your attention and want to see what was going on there, but just not at work. Great post.
ReplyDelete