Bridge 2: Context + Investigation
Ashley Conway Int Sem 2: Fashion.C11.Sp18 March 7, 2018
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Looking at the ‘Tom Ford for Men’ fragrance ad, you can immediately tell that it is an advertisement specifically marketed toward men. A skinny white model lays back in the photo with the fragrance being pushed in between her breasts. We cannot see her full face, only her red lips open, as if she is gasping for air, and her perfectly long red nails that are holding up her breasts. Somehow the bottle is perfectly squeezed into place, even though, her body and hands are covered in oil. The photo directly next to this is the same woman with her legs spread wide, and the fragrance placed between and close to her genitals. Her finger is placed on top of the bottle as if she is trying to spray the bottle or imitate masturbation and her other hand is placed just below her breast. The words “For Men” at the bottom of the photograph scream at the viewer. The ‘Tom Ford for Men’ fragrance ad is an example of how fashion photography uses the phrase “sex sells” to market their product toward a very specific group of people. This overly sexualized advertisement uses the male gaze to capitalize off of ‘pretty women’ and shows how prominent that is in fashion photography. Although the Tom Ford advertisement is considered to be controversial and disrespectful toward women, it is not surprising to see a fashion designer market their masculine products this way. In almost every men’s fragrance ad we see a man accompanied by a skinny young model. Dolce and Gabbana, Gucci, Versace, and many other fashion house’s fragrances use attractive heterosexual couples in their advertisements. The women presented in many fashion/beauty advertisements and editorials make me question: which is the object being sold: the woman or the perfume? Because fragrances are related to the senses, and arguably attracting a mate, it is easy to tell why these particular advertisements radiate romance and sexuality. But where do we draw the line between capturing romance/sexuality in advertisements vs. taking erotic and dehumanizing photographs of women and plastering them all over the pages of Vogue? By fetishizing this perfume, they are finding a man’s ‘weakness’ and using it as a sales pitch. Using a heterosexual male’s fantasy as a marketing ploy helps the photograph capture both men and women’s attention. Women are the main readers and viewers of what goes into fashion magazines, beauty advertisements, and fashion/beauty blogs. ‘It could be argued that when women look at these ads, they are actually seeing themselves as a man might see them.’1 Women
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Paul Messaris, Ways of Seeing, (London, England: Penguin Books, 1972).
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see advertisements like ‘Tom Ford for Men’, and reflect on how men view women, therefore, they are comparing themselves to highly edited and overly eroticized white models. Not only does this hurt the way women look at themselves and the feminist ideals of today, but it implies that women are merely objects of pleasure through a man’s eyes, are not as highly respected as men -unless they fit a certain beauty ideal-, and have to prove themselves. The depiction of the nude in art and sculpture have proven to be very important to a person’s understanding of anatomy and to help express ideals of beauty in both men and women in different cultures. But by the time fashion photography manifested, models were not shown as naturally as before. Rather than posing to display a garment or object, the models are posing to make a statement about what is or isn’t being worn. In Fashion Photography: A Critical Introduction, Liz Wells argues that certain fashion photographers use “...the ability of the fashion image to take ‘extraordinary liberties’ and get away with images which are unduly violent, pornographic or outrageous.”2 High fashion designers, like Tom Ford, have acquired an immense amount of power and wealth within the fashion business. Does this give creative people in power the right to capitalize off women’s bodies and use what could be considered to be soft core pornography as a way to sell their product? What right do we as fashion designers, marketers, or photographers have to exploit women for the likes of men and financial gain? Any image that is trying to sell you something is trying to grab your attention. Tom Ford’s fragrance advertisement grabs the attention of its viewers without fail. Although it is in a disparaging way, it is doing its job. By showing a woman as just as much of an object as the perfume, the advertisement loses its purpose of being used as fashion/beauty promotion. In order for creative people to express opinions of female oppression and sexuality, they should do it in a way that makes a statement that emphasizes and answers those problems, rather than worsening them. Contemporary fashion photography and advertisements like this remind me that women’s bodies will be sold to the public for years to come. But it is up to us as creative people, to change the way in which they are seen to create an equal, empowering, and appreciative view of all types of women, not just women through men’s eyes.
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Liz Wells, Photography: A Critical Introduction, (Florence: Taylor and Francis, 2015).
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Bibliography Wells, Liz. Photography: A Critical Introduction. London: Taylor and Francis, 2015. Berger, John. Ways of Seeing. London: Penguin Books, 1972.