WST 3015
2/6/2010
Professor Nina Perez
Taking a Second Look Blog Assignment
In this is nontraditional Gucci ad, the women is promoting a purse and using her son as an accessory as well in which both characters are active. I’m not too sure as to why a child would be used in a high fashion ad like this. Both characters are positioned comfortably but the mother is making sure that her son is fine with his stance. This ad will make women, mothers in particular, feel good about themselves and bodies and can have a sense of empowerment because they can live a luxurious life as well as take care of their children at the same time. These years may be a time of self-definition and autonomy when they can resist earlier pressures to conform to dominant beauty standards (Women's Lives Multicultural Perspectives, p 208). I like the fact that Gucci took this ad to the next level because it embodies normal women because there are a lot of mothers who feel as if they are stuck and there is no world outside of having children. In my opinion, this is a positive portrayal of women because it shows that women can have a baby then lose weight and get back to their normal lives. The woman is smiling which indicates that she is happy about her life and loves her baby but by the way she is holding her baby, it seems as if she feels the baby is an inconvenience. She does not look like me and I often find that women in ads don’t look like me but I often dream of living the luxurious and fabulous life that is often displayed. The ad is realistic because women have children all the time and also multitask. Also, it displays that adult women can also be fun and playful, even with their children. In women’s and teen magazines it is virtually impossible to tell the fashion layouts from the ads (Women's Lives Multicultural Perspectives, p 236). This is a fashion layout because it is high fashion but is also an ad to sell an accessory. In advertising a product like this, I would stay away from using a child as an object because children should not be seen as objects but as human beings; the fact that the child is adorable is besides the fact. Overall, this ad embodies every day mothers living the luxurious life, not far from Real Housewives of Orange County!
References:
http://www.bwgreyscale.com/adimg10/adv_4828.JPG
Kirk, Gwyn, and Margo Okazawa-Rey. Women's Lives Multicultural Perspectives. 5th ed. New York: McGraw Hill, 2010. Print.
Hey Shanay,
ReplyDeleteWhen I first looked at this ad I was not entirely sure what to think. I thought the baby was kind of random. After reading your analysis of the picture, I completely agree with you. It does show that women can live their lives and not only play the role of "housewife". The woman and baby seem very comfortable in the picture suggesting that it is alright in society to be both a mother and involved in the social world. I definitely can relate with this woman not looking like me; however, the presentation of her does not make me think any less of myself. Tons of ads make women feel belittled or insecure about themselves but this one does not. The woman is extremely beautiful; however, instead of wishing I looked like that, I am more of proud of her. This ad is a positive representation of women and the roles they are able to establish for themselves.
This is a very interesting ad. Where did you find it, or what magazine was it published in?
ReplyDeleteYou said that "this is a positive portrayal of women because it shows that women can have a baby then lose weight and get back to their normal lives." Why do women need to lose weight after childbirth to get back to "normal" life? What are the implications of that? Are the aftereffects of childbirth considered undesireable in our vision of ideal beauty? Why? Also, how can you tell the woman in the ad has lost weight or is thin? She's wearing dark clothes, so it's kind of hard to tell, with the way she's flanked by her bag and her baby. Can't women just have a baby and get on with their lives, sans weightloss?