Professional Documents
Culture Documents
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Paintings like ads were appealing to the patrons' desires. To "have the painting was to "have" the woman. (Slide: The Good Life) She is both an image of desire and a desirous image. Do you think she inspires
devotion? What is the effect of her eyes looking directly out? The position is very constructed. It is not real. Try to imagine having a conversation with her. Have you seen men in this position? Compare the
expressions of these two women.
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Magazine image of emaciated woman beside a display of fruit (like still life). She is looking at herself in the mirror which looks out at the viewer. Here the woman is doubly "framed" in the act of looking. This
was very popular in art history. You the spectator is looking at her as she looks at herself as the mirror images looks out with the direct gaze. There's an emptiness to the gaze in advertising. Very passive. What is
so appealing about this formula?
Rape of the Daughters of Leucippus by Rubens: What do you think is happening here? The men are all vertical representing strength while the women are leaning on them, erotically , without resistance.
Ad of a muscular male torso which is very tanned, flexing his bicep against his chest. All the lines in the images are vertical. One drop of perfume runs down his skin like sweat.
What binaries are being forced between representation of genders, both in the act of looking and in the body gesture? (passive/active)
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Every image in advertising is designed to manipulate the viewer in some way - selling a lifestyle or product. In reading an image, there are two things to be aware of: the way the photograph or painting has been
framed by the artist and how the viewer's personal experience influences the interpretation. What is the fantasy in this ad (Grand Marnier ), in this painting? (Helpless, man coming to her aid.)
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Two contrasting perfume ads. One is fluffy pink with a timid girl crossing her legs seated shyly in a tootoo. The ad for the male is a profile looking like the statue of Balzac by Rodin. The nose has been broken,
the stance is strong and noble.
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Bra ads from "Women's Today" magazine from the 50's to the present. Why has this gesture become such a formula?
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started looking for images of woman and technology. There is a persistent stereotype that women are more incompetent with technology. Where does this originate? Is it ads which create the stereotype? Are they
satisfying the need, creating it, satisfying peoples' insecurities, or what? What are the utopianpromises of technology? How does the slim, lightweight ideal of technology affect ideals of the body? (Pages 12
through 16)
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Business woman. Her eyes are wide, her hair dishevelled. She's out of control
The males in these ads are very calm and in control.
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Ad showing the body distorted through use of photoshop software.
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Smoking Ad
How is this ad subverting the real warning on the cigarette package?
What would young people find appealing about this ad?