Gina laamaim

ISSUE ONE Autumn/winter 2014

SESSO

DIVERSITY THE BLACK AND WHITE ISSUE

“THE MEDIA’S THE MOST POWERFUL ENTITY ON EARTH. THEY HAVE THE POWER TO MAKE THE INNOCENT GUILTY AND TO MAKE THE GUILTY INNOCENT, AND THAT’S THE POWER. BECAUSE THEY CONTROL THE MINDS OF THE MASSES”

-MALCOM X

I asked Samantha, a former stripper, this type of wor K

if she felt ob j ectified by

...

OFFENSIVE??

“No, I think they looked at me with lust – I felt like I had all the power because I was getting there money – they were paying for me ”.

-SAMANTHA

GENDER,SEXUALITY AND THE LINE IN BETWEEN WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN PORNOGRAPHIC, NUDE AND FASHION PHOTOGRAPHY? There has been an uproar recently in the media about naked selfies. Celebrities who’ve fallen victim to the invasion of their iCloud accounts include Jennifer Lawrence, Kim Kardashian, Rihanna and many more. Why is it when a male model poses for topless or nude advertisements he is considered masculine and becomes an ‘alpha male’ and yet when a female model does the same, the opposite happens and she is then ridiculed, judged and the image is then considered demoralising, insensitive or in fact degrading to women?

Tom Ford is known for his controversial advertisements. In 2003 a Gucci ad appeared in the February issue of Vogue which featured model Carmen Kass (from the shoulders down) pulling down her knickers to reveal the company’s logo ‘G’ symbol shaved into her pubic hair with a male model crouching between her legs. Was this shoot nearing more towards the pornographic industry than the fashion? Despite this being a very suggestive advertisement the ASA only received 16 complaints and it was not banned whereas the Yves Saint Laurent notorious Opium advert featuring a naked Sophie Dahl provoked 948 complaints and was only permitted to run in women’s magazines. The ASA at the time stated that the image was, “Sexually suggestive and, in an un-targeted medium, likely to cause widespread offence”. How is it that a faceless female model with a ‘G’ shaved into her pubic hair with a man kneeling down looking like he is about to carry out oral sex on her is less startling or less offensive than the ‘Lady in white’ advert which featured a model lying down wearing nothing but thick white paint, jewellery and heels? Is one not clearly classed as a pornographic image and the other not art? Would it still be so offensive in this generation?

In 2010 clothing brand Diesel ran a campaign called ‘Be Stupid’. In one of there advertisements a female model dressed only in underwear stands in a field alone pulling her knickers open and taking a photo of her vagina, take away the photographer and is that not just a naked selfie? Pornography? The ASA stopped these advertisements being shown on posters as to not cause offence or be seen inappropriately by children. They then however let them still run in magazines such as Grazia. And still, Sophie Dahl’s nude Yves Saint Laurent beauty campaign from 2000 is still being named as the eighth most complained about advert of all time.

Whilst I was researching the ASA and the most controversial ads of all time it became apparent that there was very little advertisements that had been banned that exposed men. Not to imply that there hasn’t been such adverts. The Marc Jacobs perfume ad of 2010 featured the man himself lying naked on gold foil with a bottle of the perfume strategically placed between his legs. This caused offence because of its themes of hyper sexuality.

Even after this particular advertisement was banned, it’s still one of the very few advertisements banned because of its sexualisation of a male model.

I asked Samantha, a former stripper, if she felt objectified by this type of work. “No, I think they looked at me with lust – I felt like I had all the power because I was getting there money – they were paying for me”.

Tom Ford portrays female models as powerful beautiful beings that ooze sexuality. Did the invasion of all those famous females personal iCloud accounts make them then feel powerless? Out of control? Since Samantha was the one stripped, proudly flaunting her body by her own choice – and getting paid for it – Did that actually make her the one that held the most power after all?

“A SHIP IS SAFE IN HARBOUR, BUT THAT’S NOT WHAT SHIPS ARE FOR”.

-WILLIAM G.T. SHEDD

DECEPTION? CONFUSION?

DECEPTION? CONFUSION?

Do

these images of this

male who is topless offend you?

Do

these images of this

female who is topless offend you?

Do I offend you?

“LIFE IS REALLY SIMPLE, BUT WEINSISTONMAKINGIT COMPLICATED.” -CONFUCIOUS