Objectified and Empowered Sexuality

“In the subordination of women, inequality itself is sexualized: made into the experience of sexual pleasure, essential to sexual desire. Pornography is the material means of sexualizing inequality.” - Dworkin.

Dworkin describes "obscenity law" as both concealing (discrediting) information or images as well as burying or hiding what is deemed to be “filth” (i.e. dirty, disgusting, unacceptable). Dworkin describes that the naked body is considered filth and must be covered up. In terms of the advertisments, you get the general idea of nudity with concealing the "obscene" information such as certain private parts, as that might stir a male erection, which in terms of obscenity law, this is the act that must be concealed and avoided. The advertisements skate on the lines of what is acceptable and what would be considered “filthy” and violating obscenity law.

The following images are a way of visually showing what it means to be either an objectified woman, or an empowered woman in terms of sexuality.

The first advertisement ties into the notions of being within the safe realm of obscenity law, while still grasping at the notion of a woman and her sexuality. She is seen here as being dirty and even begs to be cleaned by the writing on her stomach. She is not an individual, but rather a mannequin, an anonymous headless body that need not be known as a person or a human being. This is what Dworkin discusses in her text, as well as Jensen & Dines: the inequality of the woman is that she is not a human being. Therefore the objectification of the woman is seen clearly in the advertisement.

This second advertisement expresses similar notions, such that the woman does not have her face shown. In this case, it is just her upper body and mouth pictured, which can be seen as representations for her submission to sexual acts. Her stance and the photograph explains that the cologne is not the only thing “For Men” as such this is not just an advertisement but another example of a woman’s objectification.

Once again, the woman for this alcohol advertisment is not shown as having any specific identifying features. There is nothing that claims her to be an individual rather than just a model of the woman’s body. There is not much to elaborate on this advertisement as it has the same concepts as the previous two.

In this Calvin Klein advertisement we see a different dynamic and that is that there is both a man and a woman pictured in the ad, as well as both of their faces being shown. They are also wearing clothes. However, the stance and body language of both people allude to sexual acts, and on the man’s terms versus the woman’s. This woman is seen as being in the man’s submission and the look on her face suggests that she is powerless to him. She is allowing herself to be objectified.

This last advertisement speaks to a different dynamic and that is the “empowerment” expressed. Beyonce is known to be an empowered woman, a “Diva” as many would deem her, she is a media epitome of the “strong” woman, who is in charge of herself and exudes confidence. The advertisement is for a brand of makeup, in which Beyonce’s whole body is seen, and still skirts on the line of “obscenity law”. She is wearing clothing, however it is nude clothing, and while it does have texture it still shows the shape of her body without showing off her whole body. Hartley might suggest that Beyonce exhibits the “positives” for being a sexual model and that Beyonce has a higher self-image than those who are not photographed in such a form. The other notion here is that Beyonce appears to be confident, as if she has her eye on a man. Hartley explains that in some ways “men will follow sexually if lead by a woman”. Beyonce is leading and expecting a man to follow. The contradiction here is that while Beyonce is empowered, she is still subjected to the same treatment as the women in the previous advertisements: she is known and is her own brand, however she is still submitting herself to objectification, and still fits the mold of a woman as a body/thing rather than a human being based on her celebrity status.

-Jill Potter