Sexism Is The New Black: An Examination of a Dolce & Gabbana Advertisement Kylie Jordan Neighbor

Sexism Is The New Black: An Examination of a Dolce & Gabbana Advertisement Kylie Jordan Neighbor

Sexism Is The New Black: An Examination of a Dolce & Gabbana Advertisement Kylie Jordan Neighbor

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This research examines a Dolce & Gabbana advertisement and what it says about gender roles within society. Ernest Bormann’s Fantasy Theme Analysis is used for analysis, and several pragmatic and rhetorical implications are drawn. Pragmatically, this advertisement sets the precedent that sexism in advertising is acceptable. Rhetorically, the success of this advertisement style as well as the companies that employ them shows the people’s acceptance of sexism within advertising and the expectations placed on men and women. The advertisement exists purely for the benefit of the company and its’ beliefs, but can be used to ignite conversation about sexism within advertising and raise awareness to the harm it does.

 

Keywords: Fantasy Themes, Sexism, Dolce & Gabbana, Advertisement

 

 

 

 

Sexism Is the New Black: An Examination of a Dolce & Gabbana Advertisement Introduction

Sexism. Aggression. Oppression. Dominance. Violence. These words sound like they belong in the stories we read in our history books of tyrants and dictators unleashing pain and abuse upon their people. However, the startling truth is that these words are alive and flourishing within our own society, causing pain and suffering to this very day. Dolce & Gabbana, a popular luxury fashion line, published an advertisement (see Appendix) with an easily identifiable message: Male dominance over women is to be accepted, women are sexual objects to be used, and both genders must fit into the roles placed on them by society. During the course of this research paper, we will define Ernest Bormann’s Fantasy Theme Analysis, how it applies to the advertisement, and how it is used to draw pragmatic and rhetorical implications.

Method: Ernest Bormann’s Fantasy Theme Analysis

 

 

In 1972, Ernest Bormann first published his theory titled Fantasy Theme Analysis. The purpose of this theory is to critically examine communication within groups and how these groups create a common culture that defines how they think, act, and operate (Bormann, 1972). Furthermore, it examines how these groups successfully communicate their ideals, values, and expectations with non-group members as well as evaluates the social norms within a group giving clear insight into the groups feelings and beliefs. Therefore, this model is an effective and appropriate method for evaluating the Dolce & Gabbana advertisement and the implications it

 

 

 

creates on gender roles in society. Bormann’s theory consists of three parts: fantasy themes, rhetorical vision, and chaining out.

A fantasy theme is a “dramatized dream” and truth shared and understood by a particular group (Bormann, p. 397, 1972). Fantasy themes are unique to each group and stand as facts or truths within the groups environment. Bormann states that members within a group fuse their feelings to the groups fantasies, which carry on through communication and attaches members to one another. This creates a heightened sense of community and drives group members to take action (Bormann, 1972).

A group may develop many different fantasy themes throughout its’ life cycle, resulting in the creation of a rhetorical vision. A rhetorical vision is the result of the groups fantasy themes combining to form an ideal world the entire group agrees on. This rhetorical vision is subjective as one group may disagree with the rhetorical vision of another group. Bormann (1982) states that once a groups rhetorical vision emerges, it contains “dramatis personae”, persons of drama playing a role, and plot lines that can be shared in all communication contexts and spark a response (p. 398, 1972).

Lastly. chaining out is the action taken by members of a groups to share the groups rhetorical vision with non-members. Bormann (1972) states that if the group decides to make its’ fantasy theme public, they begin to artistically create messages for the mass media in order to gain converts to their fantasy themes and rhetorical vision (pg. 398).

 

 

 

Application

 

 

With an understanding of fantasy theme analysis, we can apply it to the Dolce & Gabbana advertisement. The ad clearly displays its’ fantasy themes by using the physical placement of the men and women in the advertisement to convey their message. The ad consists of four men in powerful and condescending stances. They are standing tall, their tan skin glistening in the sun, and their eyes looking down their noses at a women. The women is lying on her back with her legs pushed up in a way that implies she is struggling. One of the four men is bent over her, pinning her to the ground. The men and the women have been strategically placed in the ad to communicate several different fantasy themes. They include submissiveness of women, violence against women, sexualization of women, aggression in men, and unrealistic beauty standards for both genders. All of these listed fantasies are in place to communicate a specific expectation for gender roles in society. Men are expected to be the powerful gender while women the weaker. Male aggression is to be accepted and normalized in the eyes of women whom must accept their position in life.

These fantasy themes combine to create Dolce & Gabbana’s rhetorical vision. The advertisement visually communicates the rhetorical vision by using body language and positioning. The men are all very stoic, muscular, and physically in positions of power. The women is petite and unable to move from the ground as the man holds her down. The women is not present due to her free-will, but rather because the forcefulness of the men. The ideal world Dolce & Gabbana has created is a world where men rule and women don’t. More specifically, it is a world that encourages male dominance and female subservience. It illustrates that men must

 

 

 

be aggressive and women the target of their aggression. It establishes the norm that using women for sexual desires, regardless of wether or not it is consensual, is to be accepted.

Dolce & Gabbana then chain out their message by printing photo advertisements that clearly share their fantasies and rhetorical vision. Bormann (1982) states that “fantasies are shared in all communication contexts, that there is a connection between rhetorical vision and community consciousness, that sharing fantasies closely connected with motivation, and is an important means for people to create their social realities” (p. 288). Dolce & Gabbana is pushing their rhetorical vision to become the social realities of the individuals who view it and unfortunately have an incredibly large platform to do so. This makes sharing their message exponentially easier and increases the chance of persuading others to change their behaviors based on the shared fantasies. Additionally, the continued publication of sexist advertisements within women’s magazines normalizes their message in the eyes of women, and grooms women to accept the message long before they realize the manipulation of it.

Implications

 

 

The Dolce & Gabbana advertisement holds both pragmatic and rhetorical implications. Pragmatically, this advertisement sets the precedent that sexism in advertising is acceptable. It creates a norm out of sexism and abuse towards women. The way in which the ad is shared, which is across many different mass media platforms and in such a public way, allows the message to travel much further and much faster. With the duplication and imitation of this style of advertising, women continue to be held back and oppressed. A study completed on sexism towards women in advertising states that “advertising in popular media is a primary means for introducing female role stereotypes and promoting sexism” (Plakoyiannaki, Mathioudaki,

 

 

 

Dimitratoz, Zotos, 2008, p.102). This supports the theory that advertisements of this nature are geared towards undermining women and profiting from it. Shifting the focus to profit, Statista reported that in 2016, revenue from advertising was $103.7 billion (Statista, 2018). As the saying goes, “sex sells”, and as long as companies can continue to incorporate sex not only in the form of pleasure, but in the form of pure dominance and oppression, they will use it to their advantage despite the harm it causes.

Rhetorically, the continued financial success of Dolce & Gabbana as well as their tendency to publish ads such as this one, especially in women’s magazines, shows that people in general accept the message being shared. Further, that means that many people accept violence against women, male dominance, female subservience, the sexualization of women, and the incredibly high and unattainable appearance expectations put not only on women but also men. If we were to ask someone on the street wether or not they agree with these statements, they would likely say no. However, because advertisements are purposefully persuasive and often deceiving in nature, it is much easier to get the public to agree to a message regardless of wether or not they are truly aware of it. An article exposing the manipulation of advertisements wrote that “if you are not prepared to think, you will pretty much accept any suggestion if it is offered to

you” (Dachis, 2011). Unfortunately most people do not stop and think about the advertisements they are seeing every day and as a result, the sheer lack of outrage towards these types of sexist advertisements confirms the public’s acceptance and ultimate agreement to these beliefs. In reality, people don’t care enough to acknowledge the issue with this style of advertising. The lack of reaction leaves the control out of the people’s hands and instead entirely in the hands of the companies using these tactics. Men and women are being told who they are and where they fit in

 

 

 

the spectrum of worth and importance. However, no one is acknowledging the way in which their freedoms are being stripped by the manipulation of companies such as Dolce & Gabbana. Women are not the only victims either. Men who do not agree with the message being shared are considered outcasts, creating an environment where men are artificially taking on the role of the dominate gender as to not be the black sheep in group. That leaves a severe lack of support from the opposite gender for women who are being degraded and oppressed by society.

Conclusion

 

 

With an understanding of Ernest Bormann’s Fantasy Theme Analysis, the application of it to the Dolce & Gabbana advertisement, and the implications drawn from the findings of the research, it is clear that Dolce & Gabbana and other leaders of the fashion and advertising world will continue to employ sexist tactics in order to profit and continue the oppression of women. However, understanding their motives and methods is key to changing the norms of sexist advertising. The real challenge lies in inspiring the public to care enough about this issue to spur a change in the acceptance of the expectations place on women and men alike.

 

 

 

References

 

Bormann, E. G. (1972). Fantasy and rhetorical vision: the rhetorical criticism of social reality.

 

 

Quarterly Journal Of Speech, 58(4), 396.

 

 

Bormann, E. G. (1982). Fantasy and rhetorical vision. Ten years later. Quarterly Journal of Speech, 68, 288-305

Dachis, A. (2011, June 24). How advertising manipulates your choices and spending habits (and what to do about it). Retrieved May 13, 2018, from https://lifehacker.com/ 5824328/how-advertising-manipulates-your-choices-and-spending-habits-and-what-to- do-about-it

Plakoyiannaki, E., Mathioudaki, K., Dimitratos, P., & Zotos, Y. (2008). Images of women in online advertisements of global products: does sexism exist?. Journal Of Business Ethics, 83(1), 101-112. doi:10.1007/s10551-007-9651-6

Revenue of the u.s. advertising industry 2016 | Statistic. Retrieved May 13, 2018, from https:// services-since-2000/

 

 

 

Appendix