Analyzing Ads

Analyzing Ads in the Media 

      In this series of Ralph Lauren “Romance” ads, the man is depicted as strong, aggressive and dominant, while the female is shown as weak, passive and submissive towards the man. This is shown in the first image, in which the man is basically holding up the woman as she appears to be too weak to hold her own weight. In all of these images, the man is either holding up the woman or being the dominant one on top. The man has a strong position, while the woman’s grasp is weak. 

   The woman also appears to be very trusting, open and available as she allows the man to hold her. Her body and face are more turned towards the camera, such as in the second  and third image in which she is looking straight at the camera. In contrast, the man is very closed and shows no real emotion besides anger. In all of the images, his head is down and you can’t actually see inside his eyes. 

     In these images, the woman is sexually passive and submissive, while the man is aggressive and dominant. This is especially shown in the first and the third image. In the third image, the man is over the woman, kissing her and the woman seems to care less and is very passive and submissive. The woman is also sexualized in these photos, while the man is not. The woman has a decent amount of skin showing and in some of the images her dress strap is falling down or her dress is pulled up to expose her legs. This contrast between the man and the woman shows the meta theme that females and males must be separated and seen as radically and profoundly different. 

      Because of these ideologies, society accepts these masculine and feminine traits as “natural.” This reinforces the status quo and sets expectations for both males and females. This sets the expectation that guys should be aggressive and dominant physically and sexually. They should also show little/no emotion and be closed. Women should be passive and submissive both physically and sexually. Women are expected to  be very emotional, trusting, open and cooperative. Because an ideology is not reality, most people cannot live up to these expectations and don’t live their lives this way, but still feel pressured by society to fit into these little boxes.

-Mallory Holt