OUGD501: The Look Task

I have chosen the advertisement for Gucci’s fragrance Gucci Guilty. There are two separate images, which promote this product, and each portrays a woman in a different way.  In the first image the male is the dominant person because he is returning the look from the audience, the woman could be looked at as a prop, she is simply there to make the man look more attractive and to make the audience engage with the product.

The second image sees the woman returning the look from the audience, though she does this and it would seem that she is in control of the image, the look in her eyes could be seen to welcome the look from the audience and suggest that it is ok to look at her body in a sexual way.  ‘Those women on billboards, though; they look back. Those fantasy women stare off the walls with a look of urgent availability’ (Coward, 2000, Page 34) this suggests that women who are in the billboards who return the gaze of a male are welcoming it and do not feel objectified like the women on the streets. This type of ‘looking‘ gives the man complete control and allow them to avoid a life of rejection. ‘Perhaps this sex-at-a-distance is the only complete secure relation which men can have with women. Perhaps other forms of contact are too unsettling’ (Coward, 2000, Page 34) this gives the looker freedom to look upon a woman without the fear of rejection and also allows them to keep the power and control over the woman. ‘Voyeurism is a way of taking sexual pleasure by looking at rather than being close to a particular object of desire, like a peeping tom. And peeping toms always stay in control.’ (Coward, 2000, page 34) This links to Freud’s theory about sexual fantasies and how people receive sexual pleasure at a distance, this alienation from the reality of existence brings them comfort and confidence. ‘Distanced he may be, but secure he remains’ (Coward, 2000, Page 35).

The representation of femininity is one, which is very typical in the world of advertising because the main goal is to entice a person to buy into a consumer culture in order for them to feel included and important. Coward suggests that this a way to trap women into buying a product to become confident with men looking at her from a distance rather than uncomfortably up close.