Legally Blonde

If there is one movie that clearly shows the gender differences between males and females, it would be Legally Blonde. From the very beginning, the main character, Elle, is dressed head to toe in pink and speaks with a thick valley girl accent. The movie shows her going in and out of stores with her ditzy friends shopping. But why is it that because she wears pink and says "oh my God" alot that she is unintelligent? It shows how all of her single friends of jealous of Elle and her perfect boyfriend. It isn't until that her boyfriend breaks up with her and she cries for days that we then come to find out that she actually is very intelligent. If it wasn't for her Elle being put in a vulnerable position by her boyfriend breaking up with her because she didn't live up to her standards, Elle would never have attempted to get into Harvard Law.
The woman is made to be the needy one in the relationship, while her boyfriend is the so called "bread winner" that she must follow. It seems that in media today that the women are the ones getting broken up with the most often, while the males are quick to move on, be happy, and have another girlfriend at the drop of a hat. Elles sexuality is definitely played off, as seen in her admissions video to Harvard while the admissions councelors watch in utter disbelief. Her sexuality is taken too far though, when her internship advisor tries to hit on her and dangles a great job position in her face by it.

How Much Does Sex Really Need to be Sold?

We've all heard the tag line, "sex sells". It has proven to be true, from diet pills (think Anna Nicole Smith's famous "I want your bod") to modern day "role models" such as Madonna and Britney Spears. But that brings up the question, is there a difference between "sex(y) sells" and "sex sells"? This Dolce & Gabbana ad circa fall 2007 has brought up many questions to those that follow the high fashion world, forcing the more liberal Spain and Italy to pull it from the public eye.

If you were to look at this picture, what would you think the company is advertising? The sunglasses that are being worn by the guy who is holding down the girl? The guy to his right wearing the purple shirt? Or just sex in general? While all of these were also part of the ad campaign, the company's main item that they were trying to advertise was the girl's shoes. Some may find that hard to believe, considering the shoe is most likely the last thing to catch your eye. Instead, your attention is immediately gravitated toward the guy rockin' the designer shades strong force as he holds the girl down, his friends in the back watching intently, and the look of distress on the girl's face. The men are clearly being made out to be figures of dominance, while the girl is characterized as merely a sex symbol.

Not only does this ad make me feel like I should change my diet to about two crackers a day and hit the gym for about 5 hours, but also makes me worried for the younger generation of girls that were not raised to believe that behavior such as this is unacceptable. An eleven year old girl roaming the streets of New York City would see this ad and unknowingly believe that not only was this acceptable, but also considered beautiful. And as she grew up, maybe this is just part of sex- therefore making it sexy. After all, you can't deny that the people in the ad are gorgeous and not people you would pass everyday on the street.

The line between sexy and sex (or even dominatrix) is clearly crossed with this ad from the number of male to the number of female ratio, the body positions of the main male and female as well as the by-standers, and how it even goes as far as to illustrate a rape scene- which is legally defined as forceful and non-consensual sex (Women’s Lives 261) which is clearly shown through her facial expression. It definitely reflects the extremely influential part that ad campaigns have on society.

This ad is made out to be more as a rape scene rather than a glitzy high fashion stiletto ad. It has so much going on that is more attention grabbing and has the "shock appeal" that the shoe could never carry on its own. It’s a problem, though, that the "shock appeal" could only be captured through the scene of four attractive males forcing a beautiful female into a sexual situation that appears to be a struggle for her, rather than something she was enjoying. Spain and Italy both realized the unethical nature of this ad- since rape is a crime of "frustrated attraction, victim provocation, or uncontrollable biological urges, perpetrated only by an aberrant fringe." (Women’s Lives 267) By making an ad like this public for the entire world to see, we redefine "sexy" to just plain "sex"- the kind of sex where the woman appears helpless, and looked upon as a sex object rather than a partner.

Women’s Lives: Multicultural Perspectives. Ed. Gwyn Kirk and Margo Okazawa-Rey. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2010. 261. Print

Women’s Lives: Multicultural Perspectives. Ed. Gwyn Kirk and Margo Okazawa-Rey. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2010. 267. Print

Dolce & Gabbana. Advertisement. Girl Revolution Website. Web. 8 February 2010.