Picture Perfect

The first advertisement that I decided to analyze is an advertisement from For Him Magazine (FHM). The ad can be found here: http://www.slashphone.com/media/data/766/fhm_sony_ericsson.jpg

               The advertisement portrays a woman in a bra posing with the Sony Ericsson phone against her arm. She is dark haired, light skinned, and has large breasts. She exemplifies an obsession with exoticism in American culture. Because she is dark haired, she is different and exciting. The fact that she has large breasts makes clear another aspect of women that America is obsessed with. The other important visual aspect of the woman is the fact that most of her face is hidden. The only portion of her face that is visible is from the nose down, showing her lips in a seductive pose. Finally, although the advertisement is for a phone, comparatively, it takes up very little space. There is a large block of text in very fine print to the right of the woman on the page describing the features of the phone.

               There are a couple of important conclusions we can draw from this advertisement. First, the female body is a highly sexualized form. The use of breasts is found here as a way to show the desirability of the product being sold. Her lips are poised seductively, but you cannot see her eyes. This seems an effort to leave the woman without identity, as eyes are a feature that distinguishes individuals from one another. By hiding her eyes, she is effectively made undistinguishable, average, and not unique.

               The fact that this advertisement is found in For Him Magazine, indicates something larger about the expectation of men in relation to females. First, all men, in order to fit into the commonly accepted definition of masculinity, must be in a heterosexual relationship. Additionally, this specific advertisement is intended to hit at the desires of the audience—meaning men. That being said, men are supposed to be interested in sexualized, subordinated portrayals of women. On a more macro level, it appears that both masculinity and femininity are constructed through the use and placement of this advertisement. Additionally, how they relate to one another is also explained. In terms of the advertisement of the actual product, it seems that the target audience of the phone is men. This eliminates women from a place in the technical, mechanical world, further subordinating women. 

Finally, the website that I discovered this advertisement on was a website about cell phones. The website did a base level analysis of the advertisement. Instead of discussing the ad's sexually explicit nature, the website merely discussed how spectacular it was that a cell phone could take that picture. 

Ultimately, I was bothered by the fact that the superiority of the phone's camera had to be shown with a picture of a naked woman instead of a picture of food, kids playing, landscapes, etc.