Saturday, October 3, 2009

Women are from Venus?

This an ad for Venus Embrace razors I found in Teen Vogue (August 2009). As a note, it's supposed to look this magenta and dark, which is a point I want to bring up because the tint emphasizes the femininity of the target audience.

(click image to enlarge)

The ad shows a young couple (which I inferred from their sitting position, their gaze, and his hand creeping under her skirt on her thigh) flirting on a date. The text uses interpellation to speak directly to the reader to "reveal the goddess in YOU" or that you are "the goddess of I Have a Crush." You can conquer any fear and win the crush; plus, it can be revealed if you reveal your un-hairy legs (and probably armpits, though this ad is specifically focusing on the legs).

Major factors in understanding this ad is the Western culture, the norms (of females, of shaving, and of a female shaving her legs), and mythology (both Roman and of women). Apparently, having smooth legs makes you sexy and makes a man want to show some PDA (public displays of affection) because you're irresistible and touchable. All this adds up to their brand name, Embrace, because they encourage you to shave and to touch, to embrace. A girl probably likes the feeling of smooth legs herself, but it's also unselfish if she does it to please the guy. In enforcing the ideology of women shaving their legs, this ad is just like sexy lingerie ads, where the woman gives in to buying physical beauty for the guy to attract him.

1 comment:

  1. Odd that this was in teen vogue, it seems to skew to an older more conservative viewer; It's either an oversight or Conde Nast is trying to extend the reputation of their flagship fashion magazine to its teen subsidiary.

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