In 2014, hip hop artist, singer and dancer Rihanna put out a cologne for men. The cologne was called "Rogue Man". In the advertisement we see Rihanna and a man together. Rihanna is located behind the man with her arms wrapped around him. She leans in towards his neck, maybe about to plant a kiss on his skin or whisper something in his ear. Her eyes are either closed or directed downward towards where her lips are seemingly guiding her. Her entire body language seems to suggest that her focus is only on him. In contrast, the man sits starring out into the audience. His head tilted to the right as if he were about to move away from her. He sits with his legs spread and arms jutting to the sides which highlights his many tattoos. His hands are locked together. His fingers woven between each other in a very closed display. It is as if he doesn't even know the woman is there. Off to the right, there is an image of the cologne, hovering above the name repeated a second time. Even further below the repeated title the text, "by Rihanna" is centered in smaller and darker lettering. The whole image is entirely black and white with high contrast between highlight and shadows.The body language of both models is used to communicate or signify a message: Wear this cologne and women will want you. Wear this cologne and be a man.
But what if we changed a few things......
This advertisement is directed towards men, the consumer. In doing so, the designer uses placement and posing to deemphasize and weaken the presence and importance of the female. In "Codes of Gender" the theories of Erving Goffman are described focussing on the concept of "gender displays". This is the idea that gender, unlike biological sex, is something that we learn and perform. One of the common displays is the "ritualization of subordination". This is when the pose of the woman is presented in a way that demonstrates that men are dominate. Women are often seen lying down, in very condensed positions and viewed from above. In this photograph, the woman is presented as submissive as she stands behind the man, holding but not grasping his body. In "Killing Us Softly" this submissive coding is described as synonymous with objectification. The video describes the body language not just as submissive but passive and vulnerable. In doing so, it undermines the female gender and essentially dehumanizes them.
In my first edit, I chose to spotlight the underlying message by further emphasizing the dehumanization of the woman using empty space. In photoshop, I removed the face of the woman leaving her arms around the man, suggesting that all that matters is that the man is desired by something, or someone, but it doesn't really matter by who. On the right hand side, I also eliminated the image of the cologne bottle and all other text except the word "MAN". I copied this word and pasted it over and over again. These combined edits change the coding entirely for the male gender. It forces them to consider their relationship with females and their own definition of masculinity.
In my next edit, I focussed on how they portrayed race/ethnicity. The music star was born "Robyn Rihanna Fenty in Saint Michael, Barbados on February 20, 1988. Of her parents, her mother, Monica Braithwaite, a retired accountant, is a mix of African and Guyanese. (Guyana is located on the northern coast of South America). Her father, Ronald Fenty, was a warehouse supervisor. He is of Barbadian and Irish ancestry." ( Ben Arogundade. [Mar.18.2016] http://www.arogundade.com/what-race-and-ethnicity-is-rihanna-black-white-mixed-race-american-british-or-jamaican-her-background-nationality-parents.html). If you were to look at her in the advertisement, you can see none of her heritage. Her naturally black, wavy hair has been made to look straight and almost blonde. The contrast in the photo gives hint to some areas of skin that might be dark but mostly, looks like she is caucasian. In "What Girls Want" the young women interviewed repeated the same idea over and over again, media only cares about the exterior, men/boys don't care about your personality, they only care about your looks. When we looks at advertisements we believe that what we see is "the norm". In "Killing Us Softly" that norm is described as a skinny, young, caucasian female. Modern technology has allowed us to begin to alter and edit every model to fit this standard. In doing so, any race that identifies as something other than Caucasian/European is subconsciously being told that the way that they look, the way that they authentically are, is wrong.
Searching the internet, I found an image of Rihanna to create an overlay on the right side of the image. This image shows Rihanna as she usually presents herself. Her hair is dark and wavy, her skin is light but caramel brown and lastly she is covered in more than 18 tattoos. In addition, I copied the small type "by Rihanna" and pasted it right in the middle to emphasize that both of these images are considered to be an extension of who Rihanna presents herself to be. This contextualization redefines the meaning of the advertisement for anyone who identifies as something other than Caucasian by showing a female who exists outside of "the norm" and saying, it's okay. In addition, it redefines the context for female viewers, or any female who has tattoos. In comparison to the soft female body that is shown as being the complete opposite of rogue, it shows women that they can be just the same and take ownership of their bodies in the same way.
As my interest turned towards the tattoos on the male models arms, I thought about my last edit. In this edit I questioned what codes permeated the advertisement in the form of text. Looking at the name of the cologne, I wondered what made these two models interacting with one another an expression of "Rogue". In the video "Killing us Softly" it describes that men are taught to be the exact opposite of women. They are encouraged to be insensitive, rational, and aggressive. They then argue that be emphasizing the segregation between masculine and feminine it not only devalues one category over the other but also gives the other permission to be violent. If men are absorbing the subconscious message through advertising that it is okay to treat women as objects, then reacting violently towards them will suffer no consequence. This advertisement encourages the same idea by enticing men to go "rogue" or be "rogue". The imagery in the advertisement implies that even if you are a rogue male, a woman will still desire you.
I wanted to think like a man and rationally consider the meaning provided in the advertisement. So I went to dictionary.com and looked up the literal definition of the word "rogue". It showed me two definitions:
- 1.a dishonest or unprincipled man.
"you are a rogue and an embezzler"
synonyms: scoundrel, villain, miscreant, reprobate, rascal, good-for-nothing, ne'er-do-well, wretch;More
In one, it describes "rogue" as almost synonymous with "unethical". In the second it says that while "rogue" isn't a way to describe someone who is doing anything approvable, they are "nonetheless likable or attractive". These two definitions perfectly demonstrated how the advertisement chose one perspective over the other. While a woman might sway towards the first definition, a man would most likely lean towards the second. In my concluding edit, I copied the first definition and inserted it as an overlay above the original text. This design decision was meant to elevate the female definition over the males and change the way not only the man in the ad was labeled, but how the word itself is defined.
Looking at this single ad with the new knowledge provided to me by the three video's I watched made me aware of how gender and racial expectations are pushed into us in ways that we don't even realize. I agree with the speaker in "Killing Us Softly". These issues are not just social issues but matters of public health. It will take awareness, education and brave individuals to make any change possible. The most important part to change is not being afraid to question "the norm" and push ourselves to live our lives in the most authentic way possible.
What an interesting ad to choose, and great points. I watched many of the same videos and noticed many of those points right away. One other thing that is troubling about the image, along with Rihanna's very pubic history of the victim of domestic abuse at the hands of her male partner Chris Brown make you wonder why she would choose to desire a "rouge man."
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