This advertisement is for Versace Jeans Couture Spring/Summer 1995, photographed by Bruce Weber. It features a male and female model posing in a lavish patio garden on top of a mosaic table. The female model, Helena Christensen, stands above the male model (unnamed) implicating a switch of gender roles; where men have customarily been depicted as being “on top” of or “above” women. Even in sex, for example, one of the most common or mainstream sex position is missionary (with the man on top of the woman during intercourse). In there is a sense of power surrounding Christensen as she stands boldly above the man, this is contrasted by the fact that she is topless which lends itself to a juxtaposing sense of vulnerability. The male model is also shirtless but the image of a completely shirtless man is very mainstreamed and widely accepted, a shirtless man running through the park does not call for a second glance while a woman running shirtless through a park instigates shock, disgust, objectification, and arousal bordering endangerment just to name a few. Once again however the power falls upon the woman as she is the one behind the camera “photographing” the man. This detail made me think of the power that photographers hold over models, the stories of photographers sexually harassing female models asking them to take their clothes off or perform sexual acts in order to work with talented and famous, though corrupted and perverted, photographers. Here the role is switched and the woman is the one holding the camera with the male model at her mercy.
Another gender switch is apparent with the man’s foot pressed against Christiensen’s crotch. Where men in advertisements for jeans may be holding their crotch (as if that’s attractive), here it is the woman’s metaphorical “penis” that is being brought to attention. The final aspect of this advertisement that I found to be possibly the most profound is that the man and woman are wearing the same jeans, or so it is made to appear. I found the androgynous quality of the jeans a refreshing undertone for an image that is so heavily reliant on gender normative symbolism.
