In fashion advertisements male and female models are portrayed differently. Advertisements reveal the most traditional gender belief which is males are aggressive and females are submissive. Also, girls are always evaluated by their appearances while boys are not. Just as how Susan Kaiser noted, “In the realm of modern Western fashion, as we will see, this has meant that there has been a dominant myth that men are not suppose to care too much about how they look. Their power comes from being ‘unmarked’ as contrasted with women.” This seems to be true until Balenciaga released the ad for Spring/Summer 2018 came out. In the advertisement, the role of males and females are reversed. The ad mimics the situations when celebrities are captured on cameras by paparazzi. In the image, the young male dresses in stylish female clothing as he walks out of what seems to be a hotel. he hides his face behind a hand bag he is carrying. If it is not revealed to the audiences that the person behind the hand clutch is a male, the readers could easily assume that the person in the image is a girl. Unlike how males are typically portrayed, in this advertisement, this boy seems slim and impotent. He is aware and cares tremendously about what he wears. He is wearing oversized shirts on a pair of red plaid pants with a pair of panted red pointed heels with stud details. In addition, he finished his look with two large pearl earrings. The way he looks at us (into the camera) is similar to how girls would look into the camera. As he walks toward the entrance, he is protected by two body guards. This advertisement has played with the traditional gender role.
Works cited:
Kaiser, Susan. 2012. Fashion and Cultural Studies. London: Berg.
