The Ritualization of Subordination
"A recumbant position is one from which physical defense of one's self can least well be initiated and therefore one which renders one very dependent on the benignness of the surround" (Goffman, 41).
Licensed Withdrawal - Finger Biting
A common ritualization is "the attenuation of sucking or biting the finger. The impression is given that somehow a stream of anxiety, rumination, or whatever, has been split off from the main course of attention and is being sustained in a dissociated, unthinking fashion" (Goffman, 60).
The image on the right is for the designer Louis Vuitton and appeared in all major fashion magazines in February 2010.
The model is recumbant on the bar ground, suggesting she is not there by choice, but has been laid there by someone, or fallen down. Her eyes are heavy-lidded and glazed, her mouth slack; she appears drugged or inebriated. The childish biting of her thumb indicates her withdrawal and uncertainty of her circumstance and self.
The predominant message of this image is that this woman is, or will be, the victim of the gazer's will and that will is of a sexual and/or violent nature.
I
Vogue Magazine 23 Feb. 2010: 2.
This image on the right for the mythical design house of Ponte Vecchio mimics the Louis Vuitton advertisements. The modestly dressed, unglamourous middle-aged model underscores the defenseless, detached and demeaning message of the Vitton image. Removing the youth, slenderness and revealing hemline of the professional model leaves the gazer with an uncomfortable image of a woman on the verge of vicimization who hopefully inspires a desire to assist rather than buy a designer handbag.
Compromise
This advertisement offers a passive, but more positive image: the model is sitting, but not recumbant and is therefore more able to defend and mobilize herself if needed. Her gaze outward is deep-set, upwards and passive, but it is clear. The body posture and language is also passive, but she is supported by her own unseen arm. This woman is not particularly strong, but she is also not a victim or an object.
Counter-Hegemonic
The model to the right appears relaxed, but serious and serenely confident. Her gaze is direct and strong and fully aware of her body, her surroundings, and the expensive handbag from which she is withdrawing her important paper.
The woman in this ad likes herself as well as the designer handbag she paid for with money earned from a successful career. This woman expects respect and equal treatment from the gazer.
Recumbant, Shielded, Sexually Objectified
"A ritualization of participation shielding occurs when one presents oneself as if on the edge of a situation or otherwise shielded from it physically, when in fact one is still quite accessible to those in it" (Goffman, 70).
The models in this ad for the designer Roberto Cavalli are partially recumbant, indicating a passivity and lack of self-defense. One is shielding her torso, the other half her face, both impotent postures of self-protection. Their faces bear a lack of expression imitative of Barbie dolls. The short length of their dresses makes the covering of their crotches difficult and their legs as the focus of the foreground lead the eye to their upper thighs and buttocks, making them a sexualized display.
Glamour Magazine Feb. 2010: 15.
Mimic
In this ad for the faux fashion "little black dress," the model is also expressionless. Her hemline is too short to make the choice of a chaise lounge anything but a vehicle for sexual display. The exaggerated long angle of the legs in the foreground lead the eye up to upper thigh and crotch. She is passive, sexualized and on display.
Compromise
In this image, the sexual display has been eliminated by the change in posture. The expression is passive and appeasing and the hand on the leg is ineffectually shielding. This woman is not empowered, but she is also not a sexual object.
Counter-Hegemonic
In this advertisement, there are indicators of strength and independence. The exposed leg is strong and muscular; her expression is self-aware and confident in her choice of fashion. She appears relaxed, self-assured and independent. She makes the choice of a short black dress seem appropriate and enjoyable.
The Averted Gaze
"Turning one's gaze away from another's can be seen as having the consequence of withdrawing from the current thrust of communication, allowing one's feelings to settle back into control while one is somewhat protected from direct scrutiny. Since flight is exhibited in this gaze-aversion behavior, some sort of submission to and trust in the source of stimulus seems to be implied" (Goffman, 62).
This black and white ad is for designer Calvin Klein and appeared in all major fashion magazines published in February 2010. The model's averted gaze is the finishing touch to this composition evocative of a corpse found lying at the base of a tree. This emaciated young woman could be the victim of a sexual assault, lying dissociated or dead on the rough bark. Her dress is pushed up just below her crotch and her hand is pulling down her neckline between her breasts, both supporting the theme of sexual victimization.
Harper's Bazaar March 2010: 30.
Mimic
The model in the image to the right gazes out of the frame as she lies recumbant in her velvet and jewels. She does not evoke death or traumatic dissociation, but she does appear to be disconnected from her environment and physicality. She is defenseless, passive and vulnerable to external control.
Compromise
While the model in this ad is still in the defenseless recumbant position, she is engaged with the gazer and showing a clear enjoyment with herself. The heavy-lidded eyes and sweet smile indicate passivity and a desire to appease, but the overall impression is more positive and self-possessed than the two previous images.
Counter-Hegemonic
This woman is definitively pleased with her choice of fashion and herself. Her facial expression and body language project decisiveness, independence, strength, humor and pleasure.
The Smiling and Child-Like Homemaker
"Smiles, it can be argued, often function as ritualistic mollifiers, signaling that nothing agonistic is intended or invited, that the meaning of the other's act has been understood and found acceptable, that, indeed, the other is approved and appreciated... smiles, then, seem more the offering of an inferior than a superior. Given the subordinated and indulged position of children in regard to adults, it would appear that to present oneself in puckish styling is to encourage the corresponding treatment" (Goffman, 48).
All of these images are taken from the April 2010 online issue of Women's Day magazine: the oh-so happy shopper with the child's grin and the oh-so happy homemakers cleaning glass, washing dishes and cooking healthy food. Note how the woman doing dishes is wearing a highly impractical pristine white fitted blouse and the woman slicing tomatoes is in form-fitting white as well (and has time to lean on her hand and think happy thoughts about fresh vegetables).
Images like these create and perpetuate the hegemonic myth of fulfillment through repetitive work that advertising executives perpetuate because they have no interest in reflecting the actual lives, emotions and attitudes of their target demographic.
Woman's Day April 2010. 5 April 2010 <http://www.womansday.com>.
Mimic
In this fantasy ad campaign for white vinegar, the model at the right hugs the bottle as a child would hug a stuffed toy. Everything except the wrinkles at the corners of her eyes are juvenile, therefore she is subordinate and her work in cleaning her home is not to be taken seriously.
Compromise
This woman is obviously very happy about her white vinegar, yet appears to be a bit weary, as are most contemporary women who run a home. She leans on the bottle as if she is dependent upon its strength and support to stay upright and keep smiling. Her blissful expression is subordinate and unrealistic, but her body language reflects the weary appreciation one can feel when some product actually assists with endless housework.
Counter-Hegemonic
The woman in this image appears strong as she easily holds up the gallon jug of vinegar. Her facial expression is not blissful or childish and projects mature appreciation for a product that actually helps her with many of the tasks she performs in her home. The overall impression is one of empowerment, decisiveness and mature self-respect.
Feminine = Subordinate, Silly, Emotionally Fragile and Childlike
In the images to the right, I asked a male model to pose in some stereotypical advertising poses applied to female models. I solicited comments on these images from both men and women and can summarize them briefly: "He looks effeminant and/or silly and/or stupid." They are associating feminine behavior with silliness and stupidity.
Licensed Withdrawal - Covering the Face
"Women more than men, it seems, are pictured engaged in involvements which remove them psychologically from the social situation at large, leaving them unoriented in it and to it, and presumably, therefore, dependent on the protectiveness and good will of others who are (or might come to be) present. When emotional response causes an individual to lose control of his facial posture, that is, to 'flood out', he can partly conceal the lapse by turning away from the others present or by covering his face with his hands. Ritualization of the kind associated with the young is involved, for the act cannot conceal that something is being concealed and furthermore requires momentary blindness to everything around oneself--this being a particularly empty and maladaptive response when the withdrawal is itself a response to real threat" (Goffman, 57).
The Feminine Touch
"Women, more than men, are pictured using their fingers and hands to trace the outlines of an object or to cradle it or to caress its surface..., or to effect 'just barely touching'.... The ritualistic touching is to be distinguished from the utilitarian kind that grasps, manipulates, or holds" (Goffman, 29).
A Trifecta of Subordination
This image offers the defenseless recumbant posture, the licensed withdrawal of the averted gaze and the child-like indecisiveness of finger-biting.
In closing, I present a reminder that the hegemony of femininity is thriving: here are three ads from the April 2010 New York magazine: the indecisive superstar; the recumbant and silly bride getting grass stains on her dress and the bare-bottomed toddler pose of the mature model.
New York Magazine 5 April 2010: back cover, 53, 46.