Sexual Imagery Used as Social Critique or Challenge

What this comic points out is that, in our society there are certain norms that we are taught to follow and one of them is knowing that you are a male or female. Cross dressing as the opposite sex or being a transgender is look upon as one of those things that goes against the norms. People that challenges the "norms" is criticized as being weird or strange. This depicts the challenge and yet the empowerment of the individual who feels as though he/she were not born of a correct gender.

[http://cidutest.wordpress.com/category/crossdressing-gangster-parakeets/]


This advertisement is the brand Durex which make condoms. In the ad you see what it appears to be the bottom half of a woman's face with two small bandages on each side of her lips then you see the brand Durex with XXL on the box. It is critiquing the societal views on women by pointing out that women likes it rough, big and they enjoy it. Also at the bottom of the ad it says, "really big" which is implying that woman likes their man to have big size. Bigger the better.

[http://www.racialicious.com/2007/08/09/durex-ad-glorifies-sexual-violence/]



This is an advertisement for safe sex or protected sex. It is showing bottom half of a female body with a tarantula crawling out of her panty. The ad is drawing attention towards unprotected sex and what could happen. The tarantula is the after effect of having unprotected sex. The ad is not very sexually but it grabs attention because of the issues that goes around of having unprotected sex. It leads to AIDS, HIV and even getting pregnant is becoming an issue for teens and adults.

[http://www.feministing.com/2005/10/]




The new Dove advertisements became a huge success even though it did not show beautiful and sexually attractive models. It challenged what society see as "beautiful." It shows women in different age range, ethnicities and even body types. Dove calls it a "campaign for real beauty." In ads, all we see are women who are young and attractive. We hardly see an older woman in ads because they are considered as not being "beautiful." What this ad does is that it goes against the idea that there is only one meaning of being beautiful.

[http://etniesgirl.com/blog/2005/08/22/the-dove-girls-you-decide/][http://www.seniorcitizen.com/2007/03/03/too-old-to-be-in-an-anti-aging-dove-ad.htm]



This is a movie called "Brokeback Mountain." It is about two friends who eventually falls in love with each other. In a society where heterosexuality is more in favor, this movie challenges that idea by showing that there is no one type of sexual preference. There are many people who did not watch this movie because of the issues that it discussed. Homosexuality, even though it has been opened to the idea, still has a long way to go. People are not fond of it and are afraid of different issues that comes along with it.

[http://www.youtube.com/v/-xuugq7fito&hl=en&fs=1"]