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It seems to me, so often these days, women have been relegated to window dressing. I was appalled and embarrassed at the blatant objectification and sexualization of this image of a woman displayed in a shoe store window at street level. I had to take a picture and report back on this disconcerting example of window dressing.
It is interesting to note that the window display appears to target a younger population, although the store is located in a high-end, upscale area where mostly the rich and, often, the famous, do their shopping. It is not where, for the most part, younger people could afford to shop. After all, who, other than youth, can wear four to five inch stiletto heels, while at the same time I have to ask, could they afford these? So, I thought, perhaps, the window dressing is meant to target wealthy men who may buy articles of clothing as gifts with which to dress their young ladies. You can envision the scenario where the model, from her subservient position, looks up in deference to a man; her subservient pose satisfies the male gaze.
Much has been discussed about The Beauty Ideal with which we have been inundated through television commercials, programs, print advertising, cinema, and the internet. This window dressing is simply another way in which women are influenced to seek the notions of body perfection that we are force-fed on a daily basis, and, through which we are being oppressed by the Dominant Culture. In this way, we are like pawns in the White Supremist Capitalist Patriarchal game to promote their enterprises.
It is interesting to note that the window display appears to target a younger population, although the store is located in a high-end, upscale area where mostly the rich and, often, the famous, do their shopping. It is not where, for the most part, younger people could afford to shop. After all, who, other than youth, can wear four to five inch stiletto heels, while at the same time I have to ask, could they afford these? So, I thought, perhaps, the window dressing is meant to target wealthy men who may buy articles of clothing as gifts with which to dress their young ladies. You can envision the scenario where the model, from her subservient position, looks up in deference to a man; her subservient pose satisfies the male gaze.
Much has been discussed about The Beauty Ideal with which we have been inundated through television commercials, programs, print advertising, cinema, and the internet. This window dressing is simply another way in which women are influenced to seek the notions of body perfection that we are force-fed on a daily basis, and, through which we are being oppressed by the Dominant Culture. In this way, we are like pawns in the White Supremist Capitalist Patriarchal game to promote their enterprises.
Very nice here and on Designer Vaginas, wasn't a comment box there for some reason. Yes, who are they selling to is a good question, and how great you are "reading" patriarchy even as you walk down the street. Brava!
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