This image is an advertisement for NIVEA body care products. The intended position of the ad is that having facial hair and longer hair is not "civilized" or normal for American culture. The man throwing the head is clean-shaven both on his face and head, and is dressed in nice clothes.
This advertisement is an example of a raced body. The head that is being thrown is depicting the "stereotypical" African-American of the 70s and 80s - afro hairstyles, goatees, disco music, bell bottom pants, etc. Although this ad is not explicitly saying it, the underlying position it argues is that afro-style hair and thick facial hair are reminiscent of the 70s/80s, and are not considered "civilized" in today's culture.
The body reaction which this image invokes is initially one of acceptance and want. It makes the body want to undertake a physical transformation from an "un-civilized" body to a more civilized and cultured one (which is the aim of the ad). However, upon further reading, the body responds with shock and disappointment. The head that the man is throwing is not at all un-civilized - it is instead simply an alternate style from the man throwing it. There are many people in today's culture that have a similar style to the head - both "normal" or average people and famous people.
This body reaction is representative of the Politics of Representation behind the advertisement. The company behind it, NIVEA, is trying to argue culture into viewing hairstyles such as that represented by the head as un-civilized and unacceptable. It is doing ‘political/cultural work’ by arguing us this way, and is constructing our view of the world and the bodies that inhabit it. It aims to construct our view of African-Americans with similar hairstyles as unacceptable, which is a completely racist and discriminatory view to argue. NIVEA is hoping to sell more of their products by installing this body construction in American culture.
I think this ad was an incredibly good find! Your analysis of the image is really insightful and in depth. It is obvious in this photo that NIVEA is abusing the power that it holds to create a social construction which is beneficial to them and their profit. It's amazing how some outlets, like newspapers for example, think that they are fair and balanced, when in all reality they are either pretending or they are just ignorant of the power that they hold. So, I guess this image and your reading of it just makes me think about whether or not we would rather have ignorant news sources that creates social constructions without knowing/caring or have for-profit companies creating social constructions with full knowledge of what the implications are.
ReplyDeleteHey, I just realized we posted about the same thing! I definitely wasn't trying to steal your thunder haha its interesting to note that we posted it almost at the same time. I was curious, how did you come across this image? Did you see it in another class? I saw mine through a class called Body and the Politics of Representation...maybe we have the same class? Haha well just wanted to make sure there weren't any hard feelings and I thought that your analysis was really insightful!
ReplyDeleteI agree with your arguments completely,but to add on, when I first saw the ad as I was scrolling down the computer screen, I did not even see the head. I thought that the guy was trying to act like a gorilla or a monkey. After taking a second look and seeing the head I realized what the ad was about, but I thought it was interesting how at first glance the guy's body language looked like a gorilla. That, to me, almost seems a little racist.
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