Lesbians have often been the subject of sexual desire and stereotypes within Western culture and the advertising industry. This study implements a semiotic analysis of two particular advertisements with sapphic undertones to examine and acknowledge the roles of lesbians in commercials. The analysis shows how semiotics can be applied to reveal the lesbian fantasy discourse in advertising, and how these texts fortify the dominant ideologies of heteronormativity; hence entirely dismissing lesbian individualism & identity. The findings suggest that marketers and advertisers should stop portraying lesbians as sexual fantasies and start developing texts that value and represent the full spectrum of lesbian relationships and identity.
Introduction:
Historically, brands and advertisers became aware of the LGBTQ market only in the 1990s – often described as the ‘pink dollar’. It was noticed that gay men played a bigger role in advertisements because most male couples had a double income and, at that time, no children. Lesbian representation, on the other hand, is still rare and typically conforms to stereotypes. And with the little portrayal of lesbians, it was often illustrated as “Lipstick Lesbians”. This is the most common representation of lesbians in advertising. The women shown are extremely sexualized and feminine, and they frequently appear in pairs. For any guys involved, the fact that they’re lesbian is often depicted as a tremendous tragedy. To support this argument, below are the two advertisements that will further illustrate the study.
Methodology:
A Balenciaga Fall Campaign Advertisement and an OkCupid dating application advertisement were selected. De Saussure’s (1965) semiotic model is applied to identify the signs and various semiotic elements of each text with the main aim of discovering how the text has denotations and connotations within; that leads to a constructive meaning. Barthes’ social semiotics approach is applied to understand the social contexts and ‘myth’. The study also mentions the post-structuralist accounts of gender identity involving binary male/female, submissive/dominant and more.
Result:
The semiotic analysis of the advertisements’ specific characteristics shows that each text represents more than just an advertisement. There are unspoken heterosexual norms, gender roles, lesbian stereotypes and sexual fantasies. And we can establish this through deep semiotic analysis.
Text 1: Balenciaga Advertisement
Balenciaga Fall Campaign has particular imagery of two white female figures where one is positioned on top of the other woman who is arching her back. By interpreting Barthes’ theory, the position of the women connotates a sexual situation. Both females are wearing red lipstick that is often considered as a symbol of passion and seduction. We recognize this within the paradigm of how red lipstick is considered a sexual icon within western culture & history. The female at the bottom with a much submissive expression is gazing directly at the viewer, which further connotates that she is looking for the observer to join the encounter. An expedite connotation of an exhibitionistic scenario. Here, the advertisement does not overtly reference men but feeds to the connotation of heterosexual male obsession with lesbians. The submissive expression and gaze is a metonym for male voyeurism and submission to men. Another person may be considering what the woman who is placed in the top position is thinking as she stares and leans over the other woman.
The knowledge of technical codes and conventions of photography shows how women are positioned as the centre of attention, taking the maximum space. The lighting is peculiar as it is filled with shadows exhibiting a dark theme that further connotates mystery. According to the western representation dark is often symbolised as something “evil” or “forbidden”. The naked skin of the women is an index that displays they both are white with formal dressing. The similar dressing is again a connotation of the sapphic nature of their encounter. The high-quality dress material and the thick fabric is a direct metonym of wealth or ‘good taste’. The syntagmatical view includes a big Balenciaga logo placed right at the centre of the image. We also learn how this is an icon of a wealthy brand as Balenciaga is a western luxury label. On closer inspection of the imagery, the woman on top seems to be wearing pants and not a dress. Her leg is seen at the back of the woman which may connotate the gender norm of a dominant, the one ‘wearing the pants’.
The woman laying down is wearing black leather gloves. In the fourteenth century, leather gloves were particularly worn by the polite people/victorian women of the society; symbolising royalty, expensiveness and high ranking individuals. A metonym to the luxurious Balenciaga brand. A different interpretation that can be signified from the signifier is that the glove is also worn to protect oneself from contagious diseases as they act as a barrier. The woman in this imagery is touching the other woman with her gloves. Those who understand these intersexual references may consider that the glove in the photograph is providing protection from the ‘disease’ of lesbianism or that this sexual orientation is wrong or inherently bad.
The woman laying down is wearing black leather gloves. It is rare to see gloves worn in contemporary society, so this stands out. Those who have knowledge of the history of the glove or have seen photographs of women in the Victorian era would know that gloves were worn as a symbol for high social status and wealth. This is a nod to the luxury Balenciaga brand. The high fashion brand is bringing the victorian style to have a similar stature in today’s modern times.
Text 2: OkCupid Advertisement
The OkCupid Advertisement is in a minimal setting where there are two female figures. The solid colours in the photograph distinguish it as a contemporary background commanding attention. Blue and pink are a direct symbol that is culturally learnt as gender signifiers where pink is for females and blue are for males. The female lesbian couple is set in front of the pink solid background connotating femininity. The blue on the right signifies the binary of masculinity.
Numerous paradigmatic and intertextual signs within the OkCupid advertisement reference romance, love, and relationship. Starting with the expressions and outfits of the two women. One of the women is holding the other in her arms. The connotation here is that the two women are a couple or dating. The woman in pink has an expression that shows as if she is going in for a kiss which again strengthens the ground of them being involved in each other. The embrace is a bodily code for passion or love and has intertextual references to film and television hero myths and ‘damsel in distress’ scenarios where a man carries a woman in his arms.
Here, the rose is a symbol of love; Western culture often holds a rose as a value to show love towards one another. Similar to the Balenciaga advertisements, both the women are white and are wearing red lipstick. Again, red lipstick is a connotation of love and passion. Another signifier is that the women are both wearing jeans. Jeans attire has been used intertextually as a symbol of lesbianism. If you read closely, jeans are worn in a casual setting that connotates that women participate in a casual relationship. Another interpretation could be how comfortable and relaxed they are with one another which feeds the dating application goal of being open for any type of relationship.
Syntagmatically, the letters on the right interacts to evoke emotional images of lust, dating, and romance. A viewer who understands and recognizes the code of the DTF acronym (a paradigm of slang) will understand that it has a denotation that means ‘Down To Fuck’. This is largely used by the younger generation on digital media to refer to a short term sexual encounter with someone, which is exactly the target audience of the brand. The red colour of DTF further signifies passion. Here, the F is associated with the phrase ‘fall head over heels’ which is recognized as a metonym for the act of love. Syntagmatically creating a new meaning ‘Down to fall head over heels’, converting the meaning of DTF from lust to love. The namesake logo of OkCupid is displayed at the bottom right-hand corner. The tagline goes ‘Dating deserves better’ which added with other elements of the advertisements connotates that romance is better than lust. An index can be established in this study where relationship/dating is an index of love.
A counter interpretation of the provocative use of ‘DTF’ combined with the two women captured in a seductive embrace is a nod to the making of sexual fantasy where lesbian encounters only serve a fetish for the male gaze (Mulvey, in ed. Goodman & de Gay 1999). Paying closer attention, the signifier of an additional pair of hands holding the woman signifies polygamy or the myth that lesbians engage in overtly sexual behaviour such as ‘threesomes’. Again the added hands grasping the lower half serves to the heterosexual male fetishes of sexualizing lesbians.
There are various signs explained by a post-structuralist account of gender identity. The signifier of the short hairstyle on the woman holding the other woman connotates masculinity or androgyny. By contrast, the other figure has long hair and wears a pink shirt which both connotates femininity. An alternative connotation might reference the narrative and cultural codes of marriage equality politics and identify the relationship between two women as an expression index of social advancement and equality.
Conclusion
From the above detailed semiotic analysis, conclusions can be drawn. A continuing issue in advertisements with sapphic undertones is that the portrayal of lesbians has been exploited to promote products and services. Inherently, the advertisements contribute to and perpetuate ideologies and ideas that are embedded within western culture, exposing that male sexual fantasy and heteronormative gender ideals still exist in society. Through a semiotic analysis, the discussion has explored two advertisements that characterise two forms of lesbian representation. The first type is the objectified and sexualised ‘lesbian’ who engages in lesbianism for the male gaze and not for their own sexual desires. The second is a gender stereotype of ‘accepted’ lesbian relationships which mirror heteronormative ideals of dominant/submissive or masculine/feminine dichotomy. This promotes a world that fails to celebrate and accept diversity. The ideology fails to reveal the full spectrum of sapphic relationships and invalidates lesbian identities and relationships. This discussion is valuable because it provides an initial glimpse into contemporary advertising images that utilise sapphic representation to sell their products and services.
Recommendation:
This analysis successfully demonstrates how semiotics can help us better understand the concealed meaning behind symbols and signs. The numerous signifier and signs in this study are the two areas that further elaborates the advertisements and gives a detailed understanding of the sapphic representation. Through various denotations and connotations, as well as other elements such as index, icon, metonym, and symbol one can further dissect and interpret the advertisement.
These semiotic findings suggest that marketers should stop depicting lesbians as a mere sexual fantasy of male viewers. It is the marketer’s responsibility to create an image and ideology about lesbians being a “normal” and accepted part of the society with their individualism and identity. One that does not have to resonate with the ‘normative’ gender roles of heterosexual relationships. While some relationships still follow these dynamics, marketers must consider the full spectrum of lesbian identity and relationships. It is important to understand and acknowledge that this was a limited semiotic analysis of only two chosen texts. A well-detailed examination may reveal more about sapphic representation in contemporary advertising. Furthermore tracing how sign sand symbols used to represent lesbians have evolved and changed over time. Especially in major political outcomes such as marriage equality implementation.
A textual analysis was conducted in this study. However, other people may interpret and understand texts differently. Future research might take an empirical approach, such as a focus group to ascertain how different people take meanings from the texts.
List of references:
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(3) Barthes, R. B. (1957). Mythologies. Les Lettres nouvelles.
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Appendix
Appendix 1:
Balenciaga advertisement: 2015
Appendix 2:
OkCupid DTF advertisement: 2018
Appendix 3:
Table: A Semiotic Analysis of both Advertisements
| OkCupid DTF advertisement | Balenciaga advertisement | |||
| Signifier | Signified | Signifier | Signified | |
| Background | Pink background Blue background | Feminine, girl, womanMasculine, opposite of feminine | Dark with shadows | Mysterious, forbidden |
| Colour palette | Bright colours | The contemporary way of grabbing attention from the viewer | Shades of Black & Gray | Intense |
| Clothing | Pink shirt Yellow shirtDenim jeans | Femininity, womanNeutral, non-genderedCasual | Dresses Gloves | Woman, Expensive Clothing Upper class, Protection from a ‘disease’ |
| Makeup | Red lipstick | Feminine, seduction | Red lipstick | Feminine, seduction |
| Hair | Short hair Long hair | Masculinity, androgynousFemininity, woman | Sideburns | Masculinity |
| Body | Woman carrying another woman Four hands carrying a woman Hands-on chest Looking toward each other | Masculine Woman (Heteronormative ideology) One pair of the male viewer A form of submission Passion/Love/Lust | Hands holding each other One woman on top of other Woman laying Face looking outward | Embrace, passionate Connectedness, sexual Seduction, lust, Submissive A calling to the viewer |
| Text | DTF Fall Head Over HeelsOkCupidDating Deserves Better | English language, colloquial reference “Down to Fuck” | Balenciaga | Luxury brand |
| Objects | Rose | Romance, love | ||