AN INTERSECTIONAL ANALYSIS OF VISUAL MEDIA: A CASE OF DIESEL ADVERTISEMENTS ANTHONY JUSTIN BARNUM Universidade de Cabo Verde and ANNA M. ZAJICEK University of Arkansas Social Thought & Research, Vol. 29 This study is intended to advance the application of an inter- sectional approach that focuses on the simultaneous operation of gender, race/ethnicity, and sexuality to the analysis of visual media, such as advertisements. Despite the growing advocacy to systematically include intersectionality in our analyses of peo- ple’s experiences and identities, on the one hand, and their imag- es/representations, on the other, sociologists still tend to analyze only one of these identities at a time. In this article, we argue that the application of the intersectional approach leads to more com- plex and adequate understandings of how identities and power relations are constructed in visual media. Towards this end, we conduct an intersectional analysis of Diesel advertisements using the concepts of racialized gender and gendered race, and demon- strate the advantages of an intersectional analysis. In doing so, we hope to provide an illustration of an intersectional analysis of visual media, such as advertisements, which could inform the work of others interested in conducting similar analyses. Introduction In recent years, advertisements have begun to engage diverse social identities to appeal to a wider range of possible consumers (e.g. United Colors of Benton). In doing so, they often construct Inquiries should be sent to [email protected] or [email protected].
Transcript
An IntersectIonAl AnAlysIs of VIsuAl MedIA: A cAse of dIesel
AdVertIseMents
Anthony JustIn BArnuM
Universidade de Cabo Verdeand
AnnA M. ZAJIcek
University of Arkansas
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This study is intended to advance the application of an inter-sectional approach that focuses on the simultaneous operation of gender, race/ethnicity, and sexuality to the analysis of visual media, such as advertisements. Despite the growing advocacy to systematically include intersectionality in our analyses of peo-ple’s experiences and identities, on the one hand, and their imag-es/representations, on the other, sociologists still tend to analyze only one of these identities at a time. In this article, we argue that the application of the intersectional approach leads to more com-plex and adequate understandings of how identities and power relations are constructed in visual media. Towards this end, we conduct an intersectional analysis of Diesel advertisements using the concepts of racialized gender and gendered race, and demon-strate the advantages of an intersectional analysis. In doing so, we hope to provide an illustration of an intersectional analysis of visual media, such as advertisements, which could inform the work of others interested in conducting similar analyses.
race/ethnicity,gender,andsexualityinsuchawayastocreateanillusionthatallvisibleidentitymarkersareequal:“Intheeyesofthemedia,theyouthsoftheworldarebecomingasingle,seamless,soullesstargetaudience”(Kilbourne1999:41).Ritzeretal.refertothisasthetransformationof“nothingintosomething”(2005:118),whichistheresultofcateringtoahomogenizedtargetaudience.Specifically, Ritzer et al. (2005:124) state that “the need to trans-formnothingintosomethingisaresponsetothehomogenizationofcultureandconsumptionthataccompaniestheriseofmodernandnowpostmodernsocieties.”Thefalseworldoftheadvertise-mentconstructsarealitythroughtheequalizationoftheobjectsofnature,thebody,race/ethnicity,gender,sexuality,andthelackofageandclassdifferences.Inthisfalseworld,theobjectsincludedandexcludedbecomenaturalintheirgrouping.Dieselisoneofthecorporateactors/advertisersthatisturningaproductofmassconsumption(nothing)intosomething.ThisbecomesproblematicwhenwerealizeDieselisparticipatinginadialecticalrelationshipwherebyitisconstructingvisibleidentitymarkers,suchasrace/ethnicity,gender,andsexuality,asequals(nothing)andmakingthatequalitythesubstance(something)ofDiesel. Nicholson (1997) addresses the issue of appropriating andconsumingmultipleidentitiesusingtheconceptsof“resistance”and“oppositionalreading.”Nicholson(1997:183)saysthatthroughthe “commodification of ‘resistance’ . . . these types of ads position theirproductsintermsofanti-establishmentscenarios,allowingthe consumer to purchase a ‘resistant’ identity along with the product—these ads in effect provide the reader with an ‘opposi-tional reading.’” The result is that instead of actively participating in a movement through social action that could affect change,individualsactivelyparticipateinconsumerismthatexpressestheappropriatedideasofthesocialmovement(Nicholson1998:209).Onepossiblereasonwhywearewillingtobuytherevolutionandwearitinsteadoflivingitistheidealof“consumingdifference,”whichenablesus
inourconsumptionpatterns,andtheinteractionofconsumptionandidentityinasocietysuchasourssignalsthepowerofmarket-ing. In a visual consumer society, our consumer choices reflect ourvalues(Schroeder2002:10).
Importantly,theconstructionandtheconsumptionofthediffer-enceinadvertisementsareembeddedincomplexpowerrelationsmarkedbyintersectionsofrace/ethnicity,gender,sexuality,socialclass, and age. That is, advertisements try to target specific audi-encesbyconstructingrace/gender/sexuality/class/ageappropriaterepresentationsoftheiridentitiesandexperiences.Recognizingthecomplexityofidentities,experiences,andrepresentations,intersec-tionaltheorists,mostlyfeministsofcolor,developedatheoreticalperspective that allows us to examine how socially constructedcategoriesofrace/ethnicity,class,gender,sexualityandagesimul-taneouslyinteracttocreateuniqueidentitiesandlifeexperiences.Inrecentyears,theintersectionalperspectivehasgainedrecognitionindifferentdisciplines,includingsocialsciences(Collins,1993)andculturalstudies(hooks,1990,1992;Morrison,1992). Importantly,despitethesetheoreticaldevelopments,veryrarelydowetrytomovebeyondone-dimensionalanalysesofrace/ethnic-ity,orgender,orsexuality.Forinstance,inanattemptto“facilitatea ‘media literacy,’” Nicholson (1998) examines the hegemony of whitenessinadvertisementsusinga1994DieselJeansandWork-wearcampaign.Althoughveryvaluable,hisanalysisglossesovertheembeddednessofgenderandsexualitywithinwhiteness.Yet,white men’s and women’s positionalities in advertisements are notthesame(seealsoDines&Humez,2003).Infact,evenifwedointegratetwoormoredimensionsinouranalyses,westilltendtoanalyzetheseasseparateidentitiesand/orrepresentations(see,forinstance,Scodari,2003).Asaresult,researchfocusingontheintersectionsoftwodimensionsofinequalitysuchasrace/ethnicityandgender(see,forinstance,Wlodarz,2005)isverylimited. Thepurposeofthisstudyistoanalyzeadvertisementslocatedinthepublicrealminordertoadvanceanintersectionalanalysisofvisualmedia.Webelieveanintersectionalapproachisneces-sarytogainacomprehensiveandholisticunderstandingofhuman
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experiencesand identities, including their representations in themedia.Wealsobelievethatbyemployingintersectionalperspec-tiveswecanmoreeffectivelychallengeandresisttheequalizationandhomogenizationofvisibleidentitymarkers.Infact,thevalueofintersectionalperspectiveisitsuniquecontributiontothede-constructionofthehegemonicrepresentationsofthebodyinvisualmedia,ontheonehand,anditsabilitytouncoverthecomplexityofmeaningsembeddedinadvertisements,ontheother. Inthisarticle,wefocusontheDieseladvertisementcampaign“Nature:LoveItWhileItLasts”toillustrateandprovideamodelforan intersectional readingofvisualmedia,suchasadvertise-ments.Inthiscontext,wepayparticularattentiontothegenderedandsexualizedrepresentationsofrace(genderedrace),ontheonehand,andtotheracializedrepresentationsofgenderandsexual-ity(racializedgender),ontheother.Throughout,wehighlighttheadvantagesofanintersectionalanalysis.Webeginbydiscussingadvertisementsandthesocialconstructionofmeanings.
Advertisements and Symbolic Environments
Inadvertisements,humanbodiesareplacedinsymbolicen-vironments that shape and reflect cultural identities (Greider & Garkovich 1994). In this context, we use Greider and Garkovich (1994:1)totalkaboutlandscapesorthose“symbolicenvironmentscreatedbyhumanactsof conferringmeaning tonatureand theenvironment, of giving the environment definition and form from a particular angle of vision and through a special filter of values andbeliefs.”Whenrace/ethnicity,gender,andsexualityareplacedwithinalandscape,theensuingsociallyconstructedenvironmentno longer simply reflects the symbols and meanings we assign to thelandscape.Instead,weassignnewsymbolsandmeaningstothesedescriptorsandtheirplacewithintheenvironmentandsoci-etyatlarge.Thesedescriptorsofculturalidentitiesareseeninthelandscapesthroughthesymbolsandmeaningsthatarenormsof“properandimproperrelationshipsamongthemselvesandbetweenthemselves and the physical environment” (Greider & Garkovich 1994:2).
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Importantly,thedescriptorsofculturalidentitiesthatareplacedwithinalandscapebytheconstructoror“culturemanufacturer”(Horkheimer&Adorno1972:124)arenotalwaysinterpretedbytheviewerornotinterpretedaccordingtotheintentofthecultureproducer.Thisisinpartduetothefactthatculturalidentitiesaredefined by the society or subculture that is viewing and interpreting them. Althoughchangesintheenvironmentmayrequirerenegotiationofmeanings, in thesociallyconstructed landscapeofadvertise-ments,theconsumer“hastoacceptwhattheculturemanufacturersoffer”(Horkheimer&Adorno1972:124).Thesymbolsandmean-ingsarechosenbytheculturalmanufacturerandplacedinsidethelandscapebuttheymayormaynotbereadilyunderstoodornoticedbytheviewer.Infact,consumerstypicallyconnectwithasmallnumber of ads that we find to be matching our identities and lifestyle orthatperhapselicitahiddendesire(Schroeder2002:30). Inthiscontext,“[t]heusevalue[ofnature]isbaseduponthetransformationofnatureintocultureintheprocessofconsumptiveappropriation”(Eder1996:12).Itisthisconsumptiveappropriationthatestablishesthedesiredimageoftheproduct(Eder1996:13).Advertisementsthroughappropriationtakevaluefromnature,thebody, race/ethnicity, gender, social class, age and sexuality andtransferthatvaluetotheidealimage.Meaningandvaluearenotnecessarily transferred back to nature, the body, race/ethnicity,gender,socialclass,ageorsexuality. Atthesametime,advertisersattachnotionsofthegoodandthebeautifulinherentintherepresentationsofnatureandOthernesstotheirproducts.Thusthedistinctionbetweenproductandnatureorthesociallyconstructedrealitywithintheadvertisementbecomesblurredasthemeaningsbehindnature,thebody,andtheproductare transferred back and forth. The fluidity of symbolic meanings inthisdialecticformsanewsociallyconstructedmeaning,whichistransmittedintothepublicrealm,ameaningofegalitariansame-ness. In this context, “[n]ature and the environment are valuedonly insofar as they can improve the profitability of the advertiser” (Frith1995:185).Thisusevalueofnatureandtheenvironmentinadvertisingismostvisibleinitsuseasaconduitthatprovidesa
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pathwayforsymbolicmeaningstobetransferredfromnaturetotheproduct. According to Greider and Garkovich (1994:5), the meanings and symbols of a socially constructed environment, includingnature,areimposedonlesspowerfulgroups.Thosegroupsuponwhich meanings and symbols are placed can be racial, ethnic,gendered, sexualized, etc. Greider and Garkovich (1994:5) main-tainthat“humanactors...usecultureasaresourcetoconstructsymbols and meanings that define nature, the environment, and human-environmentrelationshipsand...[that]powerisusedtoimposethesesocialconstructionsonothergroups.”Inshort,thesocialconstructionoftheenvironmentandthehumanbodyoccursthroughhegemony.Thecomplexityofthehegemonicimagesandsymbolscanbedeconstructedusingtheperspectiveof intersec-tionality.
Intersectionality Perspective
Thediscourserelatedtotheintersectionsofoppressionssuchasrace/ethnicity,socialclass,genderandsexualityhasemergedacrossthesocialsciencesasanappropriatetheoreticalframeworkshaping one’s research agenda. Hence, an increasing number of scholarsrecognizehowtheintersectionsoftheseoppressionsshapepeople’s experiences (Crenshaw 1991; Collins 2000; Andersen 2005;McCall2005)andhavecautionedagainsttraditional,simplis-tic,one-dimensionalanalyticalconceptualizationsofoppressions(Collins2000). Intersectionality,aperspectivedeveloped toaccount for thecomplexity of human identities and experiences (Essed, 1990,1991),sensitizesustotheimportanceofexaminingthearticula-tion of various dimensions of difference/otherness in order todiscernhowtheybecomeorganizedintowhatCollins(2000)callsa “matrix of domination.” We define intersectionality as an inte-grated approach that identifies and examines the multiple forms ofinequality.Intersectionalityisusedtoanalyzetheinteractionsofinequalitiesaswellastheconnectionsandtheco-constructionofvariousaspectsofidentity,suchasgender,race,andsexuality,
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resultingincomplexrepresentationsofsexualizedandracializedbodies.Atthemostbasiclevel,intersectionalityperspectives“tracetheconsequencesofclass,gender, race,affectionalpreferences,globallocationforlivedexperience,groupstandpointsandrelationsamongwomen[andmen]”(LengermannandBrantley2004:349).Methodologically,intersectionalityisamulti-methodapproachthatcanbeusedinqualitativeaswellasquantitativestudiesaimingatunderstandingthevariouswaysinwhichsystemsofinequalityaswellasdimensionsofidentityintersect. Intersectionalityinrelationtoadvertisingallowsustounder-standhowrace/ethnicity,sexuality,andgenderwhilebeing“atoncehistorically and geographically specific . . . are also transnational, encompassingdiasporicgroupsandcrossingtraditionalgeographicboundaries” (Zinn & Dill 1996). More specifically, intersectionality callsforadifferent,morecomplexandmoreholistic,readingofsignsandsymbolicorders.Ifweignorethedifferentdimensionsof diversity, we perceive “differences as the product of group-specific values and expressions of a normative center” (Zinn & Dill1996). Asanintegratedandholisticapproach,whileintersectionalityhasseveraladvantagesoverone-dimensionalapproaches,italsopresentsresearcherswithasetofuniquechallenges.Withregardtoitsadvantages,thisperspectiveallows“aconceptualizationof[socialinequalities]thatattemptstocapturebothstructureanddy-namicconsequencesoftheinteractionbetweentwoormoreaxesofsubordination”(Patel2001:9).Second,italsoallowsustoviewpeople’s identities as multifaceted and context specific, wherein the meaning of people’s locations and identities as well as their salience aretheproductofhistory,culture,andsociety(Landry2006).Third,dependingonoursociallocationinagivensociety,certainaspectsofouridentity,likerace,gender,orsexuality,mayprotectusfromdiscriminationwhileitsotherdimensionsmayleadtodiscrimina-tionandotherhumanrightsviolations(Crooms1997). Toaccountfortheinteractionsofrace/ethnicityandgender,intersectionality theorists use the concept of gendered racism.Philomena Essed (2001:3) introduces the concept of genderedracismasfollows:
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Gendered racism shapes the allocation of resources along ra-ciallyandethnicallyascribedunderstandingsofmasculinityandfemininityaswellasalonggenderedformsofraceandethnicdiscrimination…Accordingtothedifferentideologiesandhis-tories in relation to specific ethnic groups women are sexualized indifferentways.EuropeancommonsenseconsidersAfricanwomengenerallyaspromiscuous,Asianwomenaspassiveandexotic,andwomeninIslamicculturesassuper-exploited.
In this paper, we build on Essed’s ideas and use the concepts ofracializedgenderandgenderedrace.Theconceptofracializedgenderdenotestheideathatgenderideologies,expectations,andnormsoperatedifferentlyacrossdiverseracial/ethnicgroups(e.g.African-American women vs. white women). In doing so, thisconceptdeconstructstheideathatwomenareahomogenouscat-egory.Forinstance,althoughAfricanAmericanwomenandwhitewomenarewomen,historically,theAfricanAmericanwomenhavebeenexpectedtobeindependentandstrongwhilewhitewomenhavebeenexpectedtobedependentandsubmissive.Toputthisdifferently,theracializedgenderconceptemphasizesracial/ethnicvariationsamongpeopleofthesamegender.Incontrast,thecon-ceptofgenderedracedenotestheexistenceofgenderdifferenceswithinthesameracial/ethnicgroup.Thatis,thesituationwhereinthemembersofthesameracial/ethnicgroup(e.g.whitemenandwhitewomen)experiencedifferentexpectations,ideologies,andnormsbasedon theirgender.Assuch, theconceptof racializedgenderchallengesthevalidityoftreatingracial/ethnicgroups(i.e.,whitepeople)asunitarycategories. Regardingtheuniquechallengesthisperspectivepresentstoresearchers,oneof themost salient challenges involveshow tomanagethecomplexityofanintersectionalanalysis.Addressingthischallenge,McCalldiscussesthreemethodologicalapproachesto managing the complexity of intersectional analyses. The first ap-proachiscalled“anti-categoricalcomplexity”(2005:1776-1780).Scholars using this approach focus on deconstructing existingsystemsofcategorizationinordertoexposethearbitrarynatureofsuchsystems.Theanti-categoricalapproachbeginswithidentifyingdifferent ways in which social scientists construct and use unified/
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homogenizedsocialcategoriessuchaswomen,men,homosexuals,heterosexuals.Next, the anti-categorical analysisworks itswayoutwardtoexposehowthiscategoricalhomogeneitycouldonlybe constructed if one glossed over the influences of gender, race, andothervectorsofinequality. The second approach is intra-categorical complexity.Theonlydifferencebetweenintraandanti-categoricalapproachesisthe methodology used. Scholars using the intra–categorical ap-proachplacethesubjectattheintersectionofasingledimensionofmultiplecategories.Forexample,middleclassAfrican-Americanwomenareplacedattheintersectionofmultiplecategories(race,class,gender)andthenstudiedindepthasasinglesocialgroupwhose experiences are defined by the unique intersection of these categories(McCall2005:1781). Thethirdapproachisinter-categorical.Thisapproachfocuseson“thecomplexityof[the]relationshipbetweenmultiplesocialgroupswithinandacrossanalyticalcategoriesandnotoncomplexi-tieswithinsinglesocialgroupsand/orcategories”(McCall2005:1786).Thisapproachdiffersfromtwopreviousapproachesbecauseitinvolvescomparingandcontrastingthemultiplelocationsofse-lectedsocialgroups.Thisprocessisverycomplicatedasitinvolvescomparativeinvestigationofmultiplecategoriesofmultiplesocialgroups.McCallgivesanexampleofinter-categoricalapproachbyfirst incorporating gender as an analytical category. Such analysis assumestwogroups:menandwomen.Ifclassisincorporated,thegender must be cross-classified with class—working, middle and upper.Thus,sixgroupsarecreated.Ifraceandethnicityarealsoin-cluded,thenthenumberofgroupexpandstotwelve.Similarlytheremaybeothercategorieslikeeducationornationality,whichmaybeincludedwhileanalyzinggender.Insum,theinter-categoricalmethodofintersectionalityanalyzestheintersectionofthesetsofdimensionsofmultiplecategories,therebyexposingcomplexma-tricesofadvantageanddisadvantage(McCall2005:1786-1787). To manage the complexity of our intersectional study, weadopt the inter-categorical approach. Several reasons underliethisdecision.First,inlinewiththeinter-categoricalapproach,werecognizetherelationshipsofinequalityamonggroupsconstituted
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by interacting inequalities (see McCall 2005:1784-1785). Next,weassumethattheindividualspresentedintheadsaremembersof and/or represent specific social groups defined mainly by the intersections of race/ethnicity, gender, age and social class.Wealsoassumethatthewaysinwhichtheindividualsareportrayedsignifysomethingmeaningfulabouttheirsexuality.Finally,inordertoarriveatourconclusionsandinterpretations,weengagedinacomparativeanalysisofhowindividualsrepresentingeachgroupareportrayedandwhattheadsimplyabouttherelationshipsamongthem.Importantly,giventhefactthataninter-categoricalanalysisinvolves comparing groups or categories defined by differences, in ourexaminationofDieseladswecouldnotcompareandcontrastindividualsbasedontheirsocialclassandage,asthesetwodimen-sionsdonotvaryintheads. Inthenextsection,wediscussourmethodmoreindepthandnote the limitations underlying our categorization/identification of individualsdepictedintheads.
Methods
Tocollectinformation-richcasesforourstudy,weusedpur-posefulsampling(Patton1987:51-52).Wechosetousethe2004Dieselclothingcampaignentitled“Nature:LoveItWhileItLasts”asthedatasourceforthispaperduetotheirrichlayeringofvisualidentity markers. In order to gain access to this advertisementcampaign,wereliedupontheDieselwebsite(Diesel).Oursampleis a critical case “that can make a point dramatically” (Patton1987:54) and is “particularly information-rich or enlightening”(Crabtree 1992:30) specifically since our sample contains multiple andsimultaneouspointsofintersectionofgender,race/ethnicity,andsexuality. Theaccessibilityofmediaandthusofknowledge,limitsthereachofadvertisementstotheiraudience.Dieseladvertisementsarereservedforaselectaudiencethathasaccesstointernet,whichwereliedon,andtheleisuretimetoperusetheirsiteandtothefewmagazinestheyutilizetoexposethemselves.Theseadvertisementsareusuallydesignatedforanupperorupper-middleclassthathas
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thedisposableincomenecessarytosubscribetomagazinesandtotheinternetbringingthemgreateraccesstotheartsandpopularculture.1Thisrestrictionofculturalcapitalresultsinalackofac-cessformarginalizedgroupsandalackofrepresentationofthosegroups. Given this, we assume that the upper-social class discourse isembeddedinDieseladvertisements. Weconductedcontentandstructuralist/semioticanalysis(Ball&Smith,1992;Williamson,1978)ofthesedocuments,linkedthemtointersectionality,andanalyzedtheminregardtodominantideolo-gies,suchaswhiteheterosexualcapitalistpatriarchy.AccordingtoBallandSmith,(1992:31)astructuralistanalysisenablesusto“ar-riveatafullerappreciationofthevisualrepresentationbyrelatingittoothersocialandculturalarrangements.”Moreover,“[b]ytreatingthe advertising image as a ‘text,’ semiotic analyses concentrate on the relationships between the ads’ internal meaning structures as theyrelatetothelargerculturalcodessharedbyviewers”(Shields1990:26).Theadvertisementisnotonlyconstructedbyasocio-cultural group, but is reified by it (Greider & Garkovich 1994:6). Thus,theuseofadvertisementsallowsusto“readaspectsofthesocialworldthroughthem”(Mason2002:106).Masonargues,“lit-eral ‘readings’ of visual data and documents should not extend to treating them as though they are direct representations or reflections of ‘reality’ or straightforward ‘factual records’” (2002:107-108). Inthiscontext,byexaminingtheintersectionalthemesinDieseladvertisements,ouranalysiswillshowhowtouseanintersectional-ityperspectivetodeconstructvisualimagesandtheirpower-ladendiscourses. We then identified the intersectionalities of race/ethnicity, gender, and sexuality using a priori codes and merging themes(Charmaz 2001). We analyzed our data using Mason’s (2002:149) three methods for reading data: the literal, interpretive, and reflex-ive.Thisholistic readingofdatadirectedus ina latent contentanalysis (Glassner & Corzine, 1982) or the search for the “deep
1Over the past five years, several magazines and newspapers (e.g., Time,FinancialTimes) published articles discussing luxury fashion brands. Die-sel is often mentioned in this context (see, for instance Dyk et al. 2008;Michaels 2008; Vesilind et al. 2005; Businessline 2007; Michaels 2007).
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structuralmeaningconveyed”(Berg1995:176).Whenwecriticallyanalyzeadvertisementsweareabletovisualizetheintersectionalpoliticsofdomination (hooks1992:5)asexpressed through thevisualmatricesofrace/ethnicity,gender,andsexuality. Acaveatmustbemadebeforeweturntoouranalysis.Inouranalysis,wecategorizedpeopleportrayedinadvertisementsbasedonourvisualperceptions.Forinstance,withregardtorace/ethnicityweusedtheskincolorasitsrepresentation.Theskincolorofthein-dividualsistheprimarymeanswehaveforascribingrace/ethnicityofactorseventhoughthesemeasuresarenotmeasuresoftheirsub-jectiveidentities.Thus,indoingso,weimposedcategoriesonsociallife, which “is considered too irreducibly complex—overflowing with multiple and fluid determinations of both subjects and struc-tures—to make fixed categories anything but simplifying social fictions that produce inequalities in the process of producing dif-ferences”(McCall2005:1773).Sincewearenotabletodeterminethe heritage of the models or their subjective definitions of their racial/ethnic identity, we feel that by relying on loose definitions ofgroupmembershipweperhapsfurtherstereotypeindividuals.Eventhoughweseethisasaweakness,werealizethatthisishowamajorityofindividualsinterpretrace/ethnicitybybasingitsolelyuponthevisualaspectsofanindividual.Race/ethnicityasasocialconstruction is most often based upon “perceived” differences.Thusweassumethatourconstructionisavalidapproximationofhowrace/ethnicitycanbeinterpreted.
Case Study: An Intersectional Analysisof Diesel Advertisements
Situating Intersectionalities
Inordertounderstandtheinteractionsofrace/ethnicity,class,gender, and sexuality, we first must understand the body, especially as it is presented within advertisements.According to Bakhtin(1968),ritualspectaclesarebestexplainedbylookingatcarnival,wheretraditionalhierarchiesandtheauthoritiesthatgowiththemarereinvented.Intheworldofcarnival,powerstructuresaresym-bolicallyreversed.Structuresofsocialinteraction,impossibleat
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othertimes,becomecommonwithindividualsactingasagroup.ThisworldofcarnivalpresentedwithintheDieseladvertisementsreinventsthestructuresofsocialinteractionbyallowingthevariousinteractionsofrace/ethnicity,class,gender,andsexualitytocoex-istsimultaneouslywhileignoringtraditionalhierarchies.Itistheactionofcarnivalthatworkstomaintainhegemonybyallowingasmallsymboliccounter-hegemony.ThisiswhatDieselappearstoaccomplish.“Fromthestandpointofwhitesupremacistcapitalistpatriarchy, the hope is that desires for the ‘primitive’ or fantasies abouttheOthercanbecontinuallyexploited...inamannerthatreinscribes and maintains the status quo” (hooks 1992:22).ThecarnivalesquebodythusbecomesthesitewherethestructuresofsocialinteractionceasetofollowtraditionalrulesandhierarchiesandbegintoexhibittheprimitivefantasiesoftheOther.
Social Class and Nature
DuetothestatussymbolismofDieselclothingandtheplace-ment of advertisements in trendy fashion magazines (e.g. The Face),oneexpectstheportrayalofindividualswithintheDieselcampaigntoimply,oratleastnotcallintoquestion,thattheyaremembers of a privileged class. Our analysis of the ads confirmed thisexpectation,leadingastobelievethatthelackofrepresenta-tionoflessprivilegedsocialclassesbecomesyetanotherfactorbuttressing the sign value of Diesel clothing. In doing so, thecampaign goes beyond specifically targeting the advertisements toonly thosewith thecapital toconspicuouslyconsumeDieselclothing.AsNicholson(1997:178)putsit,thehegemonypresentinadvertisingallowsusto“seehowthisdominantclassaddressestheirparticulartargetaudiences,andalsowhattheseadsmaybesaying—sometimesthroughexclusion—tomembersofthenon-targetaudience.” TheexclusionthatNicholsonreferstoalsooccursviathecon-structionoftherelationshipbetweenpeopleintheadsandnature.Specifically, people from lower socioeconomic backgrounds are often denied access to nature, especially thediverse and exoticnaturalenvironmentportrayedintheads,duetolackoftranspor-
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tation and financial resources to journey to far away lands.2Theexclusion of non-target audience is thus both recreated and fortified withintheDieseladvertisement,whereonceagainthoseoflessersocioeconomicstatusaredeniedentryintothisDieselparadise.Aswewilldiscussnext,thishighlyclassistimageinteractsincom-plexwayswiththeracialized,gendered,and(hetero)sexualizedrepresentationsofnature,“denyingaccess”tomany“others.”3
Gendered Race/Ethnicity
Whenconceptualizingintersectionalitiesithelpstofocusatten-tiononcategoriesoranti-categories.Forthepurposesofthispaper,weusegendered raceand racializedgender toobtainaclearerdemarcationzonewherebyweneutralizecertainidentitymarkersinordertounderstandhowthoseneutralizedmarkersaffectothermarkerssimultaneously.IntheDieselcampaign“Nature:LoveItWhileItLasts,”itisuponthebackgroundofnaturethatthebodyisplacedanduponthebodythatrace/ethnicity,gender,andsexualityareplacedcreatingapalimpsestandapasticheofmeanings,whereidentity markers are in constant change and fluidity. Gendered race or“controlling”forracetolookattheeffectsofgenderwithinaracecategoryisameanstounderstandthematricesofdomina-tion(Collins2000)betweendifferentgendersandhowgendersare experienced, acted out, and portrayed within the confines of a racialized boundary. Sexuality will also be looked at withinthis semicontrolledanti-categoricalmanipulation.Diesel takesnatureandreconstructsitasanandrogynousbeingwithgenderedaspects.
2AnotheraspectoftheclassistundercurrentoftheDieseladvertisementisintheeducationalbackgroundofthetargetaudience.Beingdirectedatthemiddleandupperclassesalsomeanstargetingamoreeducatedaudience.Usuallythosewithhighereducationalbackgroundaremoreconcernedaboutenvironmentalissues,whichiswhy“Nature:LoveItWhileItLasts”appealstothem.ThisdirectiontowardsamoreeducatedclienteleisonemorewaythatDieselcanbeelitist.3 Diesel advertisements become a representation of a landscape where aclass of people with relatively more buying power interact with nature.Theadvertisement becomes not only a set of instructions on how a certain classinteracts with nature, but also becomes a goal for lower classes to attain.
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Inoneimage,therearetwoindividuals,onefemaleandonemale of possible Asian descent. In the style of Georgia O’Keefe, flowers are used to represent sexual organs. The flower held by the Asian man is yonic in meaning with its pink color and the man’s fingers preparing to enter the center. However, the flower held by theAsian woman is phallic in representation stretching towardheropenandwaitingmouth.Thesetwoindividualsencourageaheterosexual reading of the ad. The genders of the two flowers are contrastedagainstthetwoindividualswhothoughfemaleandmaleshare similar traits. Similar skin color, neither black nor white,haircolor,blackbutstraight,andthesimilarstyleofDieselbrandeyeglassesthattheyarewearingcreatesanidealofandrogynyandsomewhatambivalent racial identity for the individuals in starkcontrast to the hyper-gendering of the flowers representing nature. This role of androgyny reaffirms the controlling image of gender forAsianwomenandmen,whoaretypicallyseenaslessmasculineand more feminine. The use of flowers to represent both female and malelendsitselfoncemoretotheandrogynousimageofnature.Itmustbenotedthatalthoughandrogynyisbeingportrayedhereitis still heterosexual due to the hyper-gendering of the flowers and thepairingof femalewithmaleandmalewith female.Thus inanycertainmatricesofdomination,whilesomeidentitymarkersareneutralized,othersareexaggerated,renderingimpossibletheequalizingofallidentitymarkerswithinagivenpointofintersec-tionality. Once again treating the idea of gendered race we take intoconsiderationtheportrayalofblackmenandblackwomen.Hookstalksaboutthe“youngblackmalebody”andhowit“isseenasepitomizingthispromiseofwildness,ofunlimitedphysicalprowessandunbridlederoticism”(1992:34).Adifferentintersectionalityofrace/ethnicity and gender can be seen in how the black men’s and black women’s bodies are presented in the Diesel ads. Specifically, here the black men’s body is light-skinned as compared to the black women’s body that is represented as both dark-skinned and light-skinned.Finally,theintersectionalityofrace/ethnicity,gender,andsexualorientationisalsopresentinDieseladvertisements.Forinstance, the black men’s bodies found in the advertisements are
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alwaysrepresentedasnotparticipatinginbisexualitiesorhomo-sexualities.Heterosexuality is impliedandevenconcentrated inanotherimagewhereablackmanisseenperformingheterosexualitywithawhitewomanandafemalegenderednature. TheDieseladvertisingcampaignworkshardtopreventusfrombeingabletolookatanygivenimageandseearepresentationofgenderedrace. Individualswithin theadvertisementsarealmostalways paired with members of different genders and races toavoidimagesofsegregationandabasisforcomparison.Anotheradvertisementpresentsuswithjustsuchanimageofablackwomanandawhiteman.Theblackwomanisseenwithaphalliccactusbetweenherthighsandthewhitemanisseenbitingintotheendofacactusrepresentativeofafemalebreast.Inthisadvertisementbothhumansandnatureareseenasgenderedandheterosexual.Butonceagain,theuseofcactitorepresentboththefemaleandthemalecreateandrogynousnature.Thisandrogynousidentityiscounterbalancedonceagainwithafunctionalhegemonyofgender,sexuality,andrace/ethnicity. Thisandrogynousnatureisremovedfromtheadvertisementexceptforthetwogenderedcacti.Boththeblackwomanandthewhite man are also wearing black, mirrored sunglasses furtherseparatingthemfromnatureandeachother.Unabletoseetheyaredeprivedofameansofinteractionwithnotonlyeachotherbutalsowiththegenderedandsexednature.Thishidingoftheireyesfromthe audience also objectifies the models depersonalizing them and emphasizingtheirusevalueasbodies.Theseparationcausedbytheuseofthesunglassesisalsocounteredbythefactthatthebodiesoftheblackwomanandwhitemanseemtobetouching,anactalmostnonexistentwithintheadvertisements.Whenlookedatclosely,thistouchingbecomesmuchmorethansimplecontact.Theblackwomanissupportingthewhitemalewhoisleaningbackagainsther.Thisintroducesintoourothercategoryofracializedgender.
inoneof theadvertisementswithawhitewoman, themeaningwouldchange.Ifawhitewomanissupportingawhiteman,onelevelofintersectionalityisremovedasracebecomesacontrolledcommonalityofexperience.Togetabetterunderstandingofracial-izedgenderwemustlookatseveraldifferentadvertisementswithinthiscampaign.Takingthewomenwithintheadvertisementswhoareboundwecanaddressthequestionofracializedgender. “Critical researchers see advertisements as reflecting the domi-nantideologiesofthesocietythatproducesthem...[thus]theentiretext . . . has the ability to reflect dominant cultural discourses about suchthingsasgender,race,ethnicity”(Frith1995:187).Withinthisparticularadvertisingcampaign,Dieselpresentswomen,regardlessofrace/ethnicity,inmoresubmissivepositionsthanmen.Therearefour examples of women or the woman’s body tied and constrained by nature. The first woman constrained is the dark skinned black femaleentwinedbyasnake.Theotherthreeexamplesareofwhitewomenconstrainedwithplantsorboundwithvines. Inanotheradvertisement,thedarkskinnedblackfemalebodysymbolizesbetrayalthroughthesymbolismofthesnakecoiledaroundherbodyassheliesuponatreebranch.Thebiblicalal-legorydevelopedhereisthatofEveandtheserpentbetrayingtheraceofman,and“theblackfemalebody...is...depictedasasiteofbetrayal”(hooks1995:16-17).Thisiscontrastedwiththewhite female bodies. In Diesel’s advertisements, white female bodiesarerestraineddifferentlythantheblackfemalebody.Thewhitefemalesarerestrainedintheactofsexualbondage.Inthistypeofrestraintthereisnobetrayaldepicted,simplyanaivetéandtheideaofastolenvirtuenotaccordedtheblackfemalebody:“thewhitefemale...symbolizesinnocenceandvirtue”(hooks1995:17). Revisitinggenderedrace, thecontrastbetweenboundwhitewomenandboundwhitemenisagainvisible;thereisonlyonewhite man who is restricted in such a manner.The only malepartiallyconstrainedisdrapedwithavine.However,hisbondageisonlypartial,asopposed to the fullconstrictionof twoof thewhitewomen,one light skinnedandonedark skinned, and thedarkskinnedblackwoman.Bothwomenandmen,regardlessof
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race/ethnicity,aredominatingnaturewithinthisadvertisementasmembersofagenerichumanity,yetwomenare stilldominatedbypatriarchalpositioningofwomenassubduedandconstrained.Women,boundbynature,aretiedmorecloselytonaturesothattheycanbedominatedbypatriarchalideology,andaremorelikelytohaverestrictedfreedomofmovementandmoreavailabilitytomalereadersviewingtheadvertisement. Thesexualrolesportrayedwithintheadvertisementprovideanotherpointatwhichtoexamineracializedgender.Anotherad-vertisementcontainsthesubjectofablackwoman.Sheisplacedupondarknature,butpulledoutof thebackgroundbya lightercoloredtreeandherDieselattire.Thisdarkskinnedblackfemalebodyisexoticizednotonlythroughtheintersectionsofrace,ethnic-ity,andgender,butalsowithtropicalbirdscreatingalinkbetweenexotic destination and exotic individual. She is also sexualizedbytheemphasisplaceduponherbuttbythebrightblueskirtthatdraws the viewers’ attention. Hooks writes in her essay “Selling HotPussy”that“inthesexualiconographyofthetraditionalblackpornographicimagination,theprotrudingbuttisseenasanindica-tionofaheightenedsexuality”(1992:63).Thishighlightingofthebuttisasexualizedstereotypeofblackfemalesexualityinawhitesupremacistpatriarchalcontext.Thisblackfemaleroleiscontrastedtothewhitefemalerole.Hereweseeawhitewomanwithpartiallyopen mouth and moist lips approaching a flower that she is caressing withherhand.Onceagainthecombinationandpositioningofthefemale model and the phallic symbolism of the flower, complete withtheimageofveins,guidetheviewerintoconceptualizingtheactoffellatio. The white flesh tones of the flowers, plants, and of the shell enhance the viewers’ ability to read the objects as human body parts, specifically white sexual organs. Anthropomorphizing plant formswithintheDieselcampaignisthemeansbywhichnatureisgivenasexualidentitybythehumanparticipants.Whensexisdiminishedtojustthesexualorgansastheonlyneededpartsofthe body the sexual objectification of the body is achieved. This also solidifies the use value of nature in the human-nature relation-ship.
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Sexuality, Race/Ethnicity, and Gender
Theinclusionofmaleandfemalehomosexualityisuniqueintheadsasthesexualitieswithintheadvertisementsaresubtle,allowingtheviewertooverlookthemiftheysochoose(Clark1995:144).Oneadvertisementpresentsawhitecowboyridingatreebranch.Thisadvertisementelicitsahomoeroticinterpretationofthegaycowboyridingthephallus.Thispossibleinterpretationallowsadvertiserstotargetmultipleaudiencesusingthesameadvertisement,whichleadsthemtoachieveamoreglobalperspectiveintheeyeoftheconsumerwhoseesthesameadvertisementeverywhere,notalteredfordifferentconsumercontexts. The Diesel advertisements portrayal of multiple sexualitieslends itself to the “fluid nature” of sexuality and “the possibility thatsexualnaturecanbestableforsomeandchangeableforothers”(Zajicek et al. 2001: 238). This fluidity can be seen in the combina-tionofpartnerswithintheadvertisements.Thecontinuationfromoneindividualtothenextusesnaturetouniteandtietogetheractorswithintheadvertisements.Itmustbenotedthatforthemostpartallindividualsareportrayingsexualitieswithnatureasapartner,thusdependingonwhethertheparticularnatureisgenderedfemaleormaledetermineswhetherthesexualityishetero,homo,orbisexual.Forexample,inoneimage,thetreeontheleftsideissimultaneouslyengagedwithfourindividuals,adarkskinnedblackwomanandtwodarkskinnedwhitewomenandadarkskinnedwhiteman.Thegendering of this tree as predominantly male allows for a fluidity of sexualitysinceitisengagedwithmembersofbothgenders.Theuseoflightingandcolorwithinthisadvertisementalsoplacesgreateremphasisonthoseindividualswhoarewhiteorlighterskinned.Duetotheuseofadarknatureasbackground,thoseindividualswhoarelighterskinnedorwhoarewearingwhiteorlightclothingstandoutfromthebackground,whilethosewithdarkerskinanddarkerclothesblendinanddisappear.Anotheradvertisementof-fers another example of sexual fluidity, where a dark skinned white possiblyHispanicwomanandlightskinnedblackmanareengagedwith two parts of the giant Venus flytrap. The Venus flytrap is gen-deredfemale,withitsrepresentationasthefemalesexualorgans.
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The sexual fluidity of the plant is implied by “her” simultaneous engagementwithbothgenders,allowingthesexualacttobereadasbothheterosexualfortheblackmaleandasbisexualforthewhitefemale. This inclusion of multiple fluid sexualities is inseparable from the fluidity of race/ethnicity and gender. By linking all indi-vidualactorsandallsexualitiesthroughthesexualpartnerofnatureallidentitymarkersarerenderedequal.
Conclusion
Thepurposeofthisresearchwastoconductanintersectionalcasestudyofadvertisementslocatedinthepublicrealmtoillustratetheprinciplesandadvantagesofanintersectionalanalysis.Inwhatfollows,wesummarizetheseandnotesomeadvantagesofengaginginanintersectionalanalysis. Within theseriesofDieseladvertisements“Nature:LoveItWhileItLasts,”avarietyofracesandethnicitiesarerepresented,allequallyremovedandisolatedfromdistinctculturesandplacedwithinanalternateworldofenvironmentalpuritywheretheraciallyand ethnically diverse individuals are all equally “cultureless”(Perry2001),yetstillmaintaintheirethnicityasasignoftheOther.ThisuseofethnicityassymbolicoftheOtherisnomorethanare-ductionofethnicitytophysicalcharacteristicsthatareusedtospiceupwhitepatriarchalcapitalismintheguiseofanadvertisementcampaign(hooks1992:21).Thisblendingofmarked(theOther)andunmarked(thenorm) (Brekhus1998) results inaconstruc-tionofasocialworldwheretheproblemsoflivedexperiencesaredifficult to grasp as they are all equated with culturelessness and normalizedintonon-existence. Working from Perry’s idea of the culturelessness of whiteness, onecaninterprettheDieselcampaign“Nature:LoveItWhileItLasts”asreproducingtheOtheralongsidethenormofwhiteness.However, in reproducing theOther (race, ethnicity,gender, andsexuality)asthespiceforwhitemainstreamculture,whitenessisbeingimposedupontheOther.Importantly,thiswhitenessisnotjustwhitenessbutalsoheterosexuality,maleness,andWesterness.In short, it imposes normness. By acknowledging other iden-
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tity markers, we are able to recognize a major fault with Perry’s work—notseeingwhitenessassexualizedandgendered.Fromanintersectionalperspective,othernessmustalsobeunderstoodasbeingmanydifferentsocialconstructionsdependingontheOtherbeingconstructedas(heterosexual)whitewomen,blackwomen,blackmen,Asianwomen,andAsianmen. Dieseldoes thiswithinacontextofa fantasynature that isusuallylinkedtothecarnivalesquebodyofBakhtin.Yet,inthisadvertisement campaign, the classical body with carnivalesquecharacteristics is also embedded in nature.This use of naturedecontextualizesculturlessnessandmakesitmoreappealingandacceptabletotheviewingaudienceandmainstreamculture.Dieselisinessencecreatingacultureofthecultureless.ThisisdonebyseparatingthespiceorsocialmarkersofOthernessandreassem-blingtheminapasticheofintersectionalidentitymarkers,whichweanalyzedasgenderraceandracializedgender.Theseintersec-tionalidentitymarkersareplaceduponapasticheofnatureandthebody. Theaspectsofrace,ethnicity,gender,andsexualitythatareemphasizedintheDieselcampaign“Nature:LoveItWhileItLasts”construct postmodern identities that are composed of fracturedmultiplicities. To accomplish this, first, the most exotic, recogniz-able,andlusciouspartsofnatureareplacedtoformtheperfectlandscapetohousetheexoticofthebody.Next,theexoticistakenfromthecontextofacarnivalesquebodyandplaceduponaclassi-calbodythatisembeddedinanatureillustratingthecarnivalesquequalitiesofthebodythroughsuchactionsassexualembeds.Theexoticsofrace,ethnicity,gender,andsexualityareremovedfromthecarnivalesque,placedupontheclassical,andthenembeddedinthecarnivalesque.Natureservestoinsulatetheshockvalueoftheseparationofthecarnivalesquefromnatureinthislandscape. Nature is almost always aligned with the feminine and theexotic,withminoritywomenbeingpresentedasclosertonature.Thiscontradictstheideaofaseparationbetweennatureandculture,where the exotic is defined as culture and whiteness is defined as culturelessness.Instead,itistheexoticseparatedfromcultureanddecontextualizedandusedasthespiceformainstreamwhiteculture
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that becomes representative of culturlessness. Hooks (1992:31)sums this up when she writes that “the commodification of differ-encepromotesparadigmsofconsumptionwhereinwhateverdiffer-encetheOtherinhabitsiseradicated...byaconsumercannibalismthat not only displaces the Other but denies the significance of the Other’s history through a process of decontextualization.” In this way,theDieselcampaignachievesanequalityamongrace,ethnic-ity,gender,andsexualitybutattheexpenseoftakingtheperceivedculturelessnessofwhitenessandimposingituponallgroupsandidentitiesrepresentedintheadvertisements,which,inturn,helptospreadanimageof“culturelessness”toconsumingviewers. Bothauthorshaveoftenheardtheargumentthatthemoreso-ciologistsdealwithraceand,byextension,otheridentitymarkerssuchasethnicity,gender,andsexuality,themorewesolidifydif-ferences in humanity and thus maintain conflict. It is our contention thatwhenweignoretheseidentitymarkers,andespeciallytheirintersections,weareineffectcreatingeitherculturelessnesswhereevery aspect of identity is defined in relation to the norm, or we simplifycomplexidentitiestoasingledimension.Thisinabilitytoseetheinteractionsofidentitymarkersortherefusaltodealwiththemthroughmeaningfuldiscussionignorestheimportancethesemarkers have in our lives. However constructed the conflict may be amongtheseidentitymarkers,bynotaddressingthemasimportantaspectsofrelationsofdominationandofthesocialfabric,notonlydoweoversimplifythecomplexityofidentitiesbutwealsofailtoameliorateand/oralleviatetensionbetweenmarkedandunmarkedgroupsandbetweenmultipleidentitymarkerswithinsingleindi-viduals. The use of intersectionality to allow the multiple boundarycrossingsofrace,ethnicity,gender,andsexualityprovidesamoreholistic approach to understanding the subtle modern-day dis-criminationsthatoccurwithinadvertisingandthatbecomepartofconsumerculture.Onceweunderstandthesematricesofdomina-tionwecanmoreactivelyparticipateinalleviatingthesufferingthattheycauseonanindividualbasis.AlthoughinthisresearchweusedtheintersectionalityperspectivetoanalyzeaparticularseriesofadvertisementsbytheDieselcompany,thisperspectivecanbe
Editor’s Note: Although Diesel’s Ad Campaign, “Nature: Love It While It Lasts,” is no longer available through Diesel’s website, there are a few websites that have reproduced some of the images. URL’s include:
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