Playboy is the leading men's magazine in the world, with an 18-35 male demographic and more than 3 million copies in circulation in the United States alone, and 4.5 million worldwide. Not only do the nude photographs of women, and suggestive and provocative cartoons provide a vivid illustration of issues in the understanding of intersectionality, the magazine's influential advertisements do as well. One particular ad for LifeStyles brand condoms, for instance, vividly demonstrates two vectors of analysis in feminist theory: gender and race.Intersectionality not only focuses on the gender aspects of racial discrimination, it also seeks to provide a tool for analyzing the ways in which gend ...view middle of the document...
Also, the male's shirt is unbuttoned, inferring that the white female has already started undressing him because she cannot wait to have sex with him and has no control over her libido. The colored female, on the other hand, seems more distant. Instead of a smile, she has a sexy "come hither" glare to her, and her skin and hair are much darker than the male's and the female's. This contrast not only portrays the colored woman as dark, impure, and reeking of sex, it also blends her into the dark background of the picture which aids in making her look inferior and unimportant..The caption, "who said you can't have it both ways", suggests that the male in the cartoon is planning on having sex with both women, either separately or at the same time. The caption can also be interpreted as "who said you can't have sex with a black women and a white woman at the same time? They're both women and therefore, they are both here for my pleasure as a man". The ad promotes safe sex, which is a positive thing, but also promotes promiscuous sex. The caption "...you can play it safe and have a great time doing it", suggests that sex is just an activity for men to do with no emotional attachment involved at all, and that as long as you do it safely, this promiscuity is acceptable.The ad also illustrates our society's values of sexuality and gender. The message of the ad is targeted to the male, he being the obvious main character of the illustration. The quote is directed towards males, not females. It infers that it is acceptable in society for men to h...
