Victoria’s Secret constantly displays powerful pictures of women that capture the eyes of its audience worldwide. Each image has a purposeful, underlying message that has been produced by photographers to tell a certain story. Victoria’s Secret objectifies women as sex symbols and encourages the ideology that sexuality can be desirable through their products. The image presented is of a Victoria’s Secret model, sitting up-right, wearing lingerie and holding her messy hair back with the title “Up for anything”. Thus, this paper will demonstrate how this Victoria Secret photograph utilizes women as sex symbols through myth, representations, and cultural messages. Roland Barthes, A French theorist introduces the idea of photographic truths dependent
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The signifier portrays symbolic meaning, an “entity that represents,” while the signified is the actual meaning. Thus, in this image, the signifier is the woman, sitting on the bed with her legs spread out wearing teal lingerie, whereas the signified would be the overall symbolic meaning of sex appeal. Lisa Cartwright and Marita Sturken observes how the meaning of an image is derived from the frame. Victoria’s Secret is known worldwide for their lingerie corresponding to women sexuality. Therefore, Victoria’s Secret is viewed as the signifier and women sexuality is signified. Victoria’s Secret as a brand correlating to women sexuality is the overall sign. The image shown has important details that help create such semiotics. The image also incorporates a cultural meaning through the form of lingerie. The lingerie is centered around the idea of seduction. It is appropriating the lingerie as a means of one’s sexuality and comfort with one’s body. The indexical image which is seen as, “the most useful in visual culture study”, allows the audience to engage with the photo. The model holding her hair back and her piercing gaze are indexical in showing the model as a human being, while the photo is also indexical in capturing the moment (Cartwright and Sturken 32). Moreover, the addition of text plays a factor in the way the image is depicted. Fundamentally, the way the model is …show more content…
The connotative meaning is more complex than that of denotation because the denotative meaning is the image’s actual meaning (Cartwright and Sturken 20). Therefore, this image denotes a woman sitting on a bed. This non-iconic message merely just shows that this photo is real, and occurred. Furthermore, this image’s text, “Up for anything” denotes that the woman is easy going; can do whatever anyone is willing to do. Nonetheless, its connotative meaning is more in-depth than its simplistic denotation. The image connotes that the woman is not literally “Up for anything” in an easy-going, follow along way, but in the sex culture, “Up for anything” can connote that she is willing to subordinate to anything. However, deciphering between the two meanings is indefinite; it is constantly changing contextually. Cartwright and Sturken masterfully articulate how to be culturally informed thrives from the messages and meaning that comes from then our understanding of the connotative and denotative aspects of an image. Once the audience can successfully differentiate and grasp the idea of the two concepts, it will benefit them in being able to breakdown the denotative and connotative meaning; culturally and
The signifier portrays symbolic meaning, an “entity that represents,” while the signified is the actual meaning. Thus, in this image, the signifier is the woman, sitting on the bed with her legs spread out wearing teal lingerie, whereas the signified would be the overall symbolic meaning of sex appeal. Lisa Cartwright and Marita Sturken observes how the meaning of an image is derived from the frame. Victoria’s Secret is known worldwide for their lingerie corresponding to women sexuality. Therefore, Victoria’s Secret is viewed as the signifier and women sexuality is signified. Victoria’s Secret as a brand correlating to women sexuality is the overall sign. The image shown has important details that help create such semiotics. The image also incorporates a cultural meaning through the form of lingerie. The lingerie is centered around the idea of seduction. It is appropriating the lingerie as a means of one’s sexuality and comfort with one’s body. The indexical image which is seen as, “the most useful in visual culture study”, allows the audience to engage with the photo. The model holding her hair back and her piercing gaze are indexical in showing the model as a human being, while the photo is also indexical in capturing the moment (Cartwright and Sturken 32). Moreover, the addition of text plays a factor in the way the image is depicted. Fundamentally, the way the model is …show more content…
The connotative meaning is more complex than that of denotation because the denotative meaning is the image’s actual meaning (Cartwright and Sturken 20). Therefore, this image denotes a woman sitting on a bed. This non-iconic message merely just shows that this photo is real, and occurred. Furthermore, this image’s text, “Up for anything” denotes that the woman is easy going; can do whatever anyone is willing to do. Nonetheless, its connotative meaning is more in-depth than its simplistic denotation. The image connotes that the woman is not literally “Up for anything” in an easy-going, follow along way, but in the sex culture, “Up for anything” can connote that she is willing to subordinate to anything. However, deciphering between the two meanings is indefinite; it is constantly changing contextually. Cartwright and Sturken masterfully articulate how to be culturally informed thrives from the messages and meaning that comes from then our understanding of the connotative and denotative aspects of an image. Once the audience can successfully differentiate and grasp the idea of the two concepts, it will benefit them in being able to breakdown the denotative and connotative meaning; culturally and