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Anastique Analysis Of A Critique Of Durex XXL Condoms

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The advertisement I have chosen for my critique is one for ‘Durex XXL Condoms’. This ad was posted on Durex’s Facebook page back in 2012, not so long ago, and caused a lot of controversy, which sparked a reply from Daily Mail. The image portrayed is the lower half of a woman’s face with bandaids on the corners of her mouth, this implies that she had performed an oral sex act on a man with a large penis, and the result is her mouth being injured. Based on this conception I believe this advertisement is geared solely towards men, as why would women buy something geared towards harming other women? I chose to critique this because upon seeing it I was absolutely shocked and could not believe it was a legitimate advertisement from the media or the fact that this was passed. I find everything about it horrendous, degrading, and truly disgusting due to the intentional themes of gender and power roles, and the normalization of violence against women.
By the use of this simple image, there are obvious differences between the genders and the coexisting roles assigned to each. The woman in this ad has been targeted and sexualized as an object to be abused and to simply become submissive to the unseen male figure. This undeniable objectification has lead to something that can only be labeled as violence against the woman and all women. It’s the argument of pain versus pleasure, who dominates and who submits. Much like Jean Kilbourne said in Killing Us Softly 3, the woman in this

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