Potential in the Perfect Balance of Fantasy and Reality
            
             In her 1998 Seattle Weekly article, "You Get Me Closer to God," Lauren Goodlad discusses the media's exploitation of sadomasochism and society's inability to accept it as the norm. She believes that in such a sexually divided and competitive culture, sadomasochism is inevitable, and would not be so perverse if men and women learned to communicate. Goodlad claims that with the increase gaps between genders, everyone is expected to abide by their masculine or feminine roles and this forces them to suppress their true sexual desires. By being daring enough to break these gender rules, the media creates for us fantasies that we are too insecure to create for ourselves. In applying Goodlad's ideas of human sexuality and gender lines to an ad for Candie's fragrances, I found that advertisements using a hint of sadomasochism while maintaining society's view of "manliness" may be the next biggest thing, because they combine both the fantasy of erotic appeal and the reality of gender roles.
             At first glance, the ad depicts an attractive woman lying across the lap of a macho man. On her perfectly made up face one notices the direct eye contact. On her lean figure one notices a fitted outfit. By masculine standards, what makes this woman desirable to most any man is what Goodlad describes as the pin-up look, ".... liposuction and surgical implants.... face-lifts, diet pills...." (37). Although the falsities may not be the case with this specific Candie's girl, she nonetheless has all the makings of the Victoria's Secret model that women want to be and men simply want. In analyzing the pose of the woman's shapely body, it is debatable whether she is in a position of submission or one of power. The evidence that supports the latter is the man in the picture. Dennis Rodman, known as a macho bad-boy, is dre...