Semiotic Analysis : Gucci

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The following essay is a semiotic analysis of a Gucci advertisement from the December 1990, Vogue Magazine. According to Thwaites, Davies and Mules, semiotics is concerned with the study of sign systems, (2002, pp29-30). However, when engaging in semiotic analysis, there are many different structures of meaning operating within any specific text, and therefore this essay will focus on the social context in which these signs are utilized. Since signs are innately polysemic and the semiotic analysis of a cultural text can be construed from a number of perspectives this analysis will therefore also look towards the anchorage in order to restrict the potential possibility of meanings and therefore deduce a dominant reading. The advertisement is by the company GUCCI, in which the label itself has become a symbol of prestige in modern society. The women and her powder desk draw the focal attention of the cultural text, with the man in the background. She is watching herself as she gets ready and he is watching her; she is the object of his attention, and yet she is also the object of her own attention. John Berger describes this as “men act and women appear. Men look at women. Women watch themselves being looked at..........her own sense of being in herself is supplanted by a sense of being appreciated by another,” (1972, pp46-47). In essence women objectify themselves, and consequently a woman’s appearance and presence can therefore determine how she is viewed by men. In the advertisement the man’s attention is given solely to the women as he enters the hotel room, marking the power of her appearance. The women, however is not looking directly at the man, but at her reflection, with her eyes surveying the man, from the corner of her eye; as if she knows she is being admired. The cultural codes depict a prestigious and romantic atmosphere (one consistently
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