There's been considerable reaction to Gemany's recent ads that feature Hitler and Stalin having sex with women -- all for the cause of AIDS awareness.
So what is the message exactly? That women having unprotected sex is like having sex with Hitler? Or that unprotected sex perpetuates death?
Majority of the controversy over the images has focused on the fact the use of the dictator, but I'm not sure what to make of the sexualization of women within this context. There are so many layers and issues going on here I'm not sure where to begin.
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The message was "Aids is a massmurderer".
Sexualisation is probably something seen more of a problem in the USA. What you consider NSFW here is sometimes something that runs on daily TV.
I don't think the issue is NSFW. This is sexual (i.e. they're having sex) in any country.
As a Jewish feminist, signs that use images of Hitler and Stalin, no matter how well-intentioned, will automatically signal not just fear (which is the idea, I'm assuming - be scared of AIDS), but also serious aversion to whatever the poster is actually about. Regarding the sexualization of the woman - heterosexual sex is only one kind of risky behavior, and I really think that the entire thing - dictator, naked woman and all - is not going to make people want to fight AIDS.
There really are a lot of layers to this one. Phew. Here are a couple of things about it that struck me.
The ad does that thing that we've complained about, that thing where it tries to turn something into something else in a way that minimizes suffering. For example, how people say "that test raped me." Tests aren't rape, only rape is rape. Likewise, AIDS isn't Hitler- only Hitler is/was Hitler. Many people have died because of AIDS, but AIDS isn't a charismatic leader of a genocidal political party.
I'm not sure what they're trying to gain by anthropommorphizing AIDS. If you have sex with someone and they give you AIDS, accidentally or on purpose, is that person Hitler? That person, under certain circumstances, might be considered a murderer- or at least they might have committed an assault. Which, although horrible, doesn't compare to the freakin' Holocaust. This demonizes people with AIDS (are they all potential Hitlers?) and minimizes the suffering people went through during the Holocaust.
Then there's the gender dynamics in the ad. "Hitler" is clearly the penetrative partner, the one in a position of power, and the masculine partner in a hetero coupling. How many people will see this and think, even if only subconsciously, that they won't get AIDS if they aren't the one being penetrated? Also, it's not entirely certain from what I can see that the sex is consensual. She could be moaning in pleasure or in pain/horror. He could be embracing her or holding her physically against her will. This is a really irresponsible thing to show in an anti-AIDS PSA considering the beliefs some cultures hold about how you can cure yourself of AIDS by raping a virgin.
There's more to this, but the other thoughts aren't fully formed in my mind yet. I may post more later.
Watching the commercial in the video...it is consensual (her being on top)
Good analysis, I was thinking all of this without being able to put it to words like you did. The message, despite it seeming quite simple, is really a frickin' complicated mess when trying to analyze it.
Aside from everything you said, there's also the part where even though the message is supposed to be alarming and scary and oooooh Hitler boogeyman, they still gotta throw a boobie in there. On a hot woman. They could have lifted that red banner just an inch higher and hid the boob, and we still would have understood perfectly well that teh seks is happening. Like so many rape scenes in movies, no matter how dire the situation is, the woman is always hot and sensual. Fuck that.
Umm...erm...wow.
I don't even know what to say. That was so weird.
Was there supposed to be a sign that this was unprotected or otherwise "dangerous" sex?
Well, other than Hitler showing up, I mean.
So, the message is - don't have sex with Nazis and you won't catch AIDS?
No, the message seems to be:
1. It's only the men who have AIDS (Like that advert with the bullet caught in the condom, penis as gun etc.)
2. Having AIDS makes you the equivalent of Hitler or Stalin. What a disgusting message. Even though it says 'AIDS is a mass murderer' it is blatantly saying that the PEOPLE with the disease are murderers.
3. Sex is bad, bad, bad. It doesn't even mention using a condom on those posters, like it usually does on ads like that.
Who is this poster even supposed to be talking to? I assume it's someone in a heterosexual relationship or someone who has het sex, since that's what it's depicting. The woman on the poster is more sexualized (more skin showing, moany face, airbrushed, conventionally attractive, etc.), but the man is Hitler/has AIDS, so it's probably not speaking to men. Is this poster supposed to appeal to bisexual women in het relationships? That's kind of an overly-specific demographic to be targeting IMO.
(Or maybe the poster designers were just morons, IDK.)