A US-based fashion label that specialises in suits specifically for women, SUISTUDIO USA has released a new campaign titled 'Not Dressing Men' - and they've been receiving some interesting backlash.
The campaign imagery shows photos of two different models, wearing stylish tailored suits and powerfully staring down the barrel of the camera, while men are in the background; nude, and often faceless.
The male models are stripped of all agency in the images, and are there only to be disembodied sexual objects; one-dimensional bodies who are included in the images for the sole purpose of being objectified... Sound familiar?
SUISTUDIO vice president Kristina Barricelli told , “There is nothing wrong with sex, the naked human body, and the inclusion of that in a campaign. Sex is a big part of fashion. The problem is that in recent history, we haven’t seen a naked man objectified in the background. How strange! Why not?”
The #NotDressingMen campaign, while a way for the new suiting company to present their debut collection, has also seemingly served as a commentary on women being presented in advertising for decades as faceless, disembodied sex objects, without purpose, power, or agency.
The response to the ads has been interesting, with many seemingly missing a major point made in the campaign. One man wrote on Instagram, “I’m sure if the roles were reversed and this was published there would be a backlash from females saying that they are being sexualised, objectified, abused and so on. But somehow it is ok to do the said things to males, I mean we are strong, we can take shit and keep quiet. I mean we have no feelings and we can’t be hurt. Hypocrites.”
But SUISTUDIO say that's exactly the point. As a response to the backlash, Barricelli says, "There has been a tremendous response from people all over the world. We seem to be smack in the middle of a movement. We are excited to hear all of the feedback and all of the stories about how each individual relates to our campaign.
"We invite everyone to take a hard look at sexism and what it means to them and why they feel the way that they do. It’s a personal sentiment. It need not be uniform for everyone.
"We feel the Suistudio woman is free to do whatever she wants: lead a board meeting, visit a museum with her family, have sex, get naked, get dressed."
