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 not

What the ad does is tease the public with its sexual fantasy and lure them into products by implying they will give them these dreams they so yearn for. The advertisers do this because even though the desires lurk within each of us, few are actually secure enough to participate. Therefore, we are teased and we simply watch and crave, allowing the media to create fantasies to attract us to their products and services, rather than creating fantasies on our own for the media to imitate. That's what makes the Candie's ad unique: all the ingredients within its sexual appeal are real, meaning it can ultimately be satisfied in reality, but only if we are brave enough to venture. Given the public's response to these types of ads, it is obvious that the sexual innuendoes involved have the potential to expand. Sadomasochism in advertisement has taken a step forward from simply satisfying taboo sexual urges to encouraging its actual development in shaping people's lifestyles. This acceptance has caused ads like this one to be effective, giving people what they want and making it the next biggest thing in advertisement.

However, rather than supporting or arguing against them, the Candie's ad unites what she points out to create a fantasy realm that has a chance of becoming reality. Its appeal provides the viewer with a fantasy that is easily attainable, as long as a woman realizes desirability goes beyond silicone and make-up and the man realizes that he may be masculine while displaying feminine traits. This can be considered as yet another form of sexual fantasy created for us rather than by us, or it may also be encouragement for men and women to realize their own potentials in fulfilling their sexual desires.

Rebutting Goodlad's statement, I think the Candie's ad shows how the media has once again found a new form of advertisement to lure buyers through the creation of something even more fantastical than just sadomasochism. What they have done is combine something that fulfills people's desires, sadomasochism, with the natural roles that these people play in their everyday lives, the masculine male versus feminine female image. With this unity, the outcome is a modernized form of soft-porn which satisfies both the inner, sexual cravings of viewers and also culture's expectations of feminine and masculine roles. This new formation then is still fantastical, but has an added touch of reality that complements our society's ever-changing outlook, making this style effective and popular in ads.

This colorful and shapely ad displays many of the points discussed by Goodlad.

Clad in black, the color most often related to dominance and evil, and giving no attention to the man she is suppressing, this woman obviously has power. On the other hand, Rodman is wearing orange satin, but does this mean he is weak and suppressed? The tatt

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Approximate Word count = 1927
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)