Midterm: Antony Morato Ad

The media object I chose for my analysis is a billboard ad I saw while I was in Rome, Italy last week. It was in every subway station all over the city. It is an ad for the clothing company Antony Morato. It caught my eye because it is a very simple ad that features a male model in black and white on the far left and the brand name in bold letters to his right and at the bottom in small print is the website MORATO.IT. The ad caught my eye not only because it is an eye-catching simple ad that was all over the place, but also because the model featured in the ad has a much more feminine look than American male models show in ads here in the United States. I actually had to do a double take to check and make sure it was a man and not a masculine looking woman. After seeing this ad a few times and observing young men on the street, I realized that men in Italy have a very different sense of style and Italian society has a different standard for what makes a man attractive compared to our standard in the United States. This ad is trying to sell the clothes that will make a man look like that ideal image of a young, svelte man. I realized that clothing does not have to be categorized as strictly male or female items. After thinking about this ad and how it relates to Ann Fausto-Sterling's writings, I realized that Italian culture has a more lenient ideology of gender separation and portrayal of sexuality; they view gender on more of a continuum than categorical basis.

What makes the male model look feminine is his facial bone structure, clean shaven face, tight pants, V-neck white T-shirt under his blazer, three-quarter length sleeves blazer and he is wearing a belt around his waist over his blazer instead of on his pants. Women wear belts like this all the time to accentuate a narrow waist; but I have never seen a man wear a belt like this because in the United States we do not think of the ideal man as having a narrow waist, we think of a well-built man with a thick torso. Women tend to wear tighter fitting clothing to show off the shape of their body. Evolutionarily men are attracted to women based on their body-shape and perceived ability to bear children. Women are attracted to men based on qualities such as strength, reliability, and protectiveness. Italian men’s wear challenges that notion by showing off the male body the way that women tend to do. Maybe this bridging of the gap between mens and womens styles makes it easier for men and women to relate. On the other hand, one could interpret this clothing style as one aimed at men who identify as gay or transgendered. If that approach is taken, then it is very interesting to see an ad like that all over the city blended in as just another ad on the subway station wall. If this ad is targeted at gay men, then they might be attracted to the model and want to look sexy and svelte like him in order to attract other men. By advertising clothing to gay men, this shows an underlying acceptance of gay men without being too obviously in favor of homosexuality which might offend some people.

I noticed that in Italy men tend to be shorter and skinnier than men in the United States. So naturally, Italian men physically look more similar to Italian women. The men like to wear skinny pants and leather jackets. I heard once that Italian men dress to stand out (as do many women) and look good to attract women. In many other cultures, like the United States, men dress to fit in. A good example of this would be a corporate office: every man in the office is likely wearing a black or navy blue suit; but women wear a variety of colors, shapes, and lengths of suits, skirts, dresses and blouses. Many people praise Italian men for choosing to look stylish while maintaining their manly image. I think that Italian men do not pay much attention to dressing to prove their heterosexuality or masculinity; they dress to be stylish and show off their bodies. The billboard I chose is an extreme example of a man dressing in a feminized way; most Italian men’s clothing is more masculine than that. However, the fact that there is such a feminized men’s look that is so pervasive all over the city shows that Italians are accepting of such an image. As Fausto-Sterling discussed, gender does not have to be separated into distinctly male or female. Men and women can wear some of the same clothing items, especially in a place where their bodies are not so different from each other.

The company’s website promotes their ideology of striving to provide well-made clothing at a reasonable price and their target consumer is 18 to 35 years old. Because they are targeting the average male, they are saying that pretty much anyone can have this look. It is not an image of luxury or boring conformity; they are appealing to men who want to look good and stand out without having to try too hard or pay too much money for that look.
As an interesting side note, the company profile emphasizes that “the style organization is all Made-in-Italy,” but in a different section it says, “90% of the production is made in China, in a facility where the Company holds a participation quote. The remaining 10% is made between Italy and Turkey. Shoes and Leathers are 100% Made in Italy” (http://www.morato.it/2011/cp_ss11_eng.pdf). They are appealing to the idea that Italian clothing is well made, but many of their consumers probably do not realize that the clothing is not actually made in Italy, which is the main reason why they can sell their clothes at a lower cost.

Antony Morato’s ad appeals to Italian men because Italian’s have an ideal image of a man who fits a less masculine form compared to American men. This is possible because gender and sexuality in Italy (for young adults today) is not as categorically based as it is in America. This image brings men’s and women’s style closer together and provides a more fluid continuum between the genders.