Bodies and Clothing Analysis
Les mannequins
          This series of iconic photographs was taken by fashion photography legend Helmut Newton in 1975 for French Vogue, advertising the Yves Saint-Laurent Le Smoking Tuxedo for women.  The series (particularly the first photograph) has since become one of the most famous in fashion photography, and Yves Saint-Laurent has been praised for being one of the first well-respected fashion designers to create a design for women that embodied the high-powered esteem of men.It is interesting that the tuxedo here is taken as the symbol of all that is good about masculinity -- power, control, dominance, action, success -- so that by merely wearing the article of clothing, the woman is able to transcend her lowly social status and possess all that is valued in men.  In the fist photograph, a woman stands alone, hair slicked back, gaze aloof, and emanating male body language, with her left leg confidently bent forward, her hand in her suit pocket, and her other holding a cigarette.  She is hinting, both through her body language and clothing, at male attributes, and yet her body itself is shaped as a woman's.  This violates the viewer's expectations -- now, as well as when it was originally published in 1975.  The second photograph shows the same woman, this time standing with a nude woman.  The second woman's feminine hat, heels, and lack of clothing render her passive and recognizably female.  She stands behind the woman in the tuxedo, demurely gazing past her masculine company, placing both her hands on the suited woman, while the woman in the tuxedo continues to hold her hands in almost the exact same positions as the previous photograph, as if oblivious to the newcomer's presence.  The most noticeable difference is that now, the woman in the tuxedo places her leg upon the sidewalk, as if forming a barrier in front of the nude woman.  


         
          This positioning recalls gender norms on a variety of levels.  First, the "woman" is placed behind the "man," showing who is in control and dominant.  Second, she attempts to be emotionally and physically engaged, whereas the "man" responds with an emotionally collected indifference and masculine authority.  The third photograph blatantly reveals the homoeroticism of the first two photographs.  Again, the gender roles are made clear not only through clothing, but through body language as well, the "man" with "his" hand ever in "his" pant pocket, "his" other pulling the "woman" in toward "him" (notice how it is not until the subject turns to sex that the "man" actively touches the "woman," naturalizing both the male preoccupation with sex, as well as the female yearning for emotional intimacy).  Then as now, the series has been considered to be provocative, but also highly erotic in its creation of a fantasy in which some women assume traditionally male gender roles and clothing, while others retain their femininity through nudity, docility, and sexuality.



          Contrast this series with the fourth photograph (left), an advertisement for Swatch watches, published in 2006.  Here, three Japanese sumo wrestlers are depicted performing ballet in pastel colored tutus.  A young girl stands in the background with her arms crossed as if to say, "Let me show you how it's really done."  In opposition to the first series, this advertisement is meant to be humorous.  Not only are these men in women's clothing, but they are sumo wrestlers, known for their violent displays of masculinity, here pictured engaging in the gentle feminine act of ballet.  The men have invaded the woman's domain, and in the process, have made fools out of themselves.  Perhaps the reason why the first series is seen as erotic rather than humorous is because the male sphere is a privileged one, and one that women should want to be a part of, while the female sphere is less desirable, and the thought of a man wanting to become a part of it strikes the audience as absurd.  Perhaps that is the reason why the man in the center (quite subtly) looks at his watch, checking the time as if to finally be done with this ridiculousness.