The Gaze

The Gaze is an important methodology for catagorizing diverse visual cues. This ad, by the Fox clothing company, is the adjusted version of an earlier one taken down after protests from the Orthodox Jewish community in the city of Tel Aviv. The original ad depicted the same models in far less clothing and what we can only assume was too suggestive for the local population. I see the image as depicting the irony of the situation. The models are still looking at us but the joke is on us, because instead of the Orthodox covering their eyes to avoid being tempted by the scantily clad models, the models are covering their eyes to avoid being... tempted?? I don't think their expression signifies temptation, I think their expression depicts an expression of an inside joke, a mocking expression of fun at the viewer's, presumably Orthodox, expense.

The gaze is exhibitionist in nature, but on its head, the desired object (the models) are actually looking at the viewer in a mocking nature. Not only poking fun at the fact that the Orthodox couldn't look at them in their previous gear, but also mocking the fact that they can't join them

in whatever fun they appear to be having, smiling and giggling. The gaze could even be seen as identification of the Orthodox viewers perhaps wishing they were in the picture, imagining themselves seeing the ridiculousness of their pious wardrobe, or maybe the gaze would be considered transgressive then.

In conclusion, its difficult to imagine what the gaze means to someone so far outside our culture. How could we pressume to guess what an Orthodox person might feel at seeing this ad? I think it may be our belief system which makes us think they might feel envious or mocked. From my past research on the Orthodox Jews, they would never feel this way, their religion places them in a social hierarchy which, in their opinion, places them closer to God and superior to all others. But it is still interesting to imagine what they might think as they gaze on those billboards.