Beyond bruised faces and invisible men? Changes in social advertising on male violence against women in Italy

This paper examines how male violence against women is represented in Italian advertisements. It focuses on the recent developments in social and commercial campaigns, showing their connection to broader changes in the public discourse on gender-based violence. The analysis builds on the assumption that effective social advertising should promote a paradigm shift to reflect the complexity of the phenomenon and encourage a different social perception of it. Gender-based violence is a symptom of the cultural order that moulds our gender identities and our intimate relationships. Only those campaigns capable of going beyond the symptoms to reveal the ingrained set of cultural norms that legitimize male violence can be effective. Today the pictures of bruised faces are so embedded in our everyday imaginary that they are almost invisible. It is only by questioning these practices that we will grasp the roots of male violence and develop strategies to stop it.