D&G chauvinist violence

The BBC have just reported that,

Italian fashion house Dolce & Gabbana has said it will stop advertising in Spain to protect its "creative freedom" after being forced to withdraw an ad.

D&G accused Spain of having a "climate of censorship" after it was accused of "justifying" violence against women....

It [one D&G advertisement] was outlawed in Spain last month after a government body, the Women's Institute of Spain, and a consumer group, branded it as glorifying "chauvinist violence".

It was later banned in Italy. It has now been pulled from all world markets.

The only alternative interpretation of the image that Dolce and Gabbana could have claimed was that it was a representation of consensual (group or exhibitionist-voyeuristic) sado-masochism; but it wasn't and it was appalling for D&G to claim "artistic freedom" to present violence against women in a positive light and to use that to sell their products. As the Women's Institute of Spain observed, it was clearly a representation of an act of "chauvinist violence".