This is a post mainly about infantilization in advertising.
This was first brought to my attention by my mother, who, while we were walking through an exhibition of photography from the 1980's, told me how she mourned the loss of pubic hair. She echoed the sentiment of Alan Davies, her favorite comedian and permanent QI panelist, and how he "fondly remembers the days of pubic hair".
As Jean Killbourne says, in her film Killing Us Softly 4, infantilization of women has become the newest thing in ads. More and more photographs are showing models who look young, or dress like young women. They seem innocent and weak compared the dominant men photographed in advertising. This culminated in the most disturbing ad I've ever seen, which had a girl who could not have been over 12 holding her teddy bear. This line reads "Who knew innocent could be so sexy?". Its an ad for ointment.
I want to approach this in two parts. Firstly: Since when was it socially acceptable to say that 12 year olds are "sexy"??? Did I miss the memo, or has something changed. I thought that was pedophilia... but I could be wrong. Secondly, this is greatening the age divide even earlier: Know even 18 is too old, and you need this ointment to look sexy, because it is so restorative. This ad really makes me sick, and I believe it paints a horrible view of feminism. I hate it and everything it stand for. Its is disgusting.
Lastly, I was watching a song by the comic Tim Minchin, entitled "If I didn't have you" and one of the ways he describes a perfect women is one with neck down alapechia. Again, just... gross.
No comments:
Post a Comment