So Calvin Klein got some half-naked models to pose for an ad and put it on a billboard on Houston street?
Ooh...racy!
And everyone’s in an uproar…
Of COURSE they are! Of COURSE Calvin Klein was betting on a socially center right country to freak out over what is, frankly, a lot more tasteful than other ad campaigns in recent years with similar vibes:
how soon we forget...
This line, from a clearly thoughtful blogger not unlike myself, may be the best I found in my scourings of thoughtful blog posts on this topic:
“Calvin Klein displayed a barely pubescent, topless girl in various stages of hook up with more than one gorgeous but no doubt ill-intentioned man…”
My thoughts:
1. If that girl is barely pubescent, I would like to be barely pubescent. Look at her, for God’s sake! We’re not talking Lolita here!
2. It is sexist beyond comprehension to suggest that these three men are “ill-intentioned” regarding their behavior with the girl. Does this girl look “taken advantage of”? Does she look “put upon”? Does anyone look anything but 100% complicit in this act? And, again, compare the Calvin Klein to the D&G ad above if you want to see what intentional “ill-intentions” look like. That D&G girl looks like she is struggling…does that Calvin Klein girl look like she just can’t get away?
Look, you can personally object to it, say it’s dirty or unholy or whatnot, but to suggest that there’s no way that this girl would commit the act portrayed on the billboard willingly is insulting.
In fact the only “ill-intention” I see is the likelihood that these men are gay (given the statistics in male modeling) and that they may go ahead with this foursome even though they are not really attracted to the girl. Now that’s mean!
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