I was wondering what others thought of the No Comment page in the last issue of Ms (spring 2009). They are encouraging readers to protest a Calvin Klein ad for jeans that appeared in Rolling Stone magazine. I'm not sure what's offensive about the ad, so I wondered if there was something more that I don't know about.
The ad shows an attractive young woman with three young hunks. Two of the guys are making out with her and the third is lying on the floor looking spent. There's nothing that looks coercive or violent in the picture. They all look quite happy. Am I missing something?
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I had exactly the same thought about that ad. I did not find the image to be offensive. A typical offensive ad would be women fondling one another for the enjoyment of the male gaze, while one or two wolf-eyed men lick their chops, but this seemed not to be the case at all. The woman is not presented as powerless, and in fact, she might just be the most powerful one in the image. I would be interested to hear how others see it.
I don't see what is especially offensive about it. I guess some people find it offensive whenever sex or nudity are used in an ad, so there's that. But it doesn't seem sexist to me at all. Usually an ad would show one guy and three hot girls to sell a product-- I like that this one went the other way around.
Although, at first glance I would have thought Abercrombie and Fitch. It seems more their style. I haven't been in a store in several years, but they used to sell their catalog in a brown wrapper because it was full of soft core porn, often featuring groups of young adults, often with more guys than girls.
Looks pretty fun to me. Besides the typical issues of unrealistic bodies, etc. the image doesn't offend me at all.
I dunno but I think I just got an clit erection. (lmao)
I believe the offense people may have (including myself) is that the people in the ad look very young, maybe teenagers. It could make young men think that it's okay to have a 4somes, which it is if there's consent or that women enjoy having 4somes?! haha. The girl just looks....vulnerable to me. The objectification of her body as her shirt has mangically disappeared and the fact that you can't see her face stands out to me. It is also very heterosexist to me.
If you watch Jean Kilbourne's documentary "Killing Us Softly", it will give you an understanding of media portrayals of women and the destructiveness of it.
I like it..
I think it defies the "masculine" ideal for three/foursomes by having only one girl and three guys, instead of one guy and three girls.
I'm not sure what voice is complaining, as this is the first I've heard of the ad.
From a "traditional" perspective, it's a woman enjoying herself with more than one partner. One is already tired, and she still wants more. She's not settling for just an okay experience.
From a more feminist lens, the body image thing, but why target this ad specifically for that?