Dirty dancing…and it ain’t with Patrick Swayze.
February 6, 2012
The following article appeared in the paper yesterday – a perfect follow-on to my last post.
It hits the nail on the head.
How have we allowed the music industry to portray women in such a soulless demeaning way?
OK. Do you agree?
I’m going to go down Nostalgia Avenue again – Sorry, I can’t help it…
Music and I have always had a close love affair. My earliest memories were of my best friend, Katy, and I preparing endless dance routines in her living room. It had a perfectly placed mirror to be able to watch the ‘magic’ unfold – our best work being a fabulously choreographed number to ‘Copacobana!’
Our dance moves were heavily steeped in 70s disco influences…and we looked fantastic! This music love affair continued with the birth of the walkman – a device I HAD to have. Music everywhere I went? How wonderful! In Year 11, I worked in a chicken shop (called ‘The Game Cock’….I kid you not), to pay for said walkman. My Duran Duran cassettes certainly got a work out…
At this time, music videos really took off. Of course there were music videos before, but they started to take on a new life – it wasn’t just an artist standing in front of a microphone and singing; stories started to be told through the videos.
I LOVED it. There was nothing like watching Countdown on a Sunday night (the cause for GREAT conversation on the bus the next day) or Sounds on a Saturday morning. I remember the pure excitement of waiting for the premier showing of a video….it was simply awesome….*sigh*
Now, I don’t think I sound the same as parents of the day, shielding their burning eyes from the thrusting pelvis of a certain Elvis Presley – I actually love some dance music, House in particular – really love them. I do, however, feel that things have definitely gone down a dark road for women in music videos. The worst part is that many women artists are perpetuating this image.
Pussycat Dolls – enough said. I always felt that they sent out very confusing messages to women – not needing a man being the main message in one song, to tormenting a boy whose girlfriend is not “hot” like her (or a “freak” like her), to practically begging a man to “loosen up her buttons”. But one thing always stayed the same – their videos were like soft porn.
On a different branch, one of the things I feel most disappointed with, is the fact that female artists that made it BIG being ‘wholesome’ and gained a very large, young fan base, all turned to soft porn to sell more albums. The unfortunate part, is that as they were watching the older market of consumers they could ensnare to buy their music (with means that had nothing to do with music), they turned their backs on the young ones, who continued to watch…and learn.
The first words of Christina Aguilera’s song ‘Dirty’ are of a man saying, “Dirty, Filthy, Nasty.” There’s that word again – dirty.
The accompanying video was just what they guys wanted to see – Christina in a dark and dingy boxing ring being cheered on by beefy men, as she danced as though she were in a strip show…I don’t really think it was for us. This was at a time when all of this was starting to warm up.
Here’s a shot of her from around the same time.
Of course there was also Britney – she who performed a lap dance every night of her last world tour, to a male audience member (amongst other things):
Both these women have sons. They will ALWAYS be able to access images of their mothers in this way….forever. It’s such a shame that the allure of more money took precedence over anything else. I wonder if they regret it, now that they’re mothers.
So, there are still music videos on a Saturday morning – but my daughters can’t watch them. Which is a real BUMMER. I want my girls and their future ‘Katy’ dancing to great songs in the living room.
I would love to think that there is a way to make a change with this.
Question #11: How is change possible, when women are helping perpetuate the soft porn image in their videos?
Growing up…’80s style.
February 3, 2012
In 1985, I was 15 years old. A pure ’80s teen.
I can’t help but smile at the tragic elements that made the ’80s so unique…and how I love them so. For all the Aussie readers, I was watching Rage the other night and they’re going through a retro stage, by playing countless episodes of Countdown – from the mid ’80s. MOST excellent! As I watched, I couldn’t help but cack at what the audience looked like. Classic!
There were lots of girls wearing baggy jeans, that came in a bit at the ankle (mmMMmm), with bunched up white socks, lace up shoes (think Duran Duran….my idols!), baggy shirts and big bows in their hair. Noice.
From memory, there were also the shoulder pads, tube skirts, odd hair-cuts (long on one side, short on the other – as well as the classic massive, teased fringe or spiky numbers), big shirts with a belt over the top, fingerless gloves, flouros, pastels, paisley, tartan, bubble dresses….aaaahh, good times. I can literally see the younger readers flinching…and you’d be right to…because on the whole, it was a baggy look…and we looked like dags. *still grinning*
Fortunately for us – it was the fashion. It was ‘in’.
Please cast your eyes on the wonderful specimen I was in 1984, at the Year 9 dance – my first ever dance with boys:
There is a white TIE at the front of this fabulous outfit….that I wore to attract a male of the spiecies (no luck, though – Ha!). Please also note the girls in the background with their full, long skirts. Imagine a Yr 9 dance today – what would the girls be wearing? Mmmm….exactly.
So, on this Countdown episode, Howard Jones is up and starts to lip-sync (as they all did back then) to his song:
“I’d like to get to know you well…I’d like to get to know you well…I’d like to get to know you well, so we can one, we can be one, to-gether.” (Remember that one?)
So as I’m watching him, with his long shirt, teased hair and excellent lip-syncing skills, surrounded by all those daggy audience members, I start to smile because they really do seem like more innocent times.
But not on the inside – it was the same hormones, same wants – just not so transparent and ‘in your face’.
I suppose the realisation I had, was that the music lyrics and videos of the 80’s were endearing because it was ‘tongue-in-cheek’. We all knew, like a ‘secret club’, what the lyrics were really about. Younger kids would be oblivious, because the video clips didn’t match what was being sung. I remember Cindy Lauper had a song called, “She Bop”. Now at the time, the word around the school yard was that the song was about masturbation (oooOOooo – so naughty *wink*) – but the video clip featured her in a suit, with a top hat and tails. It kind of felt a bit grown up to be part of the secret club – my younger sister certainly had NO idea what the song was about.
So what do we have today?
Well, about five years ago, I remember there was a VERY popular song on the radio that had a lot of the words beeped out (Eminem *gag* was one of the singers). I did remember the line, “I wanna girl who will do whatever the *beep* I say, every day she’ll be giving it up.”
Nice. Classy. So I looked the lyrics up and this is a sample of it:
[Eminem]
Get buzzed, get drunk, get crunked, get fuuucked up
Hit the strip club, don’t forget ones, get your dick rubbed
Get fucked, get sucked, get wasted, shit faceded, pasted
Plastered, puke drink up get a new drink
Leave the bathroom sink [puke], wipe your shoe clean got a routine goin’
Still got a few chunks on them shoe strings shoin’
I was dehydrated till the beat vibrated
I was revived as soon as this bitch giyrated
Them hips and lickin’ lips and that was it
I had to get Nate Dogg here to sing some shit
[Nate Dogg]
Were gonna have a party, turn the music up
Let’s get it started, go ahead shake ya butt
I’m lookin for a girl with a body and sexy strip
Wanna get it poppin’ baby step right up
Some girls they act retarded, some girls about it bout it
I’m lookin for a girl that will do whatever the fuck
I say everyday she be givin’ it up
[Eminem]
I’m a menace, a dentist, an oral hygienist
Open your mouth for about four or five minutes
Take a little bit of this fluoride rinse
Swish but don’t spit it, swallow and now finish, Yeahhh!
Me and Nate D-O-Double G lookin for a couple Bitches
With some Double D’s pop a little chapagne and a couple E’s
Slip it in her bubbly, wheee fittin ta have a party [Nate Dogg]
Were gonna have a party, turn the music up
Let’s get it started, go ahead shake ya butt
I’m lookin for a girl I can fuck in my Hummer truck
Apple bottom jeans and a big ol suck
Some girls they act retarded, some girls are bout it bout it
I want a bitch that sit at the crib with no panties on
Knows that she can but she won’t say no
Now look at this lady all in front of me, sexy as can be
Tonight I want a SLUT, would you be mine?
I Heard you was freaky from a friend of mine
I mean seriously. They’re singing about drugging girls in one line, amongst the rest of its hideousness. Could young men hear this and think that’s the way it is – or worse still, the way it should be? Surely, the answer to that must be YES. They’re singing it in a song on the radio, aren’t they?
Now we have the women joining in, singing songs that sound like soft porn (how else are they going to make money, if it’s not to sell themselves short?) Why would a guy want to call a 0055 number, when he can turn on a popular radio station or go into any shop that plays the music and hear a girl moaning and singing, “I like it when you lick me there”? (I heard this one recently).
So couple this sort of music, with their corresponding video clips and hyper-sexualised women and surely you start to mould a generation.
Where’s the ‘secret club’ gone?
Question #10: How can we combat the influence of the current paradigm of music and their videos?
Warning – use of strong language.
January 28, 2012
A few months ago, I was on school holidays and flicking through some daytime TV. I happened to land on the ABC and saw Gail Dines doing a presentation to what looked like some MPs or equivalent.
She was showing how women are now, more commonly, being repreaented. Nothing really surprising. Then she made the following – what I thought was an ‘a-ha’ – point:
She was showing an image of a woman on the cover of Sports Illustrated looking….well you can imagine – and she said, “We all know what she (the woman on the cover) is trying to communicate, don’t we? The ‘Fuck me’ look.” Yep, that’s it.
She said that when she discusses the topic with senior high school students, they come up with the same – no mystery there. She then asks the students if any of them can get up and demonstrate the look. Of course, there are always girls who volunteer.
However, when she asks a boy to do it, she gets a different demonstration – because when a guy does the ‘Fuck me’ look, everyone, including himself, start to laugh. Why? Because it looks silly – as Gail explains, guy can’t do the ‘Fuck me’ look – he does the ‘Fuck you’ look.
Yes.
Yes.
Think about the common way in which our young adults, teens and now children are being depicted. Isn’t what she’s saying right?
I feel like, if we boil it all down, the simple message is that a female is nothing unless she’s seen as ‘Fuckable.’
This is the moment I need to interject my own argument – to make sure we’re on the same page (or not).
I don’t have a problem with a woman being sexual – we are sexual beings. I believe a woman – every woman – has it in her to be attractive + confident and intelligent. But in this ever stifling pop culture, where can our sons and daughters see this modelled?
Again, I’m talking about BALANCE – something I’ll keep referring to because it’s not so much what’s out there (to a degree it’s always been ‘out there’), but where’s the yin to complement the yang?
I don’t know if you watch regular TV, (I don’t have cable – just the free-to-air stuff), but The Good Wife ad has caught my attention. It saddens me that – beside the fact that some of the main female stars look like they’ve gone under the knife a few times – it seems nearly irrelevant that the ‘good’ wife is a lawyer. The WHOLE ad campaign leading up to the new season has her main photo in lingerie, there’s a sexy shot of her on a bed, with raunchy music playing throughout, and the slogan, “Don’t let the name fool you” – obviously…because she’s a naughty, naughty girl.
Now she’s fuckable. Well, that’s a relief!
Here are some promo shots from the show. Here is Julianna showing how her character NOW has strength and won’t be a door mat. What, by performing sexual favours?
Another female character, ironically also speaks about being a ‘badass’…in her over-the-knee leather boots, short mini leather skirt and VERY tight shirt.
The MEN however….Same job and yet, there’s a tired weariness in that first shot – hard day at work ending with a well deserved whiskey – plus the fact they’re all fully dressed in the suits they would actually wear to work.
Why are the women not wearing what they would actually wear to the office in these shots??
Should our daughters watch it and get inspired because she’s also a lawyer? Maybe. But there doesn’t seem to be a hell of a lot of choice – after all, there’s also stupid and fuckable.
The saturation of this simple, subliminal, messaging in popular media means that we are ALL being subjected to it – regardless of age. After all, my interest in discussing this show ONLY came from one ad campaign. As we go on with our lives, in the background there is an incessant drone, telling us over and over again, through these representations, that a woman’s worth is whether she’s ‘Fuckable’ and a man learns that this is what he has to look out for. This is incredibly limiting.
Question #8: Do you think that it’s OK for women to be portrayed in this manner?
If you hadn’t noticed, start paying attention to the limited blueprints that are being delivered to you about women and girls, and how the same message wallpapers us in outdoor advertising and narratives.
Nothing can change unless we wake up as a society and stop consuming what we’re given without critical reflection.
A short post.
Question #7: Why are we allowing ‘consumption’ to be the most important life goal, being taught to our kids?
Not only do ALL people have power over consumerism – women in particular, hold a unique market – THE BIGGEST!
It’s time to put that power into action – for the sake of our children – our girls and boys – who are being moulded since birth.
Yes, we’ve always had the push to consume – but….the reach it has now is unparralleled to when we were younger – I mean, I was in my mid twenties when mobiles and things like hotmail, were just taking off. There’s NO comparison, so our parenting and guidance has be both more aware and present.
Read this:
http://jennifershewmaker.com/2012/01/23/media-and-children-its-not-all-about-the-parent/
I looked into the mirror…
January 25, 2012
After arriving home from being “professionally developed,” and having just driven through one of the many torrents of water falling over Sydney (and everywhere else on the east coast – get your goggles on!), I decided to get into my j-mamas (as my daughter used to call them when she was little. *smile*).
So, as you can imagine, I’m not looking the best….but I looked at myself in the mirror. I took a long look. And do you know what?
I like what I see.
As I pondered on this, it dawned on me that things really started to turn around for me, in many areas of my life;
when I liked what I saw.
Now let me explain that my long look in the mirror today, started with me noticing how peppered with greys my hair was. Then I proceeded down to my forehead – a road map of creases; my eyes – lots of lines of varying width; and some pigmentation to the skin that seemed to start after having kids.
But I’d rather have lines, than not move.
Yes, when I lift up my eyebrows in front of a mirror, there is that tiny recoil at how deep-set those wrinkles are – but I know that when others see them, it’s coupled with the reaction to a great story or excitement…
When I laugh, I want my face laugh with me!
I don’t believe a man, however, has the same pressure. In the media, there isn’t a repeated, ‘beautiful’ look for a guy – one that’s wallpapered in everything he sees, making him feel pressure to conform to its guidelines. The media says that a man can look and behave in MANY different ways and women will still find him attractive. Have you ever seen shows where the couple comprises of an overweight, plain-looking male and a gorgeous, thin woman? Would you ever see that show in reverse? I don’t think so. Look at that horrible show, Two and a Half Men. I don’t know about you, but Charlie Sheen’s character and OUTFIT, were foul. And yet scores of women were lining up, gagging for him. Please.
For us, though, there seems to be a small window of what’s considered ‘beautiful’ and that image IS wallpapering our world.
No, men can gain weight, look any way they like, age gracefully (and some not so gracefully) – but we love ’em all the same.
Question #6: Why can’t we love ourselves in the same way that we love our imperfect men? Why can’t we extend ourselves the same courtesy?
Not loving our own, UNIQUE beauty, but rather obsessing with an unachievable ideal (see the link in my last blog posting), is sending us crazy!
It’s making us spend SO much more money than guys, in All areas of fashion and grooming – trying to do what exactly? A woman who’s unhappy with the way she looks will never be able to ‘fix’ herself because another wrinkle will always appear and the skin will always continue to loosen. This equals a woman we think ‘has it all’ but is ironically as miserable as the rest of her gender. Just look at Olivia (and countless other women in the public eye).
LOVE.WHAT.YOU.SEE.
I bet you that when you do – really do – everything else will start clicking into place. It did for me. x
A scary photo.
January 23, 2012
I feel a tiny sense of betrayal…
I saw this image today and thought, “What has Olivia done to herself?”
An important question because she looks disfigured and plastic – and she was a naturally, stunning woman before she started to be unhappy with what she saw.
So now she looks like this.
Does anyone else see a bit of Jack Nicholson’s The Joker in that smile? This is not where I feel a sense of betrayal – I just feel sad for her.
“What? Sad? But, she looks FAB-u-lous!”, some women might say. “Why not? If it makes her happy.”
Well, I agree. If it isn’t hurting anyone ‘Live and let live’ ….but….maybe it is hurting someone.
So this is what BAFFLES me and where the sense of betrayal comes into the picture;
Question # 5: Why are we rewarding our fellow women for LOOKING unnatural?
Why are they flattered on TV by hosts? About how great and beautiful they are, when it’s OBVIOUS that they’ve had ‘something done’….and look weird.
I don’t get why they would want to fashion their looks around the same ‘doll-like’ look. Again, no sense of being unique.
Are we really saying, “Good.On.You.” to women who have the money to demonstrate, to us all, how they feel about their inadequacies in the public eye?
Well yes, it seems we are – because we look up to them, make them richer for it AND start our path modelling ourselves on them – along with their feelings of inadequacy. This is because, in essence, it’s an unattainable image, so we feel bad about ourselves. And now that women’s images are ALSO altered on a computer – what hope in hell do our young girls have, in attaining a healthy self-image? (Click on the link below for more on this)
I’ll repeat the title from the previous post: “You can’t be what you can’t see” – and what our women, of all ages, are seeing nearly everywhere, is FAKE.
I feel like there’s only one clear message – “Girls, you TOO can be a success – but only if you look like this.”
Surely we should be saying, “Wow”, to naturally attractive, sexy, older women and plastering their image all over the place. Helen Mirren, anyone?
If you watched the trailer in my previous post, you would have seen that “Women hold only 3% of clout positions in telecommunications, entertainment, publishing and advertising.”
That means that this look and many others we don’t like, are ultimately being decided upon by men.
FACT. Not male-bashing, just a fact.
So, what are we to do?
* Teach our young (and older) women that:
If she truly believes she’s beautiful, she will RADIATE that everywhere she goes – I mean, look at the alternative – those women in the public eye showing the exact opposite. And do they think they’re beautiful? Probably not. They would always find flaws; something to fix.
* We also need to teach our young (and older) MEN that:
There are more wonderful facets to a woman, than the way she looks – despite what the media is showing them.
I’ll leave you with a You Tube posting that needs to be shown to as many young women as possible! It’s great.
On a personal note:
It’s back to full-time work, for me, tomorrow. I’m back to the preparing and professional development stage of school – before the kids start next week. I’m so new to blogging, I don’t know if I’m doing it right. My goal is to write a few times a week – but I’m not sure how that’s going to go when I’m in the full swing of high school teaching, caring for my family, chores, sleep etc. etc……but one thing’s for sure – I wish I could just do this all the time. *smiling*
“You can’t be what you can’t see.”
January 22, 2012
The quote in the title of this post is from a film called “Miss Representation.” It was aired at The Sundance Film Festival last year – but hasn’t made its way to Australia yet. I’m trying to see how I can get a copy of it because it looks amazing. I want to show it to ALL my students, male and female.
“You can’t be what you can’t see.”
Simple really.
Check out the link below of the trailer – let me know what you think.
Miss Representation 8 min. Trailer 8/23/11 from Miss Representation on Vimeo.
Guess who’s back!
January 21, 2012
This is a catch phrase of my husband’s, when he enters a room the girls and I are in. Makes me smile.
Anyhoo, I’ve been on a small beach holiday with my hubby and two girls (9 and 5)….and no internet connection! I’ve been itching to write but there’s SO much to say and (hoping to) discuss with you all. It’s a bit daunting, actually. Where to start….
I could start with what I saw on my holiday; where a lot of my impressions about how things are, were reinforced.
What is it with the MAJORITY of girls wearing their ‘summer uniform’ these holidays? You know – shorter than short, shorts; singlet top with visible bra; sandals/havaianas. (Or the classic short shorts with ugg boots, bungalow bunny look….in summer….hmm). I haven’t got a problem with shorts, OR a visible bra, OR sandals/havaianas (I have both) – I do, however, have two problems with this outfit:
Firstly – IT’S A UNIFORM!! At my high school, many female (and male) students take up arms on the uniform front and verbalise that stale argument, “It’s just clothing, it won’t affect my learning” – and then go home, get changed and look, pretty much, like most other girls. (Boys do this too – but the way they dress is for a later discussion).
The irony of this kills me. They look like clones. To coin another phrase in the same blog – my good friend Lily recently went to a formalish party and commented on the ‘cookie cutter’ outfits – spray tans, short dresses, visible bust, platform shoes – does anyone else see Bratz Dolls?
No sense of individuality or of being unique – one in a million.
Secondly – The amount of girls using this outfit to express a tone of sexual availability, is not only on the increase, but being expressed by girls who are younger every time I look.
I passed a group of five women in the supermarket this week. The first two were girls in their early teens, looking particularly spicy in their ‘uniform’; flicking hair, chewing gum and showing big, doughy eyes behind heavy eye make-up. The next two were girls aged about seven or eight. They took my breath away a little, because they were as equally decked out but with no obvious make-up…..still…..as I continued on, a bit wide-eyed at the young ones, I look up to see the fifth woman – the mother. She may have been the mother to one or all four – but they were all a feast of visual candy.
And we’re supposed to look, right? Isn’t that the point?
Last year on Australia Day, in a similar beach town, I saw a teenaged girl – she looked about 18 – wearing a bikini top with short denim shorts. The zipper was half undone and on her stomach she had drawn an arrow pointing down to her crotch with the word, ‘Heaven’.
WHY???
But it’s not just at the beach. On a recent train trip to the city with my daughters, a loud, mid-teen girl sat in front of us. She was swearing and speaking quite loudly, which made you look at her. What did we see? She was basically wearing a bra, a cup size too small as she was spilling over, with a tight singlet top that covered a bit of the bottom of said bra.
WHY???
I mean, you have to understand that I’m not a prude – I’m not offended or going *tsk, tsk, tsk* – but I do truly wonder why SO MANY of these young girls are sending out such a strong (and dare I say, possibly dangerous) message, through their ‘choice’ of outfit. Has the term ‘self respect’ disappeared from these girls’ vocabulary?
So I’m wondering:
Question #4: Where’s the guidance?
Well, would you look at that…
January 12, 2012
This is a happy entry that’s giving me a warm fuzzy feeling inside.
After many, MANY complaints written via email, Facebook etc., Typo issued the following statement:
“Please be advised that we are withdrawing the “porn is our saviour” and various other products from our stores. As an organisation, the Cotton On Group respects family, social and moral values.”
Yes.
So, it appears that when a bunch of articulate women get together and communicate a firm, “No, we’re not having that” – something gets done. (Yes, there were equally outraged men, but women were the predominant voice).
But the key word there is communicate. COMMUNICATE.
Last year, I took my then 8 yr and 4 yr old daughters to the movies. We were early, so we did a bit of window shopping…well I did! *smiling*
When we stopped at the surf shop window, I saw a man’s singlet with the words “Pursuit of Happyness”. The image was of a woman’s body (no head/no identity) in a black dress, holding a champagne flute. Her legs are spread and her dress is up. Behind her is a man with one hand at the base of her breasts and the other between her spread legs – under her underpants. The corker is that you see HIS face – as he’s smoking a cool cigarette, in another superimposed image on the shirt. See the image below.
I was incensed. I started to walk away, because I was scared to say something. What would I achieve?
My stomach was flipping. I walked past two more shops before I turned on my heel and went back. I called over the only female salesperson and asked her why such a deplorable image was in their front window for anyone to see – especially children. Her response was, “Yeah, but we’re not the only ones!”. She was about 30, but sounded like one of my high school kids. I told her I knew that and that was why I was complaining. She agreed with me and gave me their Head Office number. In the following week, I tried calling numerous times, but no one EVER picked up. It was the same as the number on their website, but it was dodgy.
After the movie, I went past the shop and noticed that it had been taken down from the shop window and put with the others on the rack – just inside the front door – where a teenage boy was certainly enjoying looking at it.
OK, so it didn’t change much, but even that small action has to worth something, right?
After all, ONE less t-shirt being bought and worn with an image of an over-sexualised woman or one showing violence against women, is one less walking billboard – because that’s what they are!
If you feel that you want to keep up with issues, such as the Typo incident, or report shops for selling items like the shirt I saw, there are two great groups that I follow on Facebook. One is called ‘Collective Shout’ and the other is ‘Say no to porn t-shirts.’ Check them out – they are always on the lookout and have started and won some great campaigns!!
Question #3: Why are we so afraid to speak up and say something?
Pursuit of Happyness
I have a dream…
January 11, 2012
As I was half asleep when I wrote my first entry – I failed to mention that I do, in fact, have a dream and it’s the fuel behind this blog.
I know it sounds cliched but I actually do dream of a time when we take action – together – and create the change that, I think, is paramount. I look around and see that the world that once was, is diminishing. And it seems the ONLY reason for it, is to make a buck – regardless of consequence to the society it’s moulding.
What do I mean? Well, as an example, when I was a teen in the 80’s buying a ‘rude’ magazine meant the embarrassment of walking up to the counter with a magazine wrapped in plastic – everyone would know what was being bought. Why on earth was this measure taken? Was it because there was some sense of moral fibre and ethics?
Now let’s jump to today. Due to the internet, porn is now the largest chunck (by far) of what the internet is about. Seeing as you could get it on-line so easily, businesses and marketers realised they’d hit the jackpot. They could slowly filter in the classic ‘sex sells’ slogan – but where’s the line?
Please allow me make something clear. I truely believe that we as humans have NOT changed – pretty much ever. I think we have the same desires, wants and dreams that we did generations ago. What I think is disgusting today, is the predatory way businesses (predominantly men) are leeching on these feelings – to make money.
So, have we crossed the line? I would argue that we have.
Take Typo – owned by Cotton On. I LOVED that shop. It was so quirky and cool – it had some items with images of The Beatles, London, New York – loved it.
Not any more. First I saw the mugs emblazoned with ‘Porn is my Saviour’ and then I had to distract my 8 yr old daughter from the iPhone cover displayed behind the counter – the image you see before you – a naked girl with the word DIRTY.
Why are we dirty?
To all the girls AND boys who view this continual type of image – isn’t it going to subliminally teach them something?
This is from a family-type (I thought) stationary store, but there are SO MANY examples to discuss, so I ask you:
Question #2: Have we crossed the line?
Dirty
Questions for Us 