Women's Issues
I have been aware of this Marc Jacobs perfume ad for "Lola" for perhaps six months or so, but I was made aware of it again in mid-November when I read that it had been banned in the U.K. I am not surprised that it was and I wish that it were banned in the United States too. One of my major problems with this ad is that it features Dakota Fanning, a teenager, in a very sexually provocative position. Fanning is wearing a short dress that appears quite childlike in style with its polka-dots and light pink color. Between her legs is an oversized bottle of perfume, precariously positioned in a rather sexual manner.
While Fanning is actually 17-years-old, the way in which the ad makes her look is much younger than that age, in my opinion. Fanning appears to be more like 12 or 13-years of age and I think that the advertisement does this on purpose. It is disturbing because it makes it seem like 12 and 13-year-old girls are sexual and knowledgeable about sex.
Another interesting point to make about this advertisement is the name of the perfume "Oh, Lola." Could this perhaps be a play on Nabokov's famed book "Lolita" -- a story about an older man who becomes obsessed with a 14-year-old girl? This isn't the only association we can make to a famous artist. The red flower on top of the bottle can be seen as representative of the female genitalia. Georgia O'Keefe was a painter who famously painted flowers as representations...
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