Was this magazine ad for Calvin Klein’s OBSESSION FOR MEN controversial because it featured an underage Kate Moss disrobed, or because it winked at the greater fashion culture fixation masquerading as the androgynous waif look: the sexualized, pure, although suggestively available, almost shapeless, pretty, prepubescent boy?
[Found at Bleeding Queers]
it was a girl that’s totally different xD… or something like that…
nope it’s not equal or fair when it comes to things like this… thats life…
by the way nice pic!
that would be the latter.
Do i get a prize?
Not particularly fond of the fragrance…
It’s a good marketing strategy, but traps upset some people.
Yes, Calvin Klein is like the Robert Mapplethorpe of the fashion industry. Remember the other controversial ads with the kids in their underwear? http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/resources/educational/handouts/ethics/calvin_klein_case_study.cfm
It is unfortunate that there are so many ignorant people that can’t accept nature and its beauty. People call it “pornographic” and “unnatural”, but what’s more unnatural, nakedness or clothing?
“or because it winked at the greater fashion culture fixation masquerading as the androgynous waif look: the sexualized, pure, although suggestively available, almost shapeless, pretty, prepubescent boy”
It’s the boy thing.
The supermodel look is basically grown women trying to look as much like 11yo boys as possible – and this ad proves the point beautifully.
This ad made a few men realise that – to their own horror …
- Rmr
I’ve always loved CK’s ad copy! He never fails to be willing to display whatever he thinks it will take to make as many people as possible all horny at the same time . . ..
I also think that his ads that sparked the greatest controversy were some underwear ads that looked similar to the one at the top of the linked page described in the 4th comment, but, the the ads I’m thinking of had more than two models posed and the boys, in particular, looked more like strung-out street urchins rather than pretty, androgynous waifs – plus, the models were posed in such a manner that, if the models were indeed underage, would qualify as kiddie porn in the US.
Kate Moss is one of a select few women I’d definitely go straight for! ;)
Definitely a great picture of Kate Moss. I have it in my book « KATE, the Kate Moss Book ». Thanks, Claude
The oicture shows Kate’s body : full lenght. C.S.
I’m sure the creator of this ad knew full well he was trying to slip randy youth into the mind of every one who saw it.
How ‘straight’ guys react to homoerotic things can be a mystery to me. I read something on supposedly straight guys who go in for penis enlargement. What was the number one reason given for electing this? Pleasing their female partner(s) would have been my guess. – But no! These guys reported they were embarrassed to show theirs in the gym locker room! When ever I’m in a locker room (which is rare) I’m usually worried mine will get too enlarged on it’s own; don’t think like a straight guy do I.
when i first saw it, i thought it was a boy… i didn’t realize it was a girl until i read the paragraph
I’m not sure, if Kate Moss was still under 18, when this photo was taken (I think rather not). Anyway, it’s true that often boyish beauty was replaced by a gynocentric understanding of aesthetics during the last 2 centuries. In the beginning of the 1800s you’d still see a lot of nude boys, especially in the works of leading artists like David (example: http://www.wga.hu/art/d/david_j/4/414david.jpg), but then the idea that women should be the sole ideal of human beauty gained more and more importance, so that in the end of this century, even the traditional way to depict angels as male youths changed and they got female curves and breasts, so if you were now searching for “angels” in google, you would mainly find pictures of girls with wings. Here in Munich there’s another example of this: our town is represented by a monk, who later became a boy-monk, but now this role is played by a young woman at the beginning of the Oktobefest – absurd.
“The beautiful boy” disappeared in modern times, but sometimes he’s re-emerging despite all hypocrisy. :)
“boyish Edit” by the Pink Rabbit ^^,
Who is conversing about it? What is so odd or so unusual about this ad or so interesting that anyone of any number would bother to converse about it? I fail to get it. It is not even interesting.