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working here, in America. Here,
women can't wear bras on
television (ads) without wearing
leotards under them. My first
reaction is that this is very risque
for American advertising. It may
be a bit too much to see a woman
barebreasted. (The ads) would
work in England, but the shock
value wouldn't work."
In Barnes' opinion, a
"tremendous difference" exists
between American and
European advertising. He
explains, "I think there is a less
puritanical attitude underlying the
advertising in Europe. Most of the
beaches are topless in Europe
and they are very, very blase
about it. In Europe, advertising
isn't generally sex for sex's sake.
In England, it's the aesthetics and
humor that are important.
Unlike Benokraitis, Barnes
does not feel that the Calvin Klein
ads are reflecting what women
buy, that's just a fact of life. Now, I
think the exploitation is a bit more
subtle. There's definitely a great
deal more of male sex
exploitation."
Exploited or not, our society
has changed dramatically in the
past two decades and these ads,
some contend, merely reflect
society. According to Green, the
rules in our society have definitely
changed. "It's a more permissive
society," he explains. "You can
get away with things now that you
couldn't 20 years ago, in T.V.,
movies, music, and everywhere.
(Provocative advertising) It's just
a sign of the times."
Green feels that television
sometimes "goes too far." He
explains, "I'm not a prude, I just
don't think it's all necessary.
Permissiveness without
knowledge is very harmful to kids.
Just to have blatant sex in the
visuals on MTV, I don't think
that's smart."
Local psychologist Michael
Abramsky agrees that society
has gotten more lenient.
"Sexuality has always been a
hidden lure for people,"
Abramsky says. "That's not new.
What's new is that it's out in the
open."
Society has been innundated
with nudity and sexual
suggestiveness for a number of
years now. Television shows like
"Dynasty" and "Knotts Landing"
utilize sex to increase their
ratings. Magazines — not
Playboy or Penthouse but
fashion magazines like Vogue
use nudity to show fashions and
illustrate their articles.
Benokraitis notes that the
reason these ads are so
successful "is because we are
repressed. To use sex to sell says
just the opposite. The fact that we
rely on women's nudity says it's
very important to us. Nudity, the
way it's done (in the Obsession
ad), is very sexist. What the
reader is focusing on is not the
person . . . the woman's face is
not in the ad and she's naked .. .
she's vulnerable, he's not.
1V udity, the way it's
11 done (in the
Obsession ad), is very
sexist. What the reader is
focusing on is not the
person .the woman's face
is not in the ad and
she's naked ...she's
vulnerable, he's not.
-
"Very often, the woman's face
is not shown. For me, the issue is
not pornography, it's using
women's nudity to sell
something. Even Ms magazine is
using sexist ads. Some of them
seem innocuous. The images of
women are, consistently, that we
don't have to take women
seriously. I don't think women
realize how much power they
have. The percentage of people
concerned about this is terribly
small," Benokraitis says.
"Women have assumed the
times have changed. I think a lot
of women don't recognize it.
Many of these ads are geared
toward women who are very
unhappy," she says, adding that