Pop Culture, Gender and Sexuality

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 of the female genitalia. There is no doubt that the flower on top of this bottle and with it positioned between Fanning's leg was meant to insinuate something sexual.

The ad itself isn't over-the-top sexy in that there isn't any skin showing except for the skin on her leg and her arms. That is not the problem with this ad. In fact, I think that if it were over-the-top obviously sexy, the ad wouldn't have been banned in the U.K. The problem is in its supposed innocence. The pink colors, the polka dots, the pale and almost makeup free Fanning gazing into the camera. The ad is showing a wide-eyed, what appears to be a very young girl in a sexualized manner and this says something about how we think that it is okay to sexualize young girls in our culture. Not only this, but there is something in Fanning's eyes that looks much older than the dress she is wearing or the childlike position that she is in. It is silently saying, "I am old enough to know certain things," yet the look is juxtaposed by other elements in the ad that make her appear to be so young.

This ad is a prime piece of sexual propaganda, which keeps women in a place of vulnerability in our culture. It is propaganda that says that it is okay for men to lust after young girls and that young girls may even like it. The flower may be symbolizing that young girls are even prepared sexually for whatever sexual advances men make. A man may look at this ad and think that advertisers are allowing this young girl to be sexualized and so it must be okay that I sexualize young girls in our society. The man is basically given permission. On the other hand, young girls look at this and think that that is how they should look. They may be drawn to the photo because of its young movie star and its pretty pink tones. They will look at Fanning's beauty and think that they want to be like her. They may mimic her look and think to themselves that looking childlike and sexy to men is what is important. They make believe that it is right and good in society and that it is their role to tempt men, to be young Lolitas -- and this is so wrong.

This advertisement does something bigger as well. Society is maintaining that it is okay to sexualize young girls when they allow ads like this to be published. Everyone who allows this or who buys this perfume is saying that they don't have a problem with it and that this is the norm. I think that the perfume maker (Coty) saying that there is nothing overtly sexual about this photo is lying. Advertisers are out to make money, plain and simple, and they don't care if it is at the cost of sexualizing children or making it okay for men to sexualize children.