by Jane TallimMedia Awareness NetworkMay 2003
Over the past ten years, advertisements in mainstream magazines have increasingly relied on the explicit sexualization of both men and women to sell products. Over the same period, the models used have become younger and younger.
The images in these ads often contain or imply
violence
superiority and domination
dismemberment (fragmenting and sexualizing body parts)
playfulness and exaggeration
coy behaviour
approval seeking
emaciation
drug addiction
fetishism
It's not unusual in the fashion industry to see very young models setting standards of attractiveness for older women. What's new is the emergence over the past two decades of highly eroticized portrayals of these young women. The same trend applies to men: images of very young men commonly focus on the abdominal/genital area, with traces of pubic hair or genital “bulge” clearly visible.
