J.Y.
Abercrombie & Fitch. Photograph. Abercrombie & Fitch, New Albany.
So, while some would argue that it’s a stretch to compare the crimes of pedophiles to the effect of print media, it still raises the question. The print advertisements that are exposed to teens are illusions of the ideal figure, yet the images are superficial. These images result in teens creating superficial expectations of how they should be perceived to the opposite sex and their peers. All this stimulation not only may be leading to the over sexualizing teens, but it may also be crushing the self-esteem to such new lows that teens are experimenting with more extreme behaviors to feel more worthwhile. It isn’t the teen population that is producing the media or print ads, it’s adults. Adults often times hold teenagers accountable for sexual behaviors but sexual print advertisements that show teens in sexual positions or sexual actions are made and controlled by adults. These advertisements have a significant impact on the normative actions of these teens. Child pornography exists, and these images aren’t being viewed by the children, but adults. Whether making children look like adults or adults looking like children, the advertisement industry has complete control of the influential images being exploited to the targeted population, which in this case, consists of adolescents. Clearly, the only ones who seem to be profiting from this are the adults themselves (Luscombe). Maybe if adolescents produced the media for themselves, they’d have a little more to offer than just appearance and for appearance sake. One thing is for sure; they won’t get it from the pages of Vogue or Cosmopolitan.
And To Sum It All Up... Click Here
Calvin Klein's Racy New Ad. Perf. Bianca Solorzano, Dr. Jenn Berman. CBS News, 2009. CBS News.
Stuck on You. Photograph. Levi’s, San Francisco. // Britney Spears, Candies. Photograph. Kohl's Illinois, Inc. // Mark Wahlberg. Photograph. Calvin Klein, New York City.