Pop Culture, Gender and Sexuality Term Paper

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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.

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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….....

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"Pop Culture Gender And Sexuality" (2011, December 08) Retrieved June 7, 2026, from
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