Giorgio Armani Junior Ad Sparks Polemic in Spain

[novella]

The advertisement shows a little girl in a bikini. The investigation started a few days after Dolce & Gabbana was forced to pull an image from Spain showing a woman pinned to the ground by a man as other men looked on.

A Giorgio Armani advertisement showing a little girl in a bikini has drawn the attention of Spanish authorities who are debating whether it depicts a child in an improperly sexual manner.

The Madrid regional government's child protection chief said on Monday he would ask the advertising industry self-regulator to consider whether the image visible on the Italian fashion house's Web site (www.armanijunior.com) should be withdrawn.

The decision was taken a few days after Dolce & Gabbana was forced to pull an image from Spain showing a fashionably dressed woman pinned to the ground by a man as other men looked on.

Parents have complained about the Armani Junior advert, Arturo Canalda, head of child interests for Madrid's regional government, said. "It's an advert where little girls aren't portrayed in the attitude of little girls," he said. They are wearing make-up and they are about six or seven."

The black-and-white Armani Junior poster shows two little girls, one wearing a bikini top and with her arm around the other.

In an email statement the Italian firm, said: "The matter will be reviewed once complete information has been received concerning the specific complaint."

( source: http://www.eitb24.com/new/en/B24_39118/life/ADVERTISING-POLEMIC-Giorgio-Armani-junior-ad-sparks-polemic/ & image from http://www.armanijunior.com/index.jsp?language=en&site=JR&movieSession=../media/AJr_home.swf&audio=acceso )

^ I'm not quite sure what to think of it...

 

[Meg]

I do sort of understand the vague sexualization of children. But at the same time so many little girls wear bikini's. I Know when i was 2 or 3 i always wore little purple bikini's. It's part of children's swimwear so.....

 

[Arielaine]

I really hope their intentions were pure in putting this little girl in a bikini. The photo doesn't look overtly sexual; so, I'm going to remain optimistic about it

 

[Arielaine]

This reminds me of the controversy Cindy Crawford sparked when she had her daughter pose topless for a spread.

http://hollywood.outsidethebeltway.com/2006/09/cindy-crawford-allows-daughter-to-model-swimwear/cindy-crawford-daughter-bikini-2-pic/
Source: http://hollywood.outsidethebeltway.com

With the fake tramp stamp and the "come hither look" this pose is overtly sexual.

 

[tigerrouge]

I remember buying an issue of Elle Top Model probably around ten years ago, and there was a photo gallery of Claudia Schiffer's family, which showed her topless at the age of 10. A magazine wouldn't be allowed to print that shot these days, though it seemed entirely OK at the time.

It's a double-edged sword - an increased awareness of the possibility of hypersexualising children also leads people to see sexuality in images that might not otherwise suggest any such message.

I know, two decades ago, when I was five or six, that I ran around at the beach topless like every other child at the time did. Yet now, parents have to think twice about taking photographs of their own children having fun in the bath, in case it's deemed inappropriate nudity.

What I see in that image, is a young girl wearing a frilly item of clothing, the type that appeals to children who adore femininity. But if people complain, it's only right that their points of views are considered. I'm not a parent; I might feel differently about the advert if I were.

 

[Arielaine]

^ Valid points. I love the Shirley Temple movies and she's topless on the beach in one of them, and I didn't think anything of it. I don't think the Armani ad was bad either. I actually thought it cute. However, I don't like the Crawford ad because of the tone of the photo (although the girl is adorable)

 

[ilaughead]

What? It's perfectly fine. I think some people need to cool off about these things.

 

[kissmesweet]

^^ Thank you, it looks cute and innocent. I don't see anything wrong with it...