Heliotropium Arborescens

Watching "Killing me Softly 3" is equally as eye-opening as it is horrific.

A slew of magazine ads I'd flipped through at the La Jolla public library as a tween reappeared in class today. Kate Moss in Calvin Kline with protruding hipbones I had worshiped, silly 90's makeup trash, and the worst reminder of padded-bra ads imaginable.

A pattern seems acutely obvious after Jean Kilbourne's sociological journey through male and female roles in advertising. As vulnerability (demure, virginal sexiness) collides with mass-media, women discover the appeal of devalued, objectification... as "style" or whatever form of capitalistic empowerment the Spice Girls were toying around with (back then AND now). Heterosexual men find themselves fitting perfectly with the passive-vixen ideal, as control-hungry, cleavage fiends. How can't they resist playing counterpart to an American society of sexualized array of pre-teens to women, smitten with the antiquated "seen and not heard" anthem.

I am familiar with one form of dancing: sweaty grinding. Even with my platonic friends. With my best gay friend! I have never dressed to any magazine or tv standards, I haven't had the opportunity to spend money on opulent makeup, but I truly fit in with my friends who do. I love Paris Vogue, are you kidding? Carmen Kass is the reason I have my cartilage piercing on my right ear. How much say do I have in my own passions?

Second guessing is fun, much like Valium.

My favorite scent in my microcosmic world is heliotrope blooms, which google has proven to be a intrusive threat to anywhere but Peru. Advertising is richly coated with fantasy and The All American dream, that even the most hostile of its agendas are discarded.

http://www.jeankilbourne.com/