Sex Sells

Black Swan wrote: »

Attwood, F (2005), Fashion and Passion: Marketing Sex to Women (Sexualities vol. 8 no. 4 pp 392-406) suggests that "women are increasingly targeted as sexual consumers" in clothing fashions, body pleasure products, "Sex and the City" episodes and films, etc. Increased sexual consumerism (i.e., "pornographication" of mainstream media) has occurred during the late 20th Century and expands into the 21st, with the historically new social construction of a markedly different role and expressed sexuality for women.

No, I wouldn't agree with her idea there. The objectification of sexual desire to sell products/objects, is not something unique to the late 20th century. Neither are body pleasure products. You can go back to beginning of human civilisation and across many cultures and you will find all of these things. Art objects absolutely depend on intangible features they have been imbued with; subjectivity is literally the untouchable, but fragments of subjectivity can be superimposed on objects; an example being painting. Erotic features may be obvious, but they can be sublimated. A good example are depictions of Christ on the cross. The basic image has been repeated so often, that by comparison features are more readily apparent. They're often deeply erotic, with Jesus in the throws orgasm of excruciating agony and ecstasy.

Feona is very wrong. There is a very complex modulation of features, let's call them subjective features, nebulous and intangible, of which we can comment on the presence or absence of their projections onto objects, through time. It's not something static, or something that is only increasing. And one of the most interesting places you see this modulation, is by comparing American and British magazines over the last 50 years or so. And some of these magazines had both a British and American edition, the editorial choices, the difference can tell you a lot about the culture. And you can see cultural shifts.

If you look at 1950s magazines from both, you'll see women presented as sexless home makers. In the 1960s, the American magazines became much racier, the British stick to their knitting patterns. Then by the late 80s, a really radical switch occurs. The English magazines become racy, and the Americans go all Martha Stuart.

I don't know what to say as regards to Attwood's paper; it has a slight appearance of an anxiety ladened and apocalyptic, form of erotic literature in itself. An unstated endpoint being young woman writhing in sexual ecstasy on the floors of churches, in a state of demonic possession, spitting accusations of witchcraft, creepiness, and micro-aggressions.