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April 30, 2008
Disney and underage girls
It's been interesting watching the Disney reaction to the flap over Vanity Fair's tamely sexualized photograph of Disney star Miley Cyrus. Even though Miley willingly removed her shirt while posing for magazine pictures, she says she's "embarrassed" to have those pictures out there in the world for everybody on the planet to see. Who knows, maybe she reconsidered and really is embarrassed. Or maybe the producers of her show are trying (in vain) to maintain her squeaky-clean image.
Whatever change of heart Miley may or may not have had, Disney's response to the photos is totally clear: they blame Vanity Fair for exploiting their young star. Spokesperson Patti McTeague said, "A situation was created to deliberately manipulate a 15-year-old in order to sell magazines."
It's like Disney is just begging for someone to track down an instance of the company using sexualized images of young girls to promote their own products.
Slate contributor Daniel Brook is happy to oblige.
Brook dug out a photograph he took a few months ago in Beijing of a billboard ad for, of all things, a Disney bra-and-panties set intended for 12 year-olds. I have discreetly covered the potentially shocking areas of the ad with an emblem of unblemished virginal intactness (though the scaffolding in front of the billboard adds a disturbing, girl-in-cage kind of aspect) but you can click on the pic for the original version.
Embarrassing!
Asked about how this ad manipulates a pre-teen girl in order to sell Mickey-themed underwear, another Disney spokesperson has been trying to rationalize. Yes, they approved the image, which was created by a Chinese licensee of their brand. And in Disney's defense, the spokesperson says that in China these kinds of images are "not unusual at all" (like they are over here...?)
categories:
Business, Celebrities, Gender, Media
posted by amy at 11:56 AM | #
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Comments
Oh, 12chan, huh?
There's really not a lot to see, but if you click on the image, the original picture is still there. I just added the Mickey faces to be funny, they're not actually covering anything.
Posted by: amy at October 8, 2008 9:39 AM
Who cares. How about Disney's violence?
Posted by: anon at October 8, 2008 1:04 PM
Omg now little girl cant wear panties with Disney logo and cartoon ??
so what if girls likes to look cute, China is not a moslem country where girls must wear sheet over her face.
I think its cute and Girls will love to wear this and feel lovley .. I am also a female who was born in HK
Im sick of every blog site spaming about how young woman wears things that are "too" cute bla bla, the human body is not to be ashamed of EVER!
Posted by: Mae at November 23, 2008 1:24 AM
Mae, YOU are as ignorant as the brain you left behind. Wake up and smell the deterioration of your "common" sense. Obviously you have no sense whatsoever so why attempt to reason on anything. You have no mind, intellect, nor smarts. I would reccomend applying for a postal job, something that requires little or no thought whatsoever.
If you are so "sick" of "every blog site" (impossible btw) - please move to another planet and stop reading blogs. HHHEEEEEELLLOOOOO!!
Posted by: C432 at June 15, 2009 7:49 PM
Can we see the original image?
Posted by: Anon(12chan) at October 8, 2008 1:00 AM