Nudity and the "Feminine" in Advertising

Be warned this is my first Blog post EVER!

I've always found it interesting how nudity in American culture is such a taboo in mainstream adds. I have chosen an advertisement for Modess feminine pads (dating from the 1950's onwards to about 1970) as reflected from the French and from the American stand point. In the French add a woman (one add) stands serenly in her bedroom completly nude and the American women (multiple adds) are posed and contrived in very elegant gowns and settings covered from head to toe so to speak. The French add seems to say menstruation is a natural part of a woman's life and that there is nothing to be ashamed of and very accepting of the fact, with maturity. Whereas the American add screams we should keep it hidden at all times and be sanitary, compartmentalizing the female as if it is a dirty thing we must keep in secret. Could this be compared to Pierce in the sense that the naked body of a woman in advertising tastefully done as a symbol of nature in one culture namely French is viewed entirely different then that of which American culture finds acceptable or tasteful? You just don't see naked women in adds in America unless it's in the adult section. A little on a tangent for the following...it's OK to tape your but cheeks together in a "Jackass" episode or have naked girls flashing there breasts all over some flick gratuitously and without reason, of which there are many, or rape scenes for that matter, another staple in the Media forum of cinema.

Cultural perspectives in advertising and Media do play a huge role on the collective and individual conscious with or without our knowledge. Clearly the adds Song posted for American Apparel are not nude but the girl may as well be, which if she kept those poses would be considered pornographic! It sends a very objectified message, and yet there they are for all the world to see. And what's more it has nothing to do with clothes. It's an image of "sexuality" imposed on young girls and women overall. While one is selling clothes and the other feminine pads I find it absurd that it's dirty to have your period but not dirty for a pubescent girl to suck on a lolli pop with your legs open for millions to view. Hey at home do what you like I'm no prude, but what are we selling here?

I promise to get better at this. Here's the link you will have to click on the French version once you reach. It will open on the American adds first. http://www.mum.org/modbec.htm