Monday, March 05, 2007

Gross

In total violation of my bloggie break and the spirit of Favorite Things Monday, I'm writing today to bitch/vent/fume. Expect cursing. Consider yourself warned.

What the fuck is this?




Why is an Asian woman dressed like a little girl?
Why is she pulling up her skirt for the camera?
Why is she dressed like a little girl and pulling up her skirt?
Why is she looking in the other direction? Is she being coy? Or is she uncomfortable?
What's with the sock monkey? Is it simply to further enhance the little girl imagery?
What is she planning to do with her sock monkey? Hump it?
What's with the corn field? Is she rushing off to the corn field to have an illicit affair with a sock monkey? Is this a solo excursion (i.e. she's in control of pre-pubescent sexuality?) Or was she brought to the corn field by someone who needed a private place to take pictures of this hyper-sexualized child-like stance?

Why are we, in the craft world, accepting this shit?

Would you stand in the middle of a corn field, dressed like a little girl and pull up your skirt while holding a sock monkey?

Yeah, I didn't think so.

It would feel really really fucked up, wouldn't it?

This photo could be worse, I suppose, if she had pony tails and a delicate floral print.

Still -- this photo is taking Cute-itis, which is nearly always associated with Japanese crafting culture, to a whole new level. It's cute + sexist + cultural misappropriation + exoticizing + sexualizing childhood, all wrapped up in a funky mod package with an objectification bow.

Ever since I entered the cyber crafty world, I've been uncomfortable with the obsession with "cute." Stuffies abound. I cringe when I see grown women across the craftosphere obsessing about all things "cute" but I tell myself "it's not my cup of tea" and try not to be judgmental of other makers. Stuffed cats and dogs and dolls = yuck; a stuffed praying mantis = irony = cool. In other words, No Tea Cozies Without Irony.

However, this cover of N.E.E.T. Magazine is really gross. And I'm pissed. For better or worse (worse, I'd argue), crafting is primarily a female pursuit. Craft blogs are primarily written by women. Women are the target audience for magazines like Craft and N.E.E.T. In fact, N.E.E.T. is part of Bust's Girl Wide Web.
With an attitude that is fierce, funny and proud to be female, BUST provides an uncensored view on the female experience. BUST tells the truth about women's lives and presents a female perspective on pop culture. BUSTing stereotypes about women since 1993.

We're the target audience for N.E.E.T. -- smart, creative, unique, diverse, savvy women. This imagery doesn't speak to me, and if you agree, join me in correcting the misconceptions of the folks at N.E.E.T. by emailing them at:

thefashionmagazine AT gmail DOT com

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hm… corn field, the landing choice de rigueur for alien ships… the little girl is in fact an alien trying to "blend in" to study our race and her outfit is the result of slapping together the cultural icons grabbed from advertising. I'm sure that must be it.

maryse said...

i can't comment on what the thought behind this cover shot was since i'm so out of the loop i hadn't even heard of n.e.e.t (other than the alternative to nair with which i'm very familiar as i come from a long line of sasquatches). but i do have to agree with one thing you said. the whole cute thing. i actually was disappointed that the bizarre bazaar was not nearly bizarre enough.

Emily said...

Why all the capitals? Makes it hard to read.

AGree +++ re the cover. Crap of the highest/lowest order.

Chris Q said...

This looks like stupid hipster crap to me. is this actually a craft magazine, or just an homage to run of the mill, glossy sexist fashion mags, that is marketed toward crafty people?
I am certainly not cool, if that's what cool is these days.
they can take their supposed irony and shove it up their a$$es.

Rhonda the Stitchingnut said...

M-m-m-m, this grandmother knitter has never heard of N.E.E.T. Is it really a craft magazine? I never would have stopped to browse thru just by looking at the cover. I guess the mod look is way beyond me also.

Anonymous said...

That's just trash. I thought feminism was about lifting ourselves and each other up not stepping on our bodies for money.

If I saw that cover and didn't know what it was I would have assumed that Playboy was getting creepier than it already is. That crap rates right up there with sexualizing incest (wanting to sleep with sisters/twins/brothers in the infamous menage a trois). Pathetic and juvenile.

Barbara said...

Also very creepy is that she is pulling up sock monkey's dress too...

Anonymous said...

I just wanted to say that my crappy internet connection failed to load the photo and all I had to go on was your description of what was happening in the photo and I nearly died laughing. You are hilarious. And it SOUNDS like that cover is cold, wet and wrong. I'm hopping on the protest train! But not in a sex way. You know what I mean.