To “celebrate” its television debut on Gossip Girl on March 16th, the Park Avenue Winter on the Upper East Side will treat “girls of any age in a school uniform” to a complimentary dinner, with two free drinks thrown in for patrons over the legal drinking age.
Ugh. Let’s begin with the obvious: the schoolgirl uniform fetish relies on the sexualization of girls who are too young to legally consent to sex - more commonly called pedophilia. Real young women who wear the uniforms to school face consistent street harassment from men who are old enough to be their fathers when the uniform itself should be a big OFF LIMITS sign.
But, those young women are probably not the target age-group for this upscale publicity stunt. I can just imagine where Park Avenue Winter’s marketers were going with this one: lure scantily clad women into the restaurant, give them two free drinks and dinner and middle-aged men with a schoolgirl fetish will be right there to buy them that third drink. Perfect, since objectification seems to be recession proof.
Of course, the ad specifies a woman (of any age, but no points for not being ageist while being incredibly sexist) must wear the uniform; I wonder how the management would receive men or gender non-conforming persons willing to wriggle into a plaid skirt for free dinner and drinks?
Why don’t we ask them?
Labels: sexism
I'm was so excited to see you posting on Feministing, as I just had to watch your movie for a Women's Studies class.
Society seems to deem sexually desiring little girls completely fine. Most of the major pedophilia/statutory cases you hear about in the media with such outrage are situations where little boys are preyed upon. (Catholic priest fiasco, those few female teachers who had sex with their male middle school students). Would Lolita be such a well-loved piece of literature if it was a woman kidnapping and falling in love with a young boy? I don't think so.
"Society seems to deem sexually desiring little girls completely fine."
Though it may have been an exaggeration, it is clear that society does not directly view the sexual desire of young girls okay. I think we're more growing toward that point.
It's just that people are so used to objectifying women, that in the media, it appears more heavily emphasized when boys are preyed upon (as stated). Which that in itself says something.
But trust me, there is a good majority of our society finds sexually desiring young girls completely inappropriate.
It's just that the growing community of those who do find it okay/practice such beliefs; and the quiet acceptance, because others say nothing of it, is slowly beginning to change people's thinking.
Yet I think because in this country (and others too, just not the school uniform one as much) most female uniforms have become sexualized and fetishized---including skimpy nurse costumes, maid costumes, even fairy tale and super-hero characters' 'uniforms'-- so it becomes part of a male's sexual fantasy--sleeping with the nurse or schoolgirl.
Thank you for being our feminist on the watch in NYC!