Saturday, April 16, 2011

5 Year Old Wears Pink N ail Polish in J. Crew ad: A Ridiculous Media Frenzy Follows



In a recent J. Crew advertisement a little boy is featured wearing hot pink nail polish on his toes. Now some are calling this "transgendered child propaganda." What?!

The image comes from "Saturday with Jenna" which is a page that features favorite products by J. Crew president and creative director Jenna Lyons and her family. Jenna included an image of herself painting her 5 year old son's toenails pink. The caption reads, "Lucky for me I ended up with a boy whose favorite color is pink. Toenail painting is way more fun in neon."

According to a recent online article by Brett Michael Dykes on Yahoo News blog "The Lookout", Dr. Keith Albow wrote in a Fox News op-ed and stated, "Yeah, well, it may be fun and games now, Jenna, but at least put some money aside for psychotherapy for the kid—and maybe a little for others who'll be affected by your 'innocent' pleasure."

Again, per the The Lookout, Erin Brown of the Media Research Center stated in her post on MRC.org, that J. Crew is a brand favored by First Lady Michelle Obama, therefore J. Crew is exploiting the 5 year old boy to advance "liberal, transgendered identity politics."

It really amazes me that there are people in a uproar about this issue. When it comes to boys behaving in ways that are traditionally designated for girls suddenly there is a problem. When it comes to girls behaving in ways that are traditionally boyish it seems that there isn't as much of an issue.

If this 5 year old boy is gay or transgender it has nothing to do with the fact that his mother painted his toes hot pink. But these media hounds are insisting that being gay or transgendered is something to fear or avoid.

I think the focus should be self-examination. Why is sexism and homophobia being caressed by these individuals?

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