Thoughts on French Vogue, Tom Ford & Kiddie Porn

Yesterday I wandered into a magazine store in the city and saw the December French Vogue and was almost giddy when I realized that it was almost completely devoted to Tom Ford, one of my favorite people in fashion. (I felt similar when I picked up the issue all about Kate Moss!) I also love it because it's an opportunity to practice my french and I appreciated when Tom said he was tired of the Cult of Youth and backed this up with a brilliant and provocative shoot of an older couple.

There was also a shoot he did that was a sort of parody of plastic surgery that I liked okay, but it felt kind of like a rip off of a shoot that Steven Meisel did in Italian Vogue a few years ago...but overall everything related to T.F. in the issue made me happy.

What didn't make me happy –in fact annoyed the shit out of me was a spread in the beginning of the magazine that had little girls dressed like women. Now I might get called too "politically correct" for hating this, but let me be clear: I hate it. And I'm not sure if it's a cultural thing, that in America we have those ridiculous children's pageants where little girls are sexualized without evening being aware and maybe in France they just find it amusing but I find it maddening. It's not even shocking: it's like that rapper guy Vanilla Ice or Howard Stern at his worst. Poor taste to get a reaction. And so I'm doubly annoyed with myself that I am reacting to it. But anyone who can't see the relationship between these kinds of images and kiddie porn and pedophilia are delusional. Or perhaps never knew a young girl who has been sexually abused. In my opinion let's please at least consider puberty before putting make up on kids –even in the name of "fashion" –we can do better than this!