Last week, the internet was gooped, gagged and on all fours over a particular Calvin Klein ad campaign staring Golden Globe winner Jeremy Allen White. This week, a Calvin Klein campaign starring FKA twigs from April 2023 has been banned in the UK after the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) declared that the ad was likely to cause “serious offence” by objectifying women. Now, FKA twigs has spoken out over the absolutely cooked double standard.
According to the BBC, the ASA ruled that the image — which showed a full-body shot of FKA twigs standing side-on and nude, covering her nipple and half her body with a denim shirt — placed too much focus on the singer’s body than on the clothing advertised.
They claimed that by focusing on FKA twigs’ body, it “presented her as a stereotypical sexual object” and therefore “the ad was irresponsible and likely to cause serious offence.”
The ruling came after two people complained that it was “overly sexualised”.
However, FKA twigs did not agree with their complaints. On Thursday, she posted the gorgeous image in question and absolutely slammed the ASA’s ruling.
“I do not see the ‘stereotypical sexual object’ that they have labelled me. I see a beautiful strong woman of colour whose incredible body has overcome more pain than you can imagine,” she wrote.
“In light of reviewing other campaigns past and current of this nature, I can’t help but feel there are some double standards here. So to be clear…I am proud of my physicality and hold the art I create with my vessel to the standards of women like Josephine Baker, Eartha Kitt and Grace Jones who broke down barriers of what it looks like to be empowered and harness a unique embodied sensuality.
She then thanked Calvin Klein and the creatives on the campaign which allowed her to express herself exactly how she wanted.
“I will not have my narrative changed,” she concluded.
A LITTLE LOUDER FOR THE PEOPLE AT THE BACK!!!!!
FKA twigs has always been pretty forthcoming with her love for the shoot. Back in March 2023, she praised the campaign, writing on X — formerly known as Twitter — that it was an “honour” to represent the brand and to closely work on something that “reflects me as a woman and an artist”.
So, if Twigs is cool with it, why aren’t the ASA and a couple of people in the UK?
Well, in my opinion, it’s all because of a cheeky dose of sexism and race-based prejudice.
Let me explain.
Last week, I literally wrote an article to showcase how feral we all went over Jeremy Allen White’s extremely horny Calvin Klein campaign. And for good reason — he’s hot — but so are Kendall and FKA twigs.
Calvin Klein’s campaigns are underpinned by attractive people with the “it” factor wearing their clothes. It would be naive to think the brand is selecting their talent only on merit, rather than picking people who are the object of fantasies.
The gold is in the marketing — otherwise, they’re just another brand selling undies and basics. But the difference in this scenario is that no one had any issues with the objectification of Jeremy Allen White.
While I recognise the rancid history of objectifying women, I don’t think that’s what’s happening here.
While I recognise that women have had a history of being objectified which has negative impacts, however, I think often we ignore the nuance. There’s a difference between objectifying women while they simply exist in their everyday lives to when they’ve been stylised and have actively helped design an entire campaign orchestrated to promote desire.
Calvin Klein faced similar accusations in the UK about its campaign with supermodel Kendall Jenner, but in that case, the ASA deemed it “acceptable”. Their reason? Kendall was apparently holding her breasts in a way that didn’t portray her “as a sexual object”.
Calvin Klein defended itself against both sets of complaints in a statement.
“The images were not vulgar and were of two confident and empowered women who had chosen to identify with the Calvin Klein brand, and the ads contained a progressive and enlightened message,” the statement read.
The brand also mentioned how the poses were “natural and neutral” and stated how both Twigs and Kenner collaborated with Calvin Klein on the project.
There are a few things that grind my gears about this scenario.
Another issue I take with FKA twigs’ campaign being banned in the UK over complaints citing objectification, is that it feels racially pointed.
Black women have a long history of being objectified and dehumanised. Sadly, according to a 2018 research study, this trend continues today. While the report claims that the instances have become less blantant, the research suggests that subtle objectificating and dehumaising perceptions are still felt towards black people, resulting in damaging consequences.
The thing is, the idea that FKA twigs’ body as an inherently sexual thing because she’s showing it is objectification. In my opinion, it’s interesting that the ASA and the general public didn’t feel the same way about Jenner or White’s campaigns.
At the end of the day, we are comparing oranges and oranges. All of these campaigns are sexy Calvin Klein shoots which involve the display of the celebrity’s body just as much as they showcase the product. But only one was banned in the UK.
