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"In a culture where images
generally wield more power than words, the public has become accustomed
to the child-woman (a.k.a. the waif, a near,ubiquitous form seen in fashion
magazines for almost a year) as the mascot of backlash, the leading signifier
that strong women provoke deep uneasiness among certain people. Yet the
reaction to these particular pictures has been intense. Accusations that
they toy with child pornography have been leveled by a bevy of British
psychotherapists and magazine editors. The Independent, the London newspaper,
criticized the outfitting of Moss in what it called 'see-through knickers
reminiscent of sex shop merchandise'. And what, exactly, are these pictures?
Are they, as the photographer insists, an attempt at documentary fashion?
Are they just part of the waif continuum? Or are they an attempt at not
just child pornography but some sort of class porn, that is to say, the
eroticizing of the low-rent girl?...
"...All are images of the child-woman,
fragile and vulnerable to the point of breaking. Like a piece of fruit,
they are cheaper for being slightly damaged; like all little girls, they
seem easier to manipulate than grown-up women...The forbidden is titillating,
of course, which is why the helpless young girl has always been eroticized
for her tender age and shaky economic status."
--"Victims of fantasy",
Elizabeth Kaye, New York Times columnist, The News & Observer,
6/9/93
"Why can't we develop the principle
of freedom with responsibility? Why are we so reluctant to face up to the
fact that our behaviour has consequences for other people..."
--"Liberty has got to mean responsibility",
Melanie Phillips, Guardian Weekly, 3/21/93
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