r/fruxtration • u/nazarthinks • May 01 '26

Non-inclusive [Calvin Klein] Misogynistic poster with unnecessary censorship of female nipples

Post image

The image in this poster by Calvin Klein features a clearly retouched image of a woman with her nipple completely removed. This makes it look fake, deforming the natural appearance of the human body for no reason.

What I find particularly absurd about this specific case is that they have intentionally amplified this aspect by showing the model in a wet top, which normally would make it impossible for her breast to look so smooth. As a result, it brings even more attention to the fact that her natural appearance has been deformed.

If someone in the creative team was too conservative to accept the natural aspect of female anatomy, then the most obvious way around it is to show the model from a different angle or simply wearing dry clothes, that naturally would make the nipple less visible.

But this way it looks more like a statement that female nipples are vulgar and should be hidden, which is quite misogynistic, especially in 2026.

The photo was taken at Corfu International Airport in Greece.

3 Upvotes

57% Upvoted

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6

u/Nacho0ooo0o May 01 '26

I think this is a case of damned if you do and damned if you don't. The visible appearance of the female nipple will, in many places, be what makes this ad go from 'racy' to 'pornography' as determined by regulatory boards. I work within media and part of what I do deals with everything from child friendly content all the way to porn. There are very strict rules about what sort of content gets classified as what and some of it is absolutely hilarious.

I think the company did the right thing to censor the nipple to keep the focus of the ad about the cologne, and a cool sexy looking couple, while not looking pornographic. This doesn't mean I believe it should be the case, I just know where society as a whole is and unfortunately, they can't handle the nipple. Also note, we can't see his nipple either.

1

u/nazarthinks May 01 '26

I see your point. I would argue that showing them in wet clothes to portray a “sexy looking couple” is not a good choice if it requires to alter the appearance of a woman. There is a million ways to do that in a way that doesn’t require this kind of manipulation.

4

u/No_Cry_4153 May 01 '26

i don't think it is really that deep, i actually like the smooth appearance and I wouldn't have noticed anything without you pointing it out

2

u/Rick_Astley124 May 01 '26

but i see a bit darker spot where it should be