Tom Ford, former head designer of Gucci, is seen here posing for Out magazine. I personally was never a big fan of his work, which was characterized by minimalism, lots of black (as well as extreme overuse of the plunging v-neck), obscene advertisements, and various "sexy" looks. See, what is so neat about Tom Ford is that he is gay but he loves to objectify women just like straight men do (and I guess all the other gays in the fashion industry as well, but Tom Ford is especially known for it.) You may remember him from the repulsive Vanity Fair cover he orchestrated, showing him fully clothed (Dude, it's okay because he's gay!) fondling two naked actresses young enough to be his daughters. (Props to Rachael McAdams, who actually bowed out of this shoot when she saw what it was all about.) I fucking hate Vanity Fair and its misogynistic editor in chief, Graydon Carter, and this sort of crap is pretty typical of them, and every time I look at that magazine I feel like writing an indignant letter of some sort.Anyway, everyone loves Tom Ford because he's so hot and masculine and grabs his crotch and objectifies women, even though he has been balding the same amount for like ten years so he clearly has hair plugs. Below is a quote he said in the same Out spread.
What the fuck? He understands women because as a gay man he understands what it's like to be pursued- ie, be passive, or in his words, "an object?" I can't believe people can just say stuff like this in a supposedly "progressive" magazine, and just have it pass. Of course, Tom has the best of both worlds, because, as a gay man, he also gets to be "the aggressor." How nice for him! He manages to straddle the line between stereotypical maculinity and stereotypical feminity so very well! He probably relates to women because sometimes he feels weak, but to straight men because he sometimes feels strong, too!
PS: Trademark stubble? So lame.
PPS: Ohmygod, I hate Tom Ford so much more just after a basic google image search: here, here and here are some good examples. I can't believe he literally walks around with his shirt unbottoned like this! He also refuses to smile and looks like Jeremy Piven. The end.
3 comments:
Totally Brill.
THANK YOU. I fucking HAAAATE tom ford. he's a disgusting, sleazy, misogynistic HACK and moreover, his clothing is boring. he always has a gross smirk on his lips, like he's getting ready to rim some pool boy or something. i bet his mouth smells like a fart. there, i said it.
Vanity Fair=inertia of domination
This post just reminded me that Vanity Fair and its covers blow.
In July they had an Africa issue (edited by Bono--the "expert" on the plight of Africa--of course). There were 20 covers photographed by Annie Leibowitz. And the covers featured everyone from Barack Obama to Condy Rice, to W, Muhhamed Ali, Brad Pitt, Madonna, Maya Angelou, Chris Rock, Warren Buffet, Bill and Melinda Gates, Oprah, George Clooney, Jay-Z, Alicia Keys.
Desmond Tutu,Djimon Honsou,and Iman are the only Africans.
Everyone else is either African American or White, except perhaps the Jordanian princess whose name I can't remember. This is definite neo-imperialism disguised as humanitarian soul. Sure, I will fully grant that there is something to be said about the power of diaspora and the articulation of it here.
But there are some blantantly evident fucked up power relations being played out on these covers. Is Vanity Fair just trying to be OTT with the buttressing of systems of dominance or what?
To see a slideshow of the Africa covers in all their glory go here:
http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2007/07/onthecover_slideshow200707
Even more ironic you will find that it is in the "politics and power" section, just to impress upon you even further the blind ignorance of those who practice representational oppression.
Also the magazine I was volunteering at here, Chimurenga, had a short mention in the literary article of that issue. The editor, Ntone, was flown out to NY just to have his picture taken for the issue. And they wrote a paragraph about him and Chimurenga. When I saw him after the VF Africa issue came out, he was like, "Yeah, that thing is bullshit". But I guess magazines like Chimurenga, that actually have a critical consciousness, but are struggling to just stay in print, have to nip up scraps from the Conde Nast table whenever they can get it.
And of course, this is just part of a growing canon of self-indulgent celebrity mining of Africa. Not to mention adopted babies, 3 day charity trips with tons of publicity photos, and filming a movie on location here to guarantee an oscar win.
Sorry for the long comment, but was just inspired with rage.
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