Actress Gillian Anderson of “X Files” fame caused a stir at last night’s Golden Globe awards by wearing a dress decorated with meticulously embroidered vaginas. They were impossible to see on TV since they were the same color as the dress (thank goodness for that) but see? Look closely now…
Vaginas. Though she later said they were “peonies,” Anderson told several reporters that her dress was embroidered with vaginas. Why? “For so many reasons. It’s brand-appropriate,” Anderson explained cryptically.
What is this? A feminist statement, like the infamous “pussy hats”? A diabolical insult to the Golden Globes? If an obscene design can only be detected up close and with the aid of hints, does that make it less obscene? Would a male tux with almost invisible embroidered black penises in the fabric be considered appropriate formal wear? How about nearly invisible embroidery showing various graphic sex acts? What if the designs reveal to the sharp-of-eye acts of pederasty? What if Gillian dress had “Fuck you!” beautifully embroidered on it? Is a vulgar design at a public event not vulgar if nobody notices it? Has polite society vanished so completely that a stunt like this is considered acceptable? Social media apparently loved it.
Dana expresses my reaction perfectly…
I just don’t know, Dana. I really don’t.
Ethics Alarms 
I think it’s a beautiful dress and not vulgar at all. Very tasteful.
Also, it’s not a mother/son dance, it’s a Hollywood award ceremony where things like this are expected, totally normal, and actually encouraged.
It’s part of what makes them exciting.
Also, it’s to support/raise awareness for her show Sex Education which was cancelled but she wants it to return.
It seems the dress worked because people are now talking about the show.
Oh. Well if it worked, then it must be in exquisite taste…
Eh, context matters.
Again, vaginas on a wedding dress or prom dress? Probably not the best idea.
Vagina’s on a dress during a red carpet event where dresses are a fashion statement, meant to push boundaries, and considered works of art…totally fine IMO.
Being my usual pedantic self, the design on the dress could be a depiction of the vulva, not the vagina–words matter and we should use the proper name for things. The design is so abstract and anatomically inaccurate that it could represent almost anything. My first impression was a topographic map of a mountain range. I think in the setting it was fine and it is actually very tasteful and tame compared to outfits I see being worn in public every day.
I rather think that they are, in fact, flowers, and that Ms. Anderson was merely tweaking the noses of the pearl-clutching-fainting-couch set with her claims to the contrary.
I agree with this assessment.
Right. And Georgia O’Keefe was just painting flowers too….
Many of O’Keefe’s paintings were, indeed, just flowers. And those that were suggestive of female genitalia were just that – suggestive, not pornographic. Kind of like how the Washington Monument is suggestive of an erect phallus. There seems to be an important aesthetic distinction between the blatant depiction of genitalia and the mere suggestion thereof.
Sure, but when one says that something that looks like a body part is a representation of a body part, everyone who hears that then sees the image as the body part thereafter. As with “The Embrace.” Anderson said that’s what the designed were, and dozens of media outlets took her at her word. Unless someone track down the embroiderer—those are lady parts.
Made me think of that picture on the back of a coke truck that had someone getting a blow job. For the red carpet, I would say its fine, its where most stupid fashion statements are made. Maybe not so much for coke. I guess that could be saying everyone does it, but isn’t this the place for it?
Kinda looks like a Georgia O’Keeffe painting. Had Anderson not said anything, I don’t know that my mind would have gone there.
She is showing solidarity with Honor Blackmon’s character in the Bond film Goldfinger and is protesting the British Film Institute’s
trigger warnings on Bond films.
Bingo.