# Is this cover of Vogue promoting violence towards women? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [September 23, 2012, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-cover-of-vogue-promoting-violence-towards-women/635577 "2012-09-23T06:07:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2012, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-cover-of-vogue-promoting-violence-towards-women/635577/21 "2012-09-25T13:28:55Z")
Golfer here. Can you guys pick up the pace? We’ve been playing for 2:20 minutes and we’re just now making the turn. Oh, and there’s something a little weird about the cover, but it isn’t actually alarming. ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2012, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-cover-of-vogue-promoting-violence-towards-women/635577/22 "2012-09-25T13:37:22Z")
Another case of _all looks yellow to the jaundiced eye_. The feminists are seeing what they want to see. ---
**Author:** ![you\_with\_the\_face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ecccb3/32.png) [@you\_with\_the\_face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/you_with_the_face)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2012, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-cover-of-vogue-promoting-violence-towards-women/635577/23 "2012-09-25T13:46:08Z")
Amateur art critic here. Why is he sucking on his finger? Am I wrong to interpret this as a gay? Seems like the cover is making a statement with that, but I haven’t the tools to explain what that is. All I know is if a guy did that while grabbing me from behind, I would be extra watchful. ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2012, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-cover-of-vogue-promoting-violence-towards-women/635577/24 "2012-09-25T14:03:22Z")
Booger eater here. Those better not be her boogers. ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2012, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-cover-of-vogue-promoting-violence-towards-women/635577/25 "2012-09-25T16:58:50Z")
Boy, that’s some amateur-hour ventriloquism. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2012, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-cover-of-vogue-promoting-violence-towards-women/635577/26 "2012-09-25T17:15:37Z")
Person who hasn’t seen the cover here. I don’t see anything that even resembles choking. ---
**Author:** ![Blaster\_Master](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/cab0a1/32.png) [@Blaster\_Master](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blaster_Master)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2012, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-cover-of-vogue-promoting-violence-towards-women/635577/27 "2012-09-25T17:29:23Z")
> [@ruadh](#): > > Feminist here. The hand on the neck _is_ a bit disconcerting, but the expression on the woman’s face makes it pretty clear she isn’t suffering in any way. What’s disconcerting about his hand on her neck? The neck is a sensual area, perhaps not as much as her breast, but his other hand is there too. It’s all about context. He could be roughly groping her breast, or he could be carressing it, she’s clearly not distressed and his hand is clearly relaxed, so any interpretation that he was doing the former and not the latter is either someone who can’t read facial expressions or someone with an agenda. And it’s the same with his hand on her throat, he could be choking her or he could be carressing her, his hand is clearly relaxed and she’s clearly not uncomfortable. What is so bad about a man touching a woman’s neck with her concent? Hell, even if he WERE choking her, if he had her concent, what’s so bad about that? There is absolutely nothing violent about that image at all. It just seems like another case of only having a hammer everything looking like a nail. The most disconcerting part to me is that he’s sucking on his fingers, but that’s more of a WTF reaction than anything else. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2012, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-cover-of-vogue-promoting-violence-towards-women/635577/28 "2012-09-25T17:54:32Z")
Canadian here. Just saying I’m here, is all. ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2012, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-cover-of-vogue-promoting-violence-towards-women/635577/29 "2012-09-25T17:58:15Z")
She’s 44?! Wow. ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2012, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-cover-of-vogue-promoting-violence-towards-women/635577/30 "2012-09-25T18:09:40Z")
> [@Blaster\_Master](#): > > What’s disconcerting about his hand on her neck? The neck is a sensual area, perhaps not as much as her breast, but his other hand is there too. It’s all about context. He could be roughly groping her breast, or he could be carressing it, she’s clearly not distressed and his hand is clearly relaxed, so any interpretation that he was doing the former and not the latter is either someone who can’t read facial expressions or someone with an agenda. And it’s the same with his hand on her throat, he could be choking her or he could be carressing her, his hand is clearly relaxed and she’s clearly not uncomfortable. > > What is so bad about a man touching a woman’s neck with her concent? Hell, even if he WERE choking her, if he had her concent, what’s so bad about that? There is absolutely nothing violent about that image at all. It just seems like another case of only having a hammer everything looking like a nail. > > The most disconcerting part to me is that he’s sucking on his fingers, but that’s more of a WTF reaction than anything else. Its not totally off the wall that certain women might find this disturbing. My wife who is suffering from severe PTSD from an abusive ex, totally freaks out if I touch her throat, even if it is done as a caress. That said, I am sure that she is the exception rather than the rule. So this seems overblown. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2012, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-cover-of-vogue-promoting-violence-towards-women/635577/31 "2012-09-25T18:17:08Z")
I can see how someone could look at that and think she’s either being choked or controlled in some way. I wouldn’t dismiss those that have that interpretation as crazy or anything. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2012, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-cover-of-vogue-promoting-violence-towards-women/635577/32 "2012-09-25T18:32:07Z")
> [@shijinn](#): > > bored woman on the cover here. sigh, gay models. even when told to grab my boobs, all he’s interested in is licking his own finger away in lala land. Gay male model here. Eeeeeewwwwwww boobies. ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2012, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-cover-of-vogue-promoting-violence-towards-women/635577/33 "2012-09-25T18:51:37Z")
Arch Right Wing SDMB Conservative here…and, yes, this cover absolutely promotes woman violence. I mean, look at the expression on this guys face. She is totally pulling his hair there! And she is forcing him to point a finger gun at his mouth! Just look at the expression on her face…she is ENJOYING it as well! Poor guy… ---
**Author:** ![gytalf2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ac91a4/32.png) [@gytalf2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gytalf2000)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2012, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-cover-of-vogue-promoting-violence-towards-women/635577/34 "2012-09-25T19:03:36Z")
As a life-long connoisseur of “superheroine-in-KO-peril” scenes, I thought that perhaps my odd little predilection was finally going to presented in a fairly mainstream magazine. Sadly, as soon as I glanced at the picture, I realized how wrong that I was. Definitely not violence towards women in this pic! Whatever the guy is trying to do to that model, he is not doing it correctly. She looks way too bored! Then again, perhaps she always has that expression on her face. I dunno! ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2012, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-cover-of-vogue-promoting-violence-towards-women/635577/35 "2012-09-25T19:18:29Z")
Dweeb here: The picture is totally 'shopped. You can tell by the pixels. ---
**Author:** ![Kenm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bc79bd/32.png) [@Kenm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kenm)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2012, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-cover-of-vogue-promoting-violence-towards-women/635577/36 "2012-09-25T19:20:07Z")
Super sleuth here. So _that’s_ what goes on in France. No one there thinks of les enfants, obviously. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2012, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-cover-of-vogue-promoting-violence-towards-women/635577/37 "2012-09-25T20:08:14Z")
> [@Blaster\_Master](#): > > The most disconcerting part to me is that he’s sucking on his fingers, but that’s more of a WTF reaction than anything else. It looks to me more like he’s sucking on her earlobe. ---
**Author:** ![Simple\_Linctus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Simple\_Linctus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simple_Linctus)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2012, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-cover-of-vogue-promoting-violence-towards-women/635577/38 "2012-09-25T20:35:41Z")
no ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2012, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-cover-of-vogue-promoting-violence-towards-women/635577/39 "2012-09-25T20:37:34Z")
> [@Buck\_Godot](#): > > Its not totally off the wall that certain women might find this disturbing. My wife who is suffering from severe PTSD from an abusive ex, totally freaks out if I touch her throat, even if it is done as a caress. That said, I am sure that she is the exception rather than the rule. So this seems overblown. If a person does not want to be touched in a certain place and/or in a certain way that’s fine but it is up to them to communicate that to their partner who may well be expected to touch them in a way that freaks them out. To me it is akin to someone who was attacked by a dog and then freaks out anytime a dog gets close. Even if that is the case I would hope they could still look at pictures of people with their dog and realize there is nothing wrong and the dog is not about to bite their owner’s face off. If a person is freaked by dogs and doesn’t want to be around them that is fine but no reason to project their personal issues onto others. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2012, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-cover-of-vogue-promoting-violence-towards-women/635577/40 "2012-09-25T20:55:13Z")
My first thought was that he was miming sticking a gun in his own mouth. But if you look closely her skin is wrinkled up where his fingers are, like he’s trying to turn her face to him for a kiss. Or maybe pushing her head back? It’s certainly not a lovely picture, or a sexy one (to me), it is mildly disturbing, but not overtly offensive IMHO. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-cover-of-vogue-promoting-violence-towards-women/635577.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-cover-of-vogue-promoting-violence-towards-women/635577.md?page=3)