The giant headless torso looming over the corner of Bourke and Swanston Streets in Melbourne is surely the last straw. How can we put up with such blatant disregard for women? The billboard for Elle ‘The Body’ McPherson’s underwear amounts to a huge crotch towering over passers by, who crane skywards to see two huge breasts bulging over a lacy bra. Are women okay with this? When academics like Dr Jane Maree Maher say that women being sexy in advertising can be empowering, I worry that we're losing sight of how utterly offensive this kind of advertising is. Women are constantly portrayed in advertising, not to mention music videos, as headless bodies for sexual gratification - no personality, no mind, no respect. Have we literally lost our heads?
■Complaints: 30 (so far)
■Action: None
■Reason: Advertising Standards Bureau says the image does not breach its code because the woman is not posed sexually, the underwear is not provocative and there are no sexual overtones and no nudity.