Ottawa, April 18, 1994 – A segment of “Fashion Television”, aired on CITY-TV, did not exploit women, according to today’s decision of the Ontario Regional Council of the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council (CBSC).
The decision relates to a segment, entitled “The Erogenous Zone”, aired on September 19, 1993. The segment included discussions with designers and fashion commentators regarding fashion focus on parts of the female body. The segment also contained clips of runway models in outfits that exposed models’ breasts and, in one brief instance, the pubic area. A CITY-TV viewer felt that the focus on women’s bodies in the segment was degrading to women.
After viewing an air-check of the segment, the Ontario Regional Council decided that “Fashion Television” was typical of depictions of international fashion shows. The Council also felt that CITY-TV’s intent in airing the program had not been to exploit women, and that the program’s reporting of fashion trends did not present a negative or degrading portrayal of women. Therefore, the Council decided that CITY-TV had not breached an industry Sex-Role Portrayal Code, which states that broadcasters cannot air programs that exploit women or use modes of dress or camera focus in a degrading way.
The Ontario Regional Council is composed of women and men representing the general public and the broadcasting industry. Marianne Barrie is the Chair of the Regional Council and a representative of the public. Al MacKay, a broadcaster, is the Regional Council Vice-Chair. The other public representatives are Susan Fish and Robert Stanbury, while the other broadcaster representatives are Paul Fockler and Don Luzzi. Mr. Luzzi did not participate in the decision.
The decision is attached.
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For more information, please contact the National Chair of the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council, Ronald I. Cohen, at (###) ###-####.