THE FRAMING OF KLEIN,CALVIN - A FRAME ANALYSIS OF MEDIA DISCOURSE ABOUT THE AUGUST 1995 KLEIN,CALVIN JEANS ADVERTISING CAMPAIGN

This study analyzes the media discourse about the August 1995 Calvin K lein jeans campaign which media critics characterzied as ''kiddie porn .'' Though media placement of the campaign was limited, mainstream med ia reports of the nascent controversy surrounding the campaign brought it into the national spotlight. A frame analysis is used to deconstru ct the kiddie-porn media frame which the industry and mainstream media employed to characterize the campaign and Klein's promotional activit ies. The analysis examines how the kiddie-porn frame produces and repr oduces common-sense beliefs about the nature of youth, youthful sexual ity and youthful cultural and economic power. The findings suggest tha t the ''kiddie-porn'' frame articulates a metadiscourse encompassing t he politicized discourses of Generational Equity, middle-class moralit y and patriarchy. Ultimately, this metadiscourse trivializes the issue of child pornography and obscures the cultural and economic influence of youth in the United States.