The Fetishization Of Youth

Written in 1955 and initially published under and referred to as “sheer, unrestrained pornography” by French critics, Lolita was Russian-American writer Vladimir Nabokov’s most popular (and most controversial) novel of his bibliography. The book addressed the controversial subject of hebephilia and pedophilia.  It followed the narration of a French Literature professor who uses the penname “Humbert Humbert” after moving to America to inherit his uncle’s fortune, he meets Mrs. Haze and falls in love, at first with her, and then with her daughter Dolores, who he refers to privately in his journal as “Lolita”. As the story progresses, Humbert grooms and sexually assaults his new twelve-year-old stepdaughter, before running away with her. But why does this novel spiral down into the depravity that is stereotypical of pedophilia in the modern age? People’s perceptions of femininity and attractiveness have been historically tied to predatory ideas and pedophilia, but the society the world sees today looks the wrong way when this fact is brought to light. 

The book Lolita has a vastly different view of Humbert Humbert’s “trials and tribulations” with his “attractive and flirtatious” stepdaughter than what the following movies encapsulated. For example, Nabokov specifically writes Humbert’s position as “narrator” as unreliable and takes no responsibility for his words or actions. Thus, the story is skewed as the reader follows it. Humbert makes his twelve-year-old stepdaughter, a tomboy and a child, into a flirty and attention-seeking young woman. Nabokov includes Dolores’ bad habits, such as picking her nose and pulling at wedgies, extremely apparent. They are not brushed over or ignored, and these mentions, however minute they seem, show that this child is just that, a child. The further film adaptations veer away from Nabokov’s attempt to out pedophiles by playing into his well-set trap.  

The first adaptation of the novel to movie form was in 1962, where it was directed by Stanley Kubrick and starred Sue Lyon as Dolores Haze and James Mason as Humbert Humbert. While Dolores is canonically twelve, Kubrick increased her age to fourteen. This was to make the film more palpable to audiences, though many critics were still shocked with the youth of Lyon’s character, especially as she was playing alongside Mason, who was 52 at the time of filming. Kubrick truly played up the idea of “youthful attractiveness and teenage promiscuity” with the young Lyon, and had her wear revealing, often extremely mature clothing in scenes. Kubrick referred to the young teen as “a sex object” and wanted her time on screen to be filled with scenes “where everyone in the audience could understand why everyone would want to jump on her.”. The story, in his eyes, was to be viewed as a love story, and the audience was to sympathize with Mason’s Humbert. This first adaptation was defined as a “black comedy/psychological drama”, while the second adaptation directed by Adrian Lang in 1997 was defined simply as a “drama”.  

The second adaptation starred Jeremy Irons as Humbert Humbert and Dominique Swain as Dolores Haze. In this film, Swain was seventeen and Irons was 49 years old. The age gap between the two was 32 years, and though it was less than that of 1962’s adaptation (which was 38 years), Swain was still a minor, and Irons was far too old for her to “act alongside”. Swain was still styled to appear younger but was also told to keep up the “femme fatal” acting. Lang’s adaptation of Nabokov’s novel was more direct than its 1962 predecessor, which left the audience to determine and imagine situations following an encounter between Humbert and Dolores. The 1997 film was overt in the darker themes of the novels, with scenarios elevating to the point of a full-frontal photo of Jeremy Irons being saved after filming had concluded. The evidence of this photo suggests that cut scenes of Lolita (1997) would have been extremely explicit. Lang even admits to wanting Dolores to be the “next sex icon of our time”. This young girl’s story had been so warped that she had become the antagonist of a tale that was written to out Humbert, the real antagonist.  

Unfortunately, this chilling and saddening story has been warped and molded to the ideals of the youth of today with gerontophilia (an attraction to older individuals). Many individuals see the book as a bore and move on to the movies, where the real horror of this narration is seen. The way that Kubrick and Lang rewrote Nabokov’s story is what makes the tale so horrifying, as the two’s combined effort twisted to blame towards Dolores and cast sympathy for Humbert. The movies romanticize a girl’s idea of being lusted after by an older man, and in turn, in late 2014, with soft grunge Tumblr becoming prevalent, screen-capped images from Lang’s Lolita adaptation surfaced. These were paired with popular artist Lana Del Ray’s music layered over them, mainly her hits “Ultraviolence” (2014) with the line “he hit me and it felt like a kiss…”, “Put Me In A Movie” (2010) with the line “Come on, you know you like little girls…”, and most importantly, “Lolita” (2012). Her nods to the 1955 novel don’t stop there, and even after her self-proclaimed “sad girl” era, she released “Off To The Races” in 2020. It is when looking though the lyrics of this song that one sees the comparison to Nabokov’s novel once again, as the pre-chorus lyrics mirror Lolita’s opening lines, “Light of my life, fire of my loins”. She also has been referred to as “Lolita lost in the hood” and even sports a Nabokov tattoo. With Del Ray’s beautiful vocals and the idea of a hidden, forbidden relationship with an attractive older man, these kinds of posts dominated Tumblr for many months, only dropping off when the next fad came along. The prose and writing in Lolita was also alluring, with Humbert referring to Dolores as a “nymphet”. With underage girls posting innocent photos under this tag on Tumblr, the darker side of society shone through, causing the tag to be blocked in 2019 when Tumblr was sold to Automatic, another social media server. 

Lolita fashion is defined as a subculture from Japan that is highly influenced by Victorian clothing and styles from the Rococo period. Distinct for it’s aesthetic of cuteness, individuals who adhere to this style tend to imitate living Victorian dolls, with ruffles all over their skirts and shirts, expressive eye makeup, and large hair extensions or wigs styled impressively. This style has little to no connection with Nabokov’s story, only being connected to it via the cute aesthetic that the dresses and outfits use. Many people who see this kind of fashion or clothing style condemn it because they don’t understand it. Individuals who enjoy wearing Lolita styled clothing are stereotyped in two ways. Either they are traumatized, as they are stated to only wear these bright, happy, poofy, doll-like clothes because they are trying to relive a lost period of their lives. Or on the other side, these people enjoy sexualizing themselves, perhaps in order to attract pedophiles, much like how Dolores in Lolita is slated to appear. This gross misconception is sad, as the individuals who enjoy this fashion do not wish to embody this feeling, they only wish to be happy in their pretty outfits. Why then are these stereotypes so prevalent if not many people see the style? That can be determined by the music industry and its scandals. 

Melanie Adele Martinez (born April 28th, 1995) is an American singer-songwriter best known for her unique song styles. These can be described as “haunting, soft, and expressive” and many of her songs focus on very deep topics such as isolation, mental illness, body image, and sexual assault.  From her first EP “Dollhouse” (2014) to her most recent album release “PORTALS” (2023), her sound and underlying messages have grown with her, and she often pulls inspiration from her life to use in her songs, such as her messy relationship and ultimate breakup with musician Oliver Tree. She has also adapted all her songs into movies, acting as long, extended music videos, which she directs, writes, and stars in. She is most well known for her songs “THE CONTORTIONIST” (PORTALS, 2023) “Dollhouse” (Single, 2014) and “Tag, You’re It” (Crybaby, 2015). 

As stated above, Martinez’s style plays into childhood trauma, mental illness, and soft vocals and color palettes. Because of this, her debut album “Crybaby” was made into a movie involving Martinez dressed in very childish, babyish, doll-like clothing. She is known for wearing clothes in a very similar fashion to the aforementioned Lolita fashion popular in Japan. A rumor that Martinez had made a stab to the Lolita J-fashion surfaced in 2015, when she reportedly referred to the fashion as “adult baby” and called it weird. This was debunked when the real interview surfaced where it was discovered that she was not referring to the Lolita J-fashion subculture, but instead was talking about DDLG.  

Daddy Dom and Little Girl (DDLG) is a form of BDSM play where two consenting adults roleplay as a care figure and a child/baby. This sex play is perfectly acceptable when it follows the parameters it is set in, and there is nothing wrong with having sexual interests that are accepted by the individual and one’s partner. Though this play can be odd or weird to many, at the end of the day, it’s not those outsiders in the bedroom, and furthermore, it’s not their concern. It is when any relationship (be it between partners, platonic relationships, or even two strangers) experiences a power imbalance. This can be anything from an uncomfortable person in bed to an intern being talked down to in the workplace. A common theme in unbalanced power dynamics goes back to the inferiority of women in society. In many cases, women are treated like objects (hence the term “Daddy” Dom), and they are expected to be controllable and submissive to their male counterparts. When researching what makes an ideal feminine woman, the overwhelming results include things like “a goal to make men feel powerful” with tips on walking and looking meek.  

The idea of innocence in women is also scarily prevalent. Today, virginity and pureness is a striking double standard. Male virgins are losers and awkward, and a man should attempt to lose his virginity as soon as possible, while a female virgin is pure, perfect, and respectable. According to Madelain Holden, “Because virgins are rare and precious, they’re seen as the ultimate sexual conquest for some men.” This is known as bride fascination. The idea of a pure and uninitiated woman is the picture of a perfect bride. Bride fascination is the apparent image of someone who is innocent and virginal, but who once she belongs to someone, she will be their own total whore. This idea of innocence in women is odd, considering all the other qualities that are seen as ideal in a feminine person. They need to be sure that they are always clean, shaved, small, and obedient, not able to make their own decision without someone else’s (usually a man’s) permission. Men are aggressive, strong, and leaders, who are to be referred to as “Mr.” or “Sir” in the world. Meanwhile, women are submissive, caring, and loving, and are referred to as “girl”, “missy”, “cutie”, or “sweetheart” in the same world.  

As Taylor Swift puts it, “When a man does something, it’s strategic, when a woman does the same thing, it’s calculated. A man can react, but a woman can only over-react.” Women have been put low and aside for a very long time. Since the 1970s, there has been an increase in women and femininity being connected with fragility. As Tavisha Sood puts it, “Magazines consistently have women in clothing and poses that make them seem weak, vulnerable, and childlike.” That may seem like a stretch, but it is completely accurate, and underage fetishization of women has been going on for as long as man has been able to lust. For example, in the Rolling Stone, a popular magazine, here are two almost identical instances of infantilization towards young girls. In April of 1999, a seventeen-year-old Britney Spears was interviewed by Steven Daly, who described her “honeyed thighs” and “ample chest” without care. Furthermore, a few years before, in 1995, a freshly eighteen Alicia Silverstone was similarly described by Rich Cohen. In the same sentences, the “childlike innocence” of these girls was quickly followed up by how they were such “sexy young girls”.  

It is in these and many other examples that one sees a terrifying fact; people’s perceptions of femininity are tied to predatory ideas and pedophiles. Using examples of lust for fictional twelve-year-olds in Lang and Kubrick’s eyes, this fact is all too apparent.