When a teddy bear becomes offensive

BALENCIAGA  is still under fire in the eyes of netizens for displaying the photo of a child holding a bag designed as a teddy bear wearing bondage gear.

Netizens’ concern about the endorsement is that the photos of the children are linked to BDSM, a sexual activity involving the use of  bondage,  discipline, sadism and masochism dominance,  a big red flag.

They question the purpose of the brand for doing it. They hit it with criticisms and allegations of normalizing sexual fetishes and abuse of children. 

Following the controversial  advertisement, Reynald Trinidad, a psychology graduate and now a guidance counselor in  Divina Pastora College in Nueva Ecija, shared his two cents’  worth about the issue.

For Trinidad, children should neither be objectified, nor used in any form of sexual vanity, much less sexual abuse and control, like BDSM.

“Kung ako po ang tatanungin, depende po sa iaadvertise. Kung mga wholesome siguro ang ia-advertise, [pu]pwede po. Depende po sa sitwasyon kung paano po gagamitin ang isang bata,” he said.

“Kung ito ay makasisira sa reputasyon ng isang bata ay hindi ako sumasang ayon,” he continued.

But the use of a teddy bear can also be innocuous.

As a guidance counselor, Trinidad uses teddy bears in counseling kids who have innate problems that are hard to express, and this helps them to release whatever negative feelings they have inside.

He  said teddy bears are usually being used for Gestalt counseling  

“‘Yun [teddy bear] po kasi ginagamit po kasi ‘yun kapag halimbawa, may issues and concerns ang isang bata o individual sa isang tao,” he explained.

“How many time ko na rin kasing nagamit ang teddy bear para ma release ang feelings ng isang bata,” he added.

But this wasn’t the case for Balenciaga’s commercial advertisement, angry netizens believe.