Eating the Erotic: Why the Cherry Motif Has Endured in Pop Culture
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Cherries and their sultry, deep-red allure have become the habitual signifier of sensuality and sex: Whether invoked by familiar idioms like ‘popping your cherry’ or the seductive lyricism of Lana Del Rey, cherries and their connection to eroticism feels inescapable. Throughout the ages, these unassuming fruits have captured the complex interplay between innocence and virginity, all while exuding a subtle, clandestine sensuality. From the music video for Beyoncé's “Blow”, where she boldly sprawls on all fours beneath a canopy of pink neon lights spelling out the word 'cherry,’ to the iconic emblem of Ibiza's renowned nightclub, Pacha, which proudly displays two ripe, pop-art inspired cherries, it doesn't take much to decipher Brian Robbins’ intentions when he depicted Darcy playfully inserting cocktail cherries into her whipped cream bikini in Varsity Blues.
While the earliest documented use of the word 'cherry' as a euphemism for the hymen dates back to 1889, cherries as a subtle yet enduring symbol of eroticism were employed by Renaissance artists including Leonardo Da Vinci and Quinten Massys centuries before the phrase found its place in our modern lexicon. Take Joseph Caraud's provocative 1875 masterpiece, Cherry Girl. Here, a young woman encircles a dish of cherries with her left hand, drawing them close to her pristine white apron. As her right hand delicately plucks cherries from the bowl, she gazes at the viewer with a self-assured, almost supercilious expression. From the suggestion of staining her low-cut bodice at pelvis level, to the tantalising pendant that dangles teasingly beneath her chest, the painting is one of many to echo the age-old connection between cherries and desire.
Cherry red was viewed as a mark of wealth and status throughout the Middle Ages, yet the first time it appeared as an accessible colour at the forefront of the fashion cycle was in the 1950s, adorning everything from evening gowns, to bathing suits and poodle skirts. As a collective yearning for vibrancy engulfed society following acute austerity measures in the aftermath of World War II, advertisements and articles in women's magazines swiftly began to use the colour as an instrument for chauvinistic control. After Marilyn Monroe, Hollywood’s most enduring sex symbol, flaunted her iconic red dress in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, the message conveyed in wider popular culture was clear: red was not about individual expression, but was weaponized as a way to reinforce traditional gender roles. From Revlon’s Cherries in the Snow lipstick to the red swing dress, the colour was seen as an essential tool for pleasing one's spouse, epitomising the idea of the innocent yet sexually enticing all-American girl.
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Although the absence of red in fashion during the latter half of the 20th century could be attributed to the pervasive anti-communist sentiment of the Red Scare era, which led millions of Americans to avoid the colour in their clothing choices as a means of emphasising their conservatism, in the late 90s and early 2000s, cherries rapidly resurfaced. From microtrends such as cherry coke hair and the coveted Louis Vuitton x Murakami bag, to the depiction of Buffy the Vampire Slayer flaunting the fruit in moments where emphasising her innocence appeared imperative, cherries had conquered the fashion world once more. The problem? When it came to their patriarchal past, little had evolved.
A glance through the glossy enclaves of fashion publications or a scroll down the carefully curated social media profiles of today's designated "it girls" will make one thing clear: cherries are back, and the hue that adorns them is the quintessential colour of the season. From TikTok’s Cherry Girl aesthetic to Sabato De Sarno's Gucci debut at Milan Fashion Week, where he weaved a deep cherry shade into pencil skirts and blazers, both the colour and the fruit has permeated our existence; playfully manifesting in ballerina flats, boots, and bows alike. But if cherries carry greater poignancy than other fleeting trends in the fashion cycle, is a deeper current of subversiveness driving their resurgence?
With over 40 million views on TikTok, a peek at the highest ranking videos under the ‘Cherry Girl’ hashtag reveals a whirlwind of imagery that turns the existence of cherries into a vehicle for aestheticising the character of a particular type of woman. Set to the soundtrack of Nelly Furtado’s “Maneater”, photographs of a youthful Megan Fox, Marlboro Reds, Tom Ford’s Lost Cherry, black cats, and the sensuous drape of red silk slip dresses rapidly flick across the screen. At first glance, the pictures portray an ideal of the archetypal femme fatale, fearless, alluring, yet carved out under the oppressive tyranny of the male gaze. While easy to infer in a culture where cherries have become an enduring symbol of sexuality, the women curating the modern cherry girl are shedding cherries’ previous role as an instrument for patriarchal control. By drawing attention to Jane Eyre, journaling, and the joys of female friendships, the image created is one less mass produced and more individually provocative, abandoning archaic structures that once deemed sensuality and intelligence mutually exclusive.
“If cherries carry greater poignancy than other fleeting trends in the fashion cycle, is a deeper current of subversiveness driving their resurgence?”
From regal overcoats at The Row to sleek suiting at Ferragamo, this season, a reclamation of red has equally inundated the runway, shedding years of sexualisation at the hands of patriarchy. “Red has morphed into a symbol of rebellion and freedom in combination with Americana elegance,” says Caroline McKenzie, in an article for L'Officiel. “From Ralph Lauren's now iconic flag sweater to the rock-infused red leather pieces climbing up the trend ladder, the modern-day trend integrates the long history of red in fashion with its new identity in culture. This fall, independence, liberation, and empowerment are at the forefront of fashion because of cherry red's renaissance.”
After centuries of women forcefully navigating conflicting expectations, striving to be sexy yet not too rousing, alluring, but not excessively so, the evolution of the cherry motif exists as a declaration of the multifaceted nature of femininity, a tribute to the fact that women can be seductive, sharp, and self-assured, simultaneously.
Words: Gracie Victoria Eastwood