What is wrong with people???

[shes2smart]

Finally, let's not forget the men. They are also presented with an ideal in advertising that is unattainable for most and more and more beauty products are being marketed towards them... eating disorders among men are on the rise also, as is something called the "Adonis complex" (link removed)

 

For many years, advertisers of appearance related products ignored men, thinking they didn't care about such "feminine" things.

 

Then about, oh, I'd say somewhere 15-20-25 years ago, that started changing.

 

I remember when TV ads started for a men's hair coloring product (Just For Men). I was in my early teens-mid teens, maybe (?). It stuck out like a sore thumb then because the attitude was "men wouldn't buy that frivolous beauty stuff."

 

But they did. And the advertisers took notice. And they realized there was a good chunk of the population just ripe for the picking. Men DID care, and men WOULD spend their money on "beauty" products...if they were pitched properly.

 

Now, it's common to see men's "beauty" products advertised. Ad nauseum.

 

The guys have only had to deal with this pressure from advertising for a couple of decades, but it is affecting them...just as nearly a century of such advertising has screwed up...er, affected women in regards to body image issues.

 

I spent most of last year working with a Registered Dietitian after I fell off the eating disorders recovery wagon. What Batya33 said about once you have those issues, you will deal with them for the rest of your life is absolutely true. Anyway, my dietitian said the fastest-growing portion of her clientele is men. She said she started to notice it about 10 years ago when she started getting a few gay men as clients. But over the last decade, she has started to see more and more men (both gay and straight) showing up for ED/body disorder treatment as well.

 

So, yes, absolutely men are feeling the pressure for perfection, too.

[StarLily]

Good thread!

 

There is a program on TV "TLC" station titles "A Model Life" and there are 6 girls but only one of them is going to be chosen to be a model. There is one girl on there that is from Eastern Europe, just like me. I also think she's the prettiest of all so I'm hoping she wins... But here is the thing. The people on that program think she's too fat to be a model. When I heard that, I was like WHAT! I would kill to have her body! She's so tiny... but no, apparently not thin enough. It was rediculous. And I thought that a few months ago there was something in the media about models being way too skinny?!

 

That's my rant..

[Spugly Fuglet]

If you have not seen this then you may find this shocking

 

link removed

 

The Dove film "Evaltion"

[shes2smart]

Case in point on the "men are being targeted, too"

 

20-30 years ago an article like this aimed at men was unthinkable. Ok, maybe the shaving tips woulda been acceptable, but the stuff about exfoliating & moisturing for men....not reallly.

 

link removed

[Dako]

Good video, Spugly!

 

It really shows how distorted things have gotten, and why some women torture themselves with diets and heavy cosmetics to hide the shame of being human.

[EvaGina]

Good video, Spugly!

 

It really shows how distorted things have gotten, and why some women torture themselves with diets and heavy cosmetics to hide the shame of being human.

 

!!!

I know!

 

How can a woman expect a man to treat her with respect if she doesnt even love herself enough to show her SKIN?!!?!??

 

since when were freckles blemishes?

[shes2smart]

since when were freckles blemishes?

 

I'm guessin' it was about the same time someone decided skin shouldn't have pores, either.

[Aurian]

Ok this is going to sound controversial, but I will say it anyway.

 

Many male fashion designers are gay. I believe they are the ones who demand that women conform to a body type that is more 'boyish' than womanly, since that is what they find more attractive.

 

I hope that doesn't sound homophobic, I am not AT ALL, but it is a theory I have about the fashion industry and very young, flat chested models...

 

There is very little about heterosexuality in it all.

 

My boyfriend believes this. He says very few straight guys would find the models attractive.

 

 

 

What also gets to me is how cookie-cutter the models are. Flip through a magazine and they all have the same faces, the same figures, the same expressions. The only difference is the hair and the clothes. Kinda sad. There are so much more diversity out there in the real world.

[Spugly Fuglet]

Give me a woman with some thing to rap my arms around any time, no stick thins for me I like carves all the way, Whooff!

 

 

[EvaGina]

Give me a woman with some thing to rap my arms around any time, no stick thins for me I like carves all the way, Whooff!

 

 

 

haaha

I have to agree

 

nothing more attractive than the back of a woman's ample knee

[JadedStar]

Would be nice if women just learned how to accept what they can't change about themselves and love it, change what they can within reason, and just embrace who they are.

 

There are gorgeous thin, heavy and in between women i have met in my lifetime, but the most gorgeous of all women are the ones who you can really tell she loves who she is and accentuates God given assets and makes the most of what she has.

[ElektraHere]

I had a thread that sort of touched upon this, but it was diluted with man vs. woman ideals. So I has it deleted. I say accept yourself for who you are, who you want to be, and who you once were. Also be a good role model for those that have yet to experience the intricacies of life.

[itsallgrand]

Agree so much about being a good role model! That can make a huge difference.

 

Imagine if girls didn't grow up around women and mothers and sisters looking in the mirror, counting calories or hating on themselves for eating doritos or whatever.

 

Now that I'm a bit older, I really notice how much a difference this makes. You can ruin someone's life without even intending it.

 

God help me if I ever become a mother. Tough job!

[Dako]

What's a few pounds? I think Dawn French is hot.

There, I said it.

[melrich]

I think Dawn French is hot.

 

Me too.

 

It's a shame that fashion is in it's current "skinny" cycle though I get a feeling in my bones that it may be slowly moving to a new cycle.

[CharLit]

Me too.

 

It's a shame that fashion is in it's current "skinny" cycle though I get a feeling in my bones that it may be slowly moving to a new cycle.

 

ANd speaking of which and different role models...

 

YAAAAAAAYYYY! For Beth Ditto of The Gossip!

image removed

link removed

 

She is so completely unselfconscious, and as a result has a huge following of fans who think she's drop-dead gorgeous.

 

She recently posed naked for the cover of NME magazine! (you can find it if you google image search her)

[Stinkweed]

a woman who is not a scarily pre-pubescent, boyish-figure starveling.

 

Lmao, so I'm not the only one who thinks they look like boys. *gags* I always felt like throwing up everytime I saw that.

 

DO you see now where the "Cool to be dumb" idear comes from,

 

Oh man! If you haven't already, you definitively gotta watch the movie "Idiocracy" (2006). It is so what is going on today (albeit a tiny bit exaggerated. But I guess in a few years it'll be just like that).

[fmjosie]

Why dont we stop buying into the crap and just enjoy eating a cookie?

I agree.... but A cookie, as in, one..... not 18.

 

I'm 27 & over the last 2 years I have: Cleared my skin, got braces to totally fix my teeth & lost 20 pounds (so far). I'm not doing it to look like someone else, I'm doing it for me to look awwwwwwwwesome. I'm going to look better at 30 (and maybe 40) than I did at 20! I feel better about myself and I feel better because I am healthy too.

 

I don't wear makeup, I think breast implants are INSANE, and there's nothing fake on my body. I think I'm doing very well at keeping a balance of what society expects of me, and doing whatever I want.

 

I think we should all kidnap a girl who's about to get some kind of invasive un-necessary surgery and lock her up till she understands what she's doing is crazy!