It appears within in the last 10 years, there have been a lot of stories about people who have suffered from eating disorders, choosing to get plastic surgery for one reason or another, or disclosing years of having a physical imagine problem. What's amazing is the fact that it has effected famous and non-famous people, from different ethnicity and backgrounds. Many have been faced with the issue of the media's constant depiction of what's beautiful and what is not. To a certain extent, it's somewhat forced down our throats. In my opinion, beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. Everybody have their own ideal of what's beautiful to them. I do not believe in someone telling me that if you do not look a particular way, you are not beautiful. Furthermore, I do not want to be something I am not just to be accepted, or to fit in with others who don't respect me. I would like to read other people's feedback on this issue. Please share?
Within the last ten years? No.. ideal beauty has probably always been. It's certainly been around my entire life and we can see it throughout history. We mentioned in another thread how humans have such a distaste for differences and in this case a taste for specific beauty.. these are seen in the animal kingdom as well. It seems a part of who we are. But now it's this weird, manufactured, money making thing and people are destroyed for being different or not stacking up to media's images. It's why I don't turn any of it on anymore. If we choose to pay attention to it, we choose to have them in our heads.. there are many possibilities where it goes from there, but it affects everyone. If we're going to raise people on media, we have to expect the consequences one way or another. Life is peaceful without it.
It's been happening for a lot longer than a single decade, and it hasn't affected myself to any degree, but millions of people have indeed been negatively affected. This situation isn't going to change anytime soon, but there has been backlash against the high standards of beauty portrayed in television, movies, and elsewhere. Now people are being taught or told to find the beauty within themselves rather than what they see on television, and that's a good thing.
There will always be people who think beauty gets them somewhere and they get obsessed with looking a certain way. Plastic surgery has become more affordable and accessible so people are using it more and it doesn't make them happier underneath it all. They may like the attention, but it doesn't make them nicer, kinder or cleverer. The media with the internet and social media have made looks seem more important than they are and of course there is photoshop, so what you see is rarely reality.
My opinion is that way too many people - both men and women - have been successfully brainwashed by the ideals of beauty that the media puts out there. You will see evidence of this in TV commercials, and static advertisments too. It is ridiculous, and I can't believe that people are really so oblivious to the manipulation that is going on.
I too agree it's been going on for a lot longer than a decade. It's not something I buy into, myself because I know that these celebrities are not always what they appear to be. Besides, I'm very happy and comfortable in my own skin. I'm not perfect, but I'm happy. Photoshop/airbrushing has a lot to do with it. But sadly, not everyone is enlightened or clever enough to realise this and as a result, most people are influenced by the media and pop culture. It doesn't help that plastic surgery has also become so easily accessible to the masses. Unfortunately, that large number of people include very young and impressionable children, who are "groomed" from such an early age, and so the dangerous cycle begins.
I think that it has been something that has been around forever. The definition of the word "beauty" has changed over the years. Currently the trend is "thin is in", but I don't think that people understand the true meaning of the word beauty. As we age, looks fade, but personalities are what remain to last a lifetime. This is what beauty is, but people think that the outside matters more than the inside. Its silly how people try their best to look beautiful, I agree that you should look as comfortable as you want to be. But does this really mean to go alter your appearance completely? This means that you are uncomfortable with who you actually are.
The most annoying thing about it is one requirement of the entertainment business is to wear makeup (whether you are man or woman). Now I can understand doing some touch up for a television show or movie but other than that, it should not be. I am confident that most men don't actually like wearing any of that stuff and I have seen some of my favorite male entertainers without any of that. They look 100 times better without any than a whole bunch. I have seen album art or magazine covers where they don't even look like real people anymore. I don't mind a little touch up because usually you can't tell but even then maybe they should have a choice. As for the women, famous or not they (not we because I don't wear any usually) often wear so much that it ruins their face. It is no wonder that when you see some of these famous women without any that they look so bad. Obviously we owe a lot of that thanks to the makeup. Moving on to weight, society is very judgmental about that. Most of the time it's towards women but famous men can be affected too. You're either fat or anorexic. There is no middle ground.
I mean it has gotten to the point where women themselves, do not actually know what a normal female body should or does look like. Instead, they are aspiring to be these freakish ideals of media style beauty, and getting down on one another is a very judgmental manner for NOT looking like the standard of beauty that the media puts out.
It's sad isn't it? Even in our lifetimes we've witnessed the "evolution" of the female body, from something soft and natural to something stick thin and muscular. It's very unnatural today and putting FAR more pressure on females and males to become this weird ideal that's never existed before. As far as I know anyway.. I know there were some pretty hardcore people in our past, but as far as I'm concerned, they never slept and lived for battle lol. Now we're packing on the lbs in muscle to do what exactly? Obesity isn't the only threat to the heart. I dread what lies ahead.
It is really depressing, not just as a feminist. But as a woman. You would think that it'd be men that may be inclined to come down the hardest, but because women are in constant competition with one another for male attention, we are the ones that are the hardest on one another. There is so much distortion amongst women, regarding many things, that it is just really depressing. There is currently a female housemate in the UK Big Brother house, and she likes to walk around naked. She has an average female body, but people are constantly saying that she has saggy breasts, and that for her age she has a revolting body, when her body is completely normal for her age, and natural. I think people forget that breasts are secondary sex organs, and are primarily for breast feeding. That is why they were designed by mother nature to hang low? Ugh! I like that you mention that it is not just women that go through this, but men too!!!!
Yes, it's both and I'm actually not sure which is harder on each other at this point. It was clearly women for most of my life, but there has been a huge shift in the fitness industry (which of course always bleeds to the outside, hence the new ideals), it's one big eating disorder in my opinion, and very unnatural. Not that everything has to be natural natural natural lol, do what makes you happy. I mean unnatural as in.. as usual, people are pushing themselves too far for vanity and these new body fads are feeding that media ideal harder than ever. The scary part is, the newest eating disorders/exercise addictions are considered completely acceptable and are, in fact, seen as an extreme form of health when it's pretty much the opposite.
This is a really tough topic as a lot of people have different opinions regarding this. Media is really powerful. It can get inside our heads and change everything we know about something to what the media is showing us. Media is deadly and cruel, yes but I believe it is also a tool to change this cruelty that's been done in our society. With the right words and mindset, it can be used to relay the truth and positive things that can inspire and break wrong mindsets. Linking this with beauty, I think media is also a way for the society especially women to see that they should accept their flaws and imperfections and be confident with their looks, the total opposite of what the bad media says to us nowadays. There is so much more to this topic that I'm pretty sure others will talk about as well so I'll leave it at that.
Honestly, I still feel like it is harder on women. But that may be a result of us living in a patriarchal society, where society widely views it as degrading to be a woman, or embody anything feminine anyway. But you are right in that it has gotten harder for men over the years. One of the reasons why more males don't come out with the truth - and that is that they have body identification issues, is because our patriarchal society has told them that guys don't have those sorts of problems, and so they most often suffer in silence. Many even committing suicide, all because of toxic masculinity. The balance needs to be restored!!
Absolutely agree. I would debate it's harder on women for sure.. as a whole, not that men can't be equally ruined by this.. I was just saying I'm not sure who is harder on their peers at this point. It's gotten so out of hand :/
I feel like men and women are tough on their peers in different ways. I have seen men be really tough on one another, and file it under the bracket of 'banter,' therefore nobody should be offended, which I don't always agree with. Women are in competition with one another. Because of this, they often seek to tear one another down at every and any opportunity. It sucks!!! We've got the critique coming from both men and fellow women, who have bought into the media's corrupt ideal of beauty. If you notice, many advertisement that seek to sell products to women, first start by disempowering the women, or highlighting some fear that she may have, and then offering the 'solution,' in the form of the product. The way that men's products are marketed seem to be a lot more empowering. It is crazy obvious, and I don't understand how people can miss the agenda that is taking place.
Same with anything really, isn't it. Power feeds off fears.. money is power. Man or women, fear is their tool or they wouldn't sell a thing. People are afraid to be unhealthy, unloved, undesired, to appear poor, to appear unpopular, to lose what they have, to never get what they want.. it's in the base of all marketing towards absolutely everyone. Reminds me of a random post on fb yesterday... Whether they lessen the woman or empower the man or not, it all comes down to fears and taking advantage of them. Sort of the same thing behind a girl tearing down another girl or a guy banging his chest at another guy.
The media has played a large part in what is considered beautiful and what people think they should look like. Media says all women should be thin and tall, what about the woman that is curvy and there is nothing she can do about that, she can still be thin and look good or only be 5 feet tall and still look good. It may not be what media has put out there as the ideal woman. So all the women that do not look like the media's ideal of looking good spend money on beauty creams or what not or go under the knife to change the way they look. Men are also going under the knife to look more like what media says they should look. It is a herd mentality.
Yes, it is true that they'll play off of our fears without a second thought if it means money and more power, regardless of the sex. But if you pay close attention, those fears and insecurities are much more likely to be exploited when marketing to women. Some of the advertising for some of these products are downright misogynistic, and nobody clocks on. They don't even bat an eyelid.
I think the fear play is indiscriminate, personally.. everyone has fears that push sales and they know it. It's the messages that discriminate, because you're right, they are extremely sexist. I'm just being nit picky though.. Aaw, I miss our little talks lol Whatcha been learnin' lately, my lil' genius?
