Posted on 08/14/2004 9:41:35 PM PDT by Happygal
IT'S summertime and the livin' should be easy, but it's not. Never have more women been unhappy with their bodies. Never have they been more eaten up by a completely impossible ideal of perfection.
It's got to the point where the handful of men who really love women's bodies have stopped paying them compliments because of the constant rebuffs.
"I've never known women to be so negative about their bodies," said one experienced Casanova. "It's always the same. They say their breasts are too small, their bottoms are too big, their arms are too fat. I'm sick of it," he went on in frustration. "Even if I said 'You have arms like Marilyn Monroe,' they'd say, 'Who wants to look like Marilyn Monroe?'"
If you want further evidence of modern women's low self-esteem, just look at the magazines. 'Heat' got all hot and bothered about summer-holiday photos in arecent issue, publishing candid-camera shots of some of the world's most beautiful celebrities in supposedly unflattering poses, along with catty captions about their bodies.
There was a time when I only had to see the word 'perfect' on a glossy cover and I was at the magazine counter, not expecting to see any change from €20. I can honestly say I was obsessed with body image.
My favourite magazines were the ones with celebrities looking their worst because it made me feel human again to know these people had faults too. I think that's what makes everyone else want to buy them too. We turn to the centrefold of our favourite magazine and look at silly pictures of celebs with scars or long toes, or other minor 'design faults' which are presented as freakish by magazine publishers. We all know the perfect body doesn't exist, but these magazines claim that they will show you how to achieve a "perfect body" in "10 days". This usually means starving yourself, unless you want to spend 24/7 in the gym and have no life.
But the magazine message is very confusing. Page one tells you "how to have the perfect body" but the inside story is all about "Kate's Anorexia". Confusing yet at the same time very powerful.
So powerful, indeed, that I was completely hooked and started to feel really bad about the way I looked. I too wanted that page-15 "perfect body".
There was a time when I was buying every firming cream there was. Every mirror I passed was used to check out my bum. I'd feel the heat come to my face with disgust as I examined myself: even though my behind didn't wobble when I moved, I wasn't satisfied. The mirror was becoming part of me. Some people thought I was vain when I was simply dying inside. My personality became non-existent because I didn't feel right with my body.
I wasn't eating, even though I weigh less than eight stone today. I was addicted to the whole celebrity image. My conversations didn't get beyond cellulite treatments. I had tried them all and I loved to talk about it. It's horrible to think I had nothing more to say because I felt so insecure.
If I felt that way I can imagine how some overweight girls must feel. And what message goes out to kids when they read articles calling Britney Spears fat because she has a packet of Cheeto crisps in her hand?
The magazine industry is responsible for leading women and men to disaster and even death in some cases. It's not just about weight anymore, it's about perfection: how to hide your spots, your funny toes, your childhood scars. Beauty advice, my arse.
A year ago I dumped a guy and he called me an orange-peeled fat ass and I laughed. Now, though, I'm a little touchy on the subject because of magazines and their obsession with cellulite.
But I have wised up a bit. In future, I'll stick to spending my money on junk food and fatten myself up because, it's a fact, men prefer curvy women.
What is widely accepted as the "perfect body" is far from it in my view. I prefer the look of a real woman to the frail looking girls featured in most magazines.
What ye doin' next weekend? ;-)
Charming, I wonder what he called her before she dumped him.
He sounds like a real charmer. I bet she misses him ...
I think most women who are considered beautiful are too thin. I do think Ann Coulter is hot, yes, but a tad thinner than I'd prefer.
This country has a very,very unhealthy obsession with body image and weight. Children as youg as 5 and 6 are unhappy with the way they look. It's not just girls anymore. Boys also are struggling to obtain an unrealistic perfection.
In a nutshell women want to be desired by men that appeal to them. People do not want man to have ability or even to be a character; they want him to be likeable. This being so, everything which is above the ordinary or out of the ordinary is disapproved of, since it is commonplace which appeals, because with it our judges feel at home: that is why geniuses are usually admired for their least original features, in which the crowd can recognize itself, and in spite of their originality. A young man who proposes to get married, a man who wants to be a Member of Parliament, or an old man who wants to be Pope all follow the same policy: they draw in their horns and try to appear insignificant. Every outstanding man is an insult to society, and society will crush him, if he does not ask for forgiveness for being what he is, and forgiveness will be granted only if he bows and scrapes. This advice also goes for outstanding women; Martha Stewart forgot to pull in her horns.
This is also why John Kerry will lose; have you ever seen someone least likable? Having said that, he also lacks character, intelligence and any political savvy. His only talent is marrying rich.
Annual fatalities in the United States
Cause
Fatalities Note
Anorexia nervosa.........................................54
Suicides (1996 figures)................................31,000
Fatalities in hospitals due to medical errors...98,000
____________________________
Notes:
Christina Hoff Sommers, Who Stole Feminism?, (Quote).
Centers for Disease Control (1996 Quotes and sources)
Reader's Digest (1998 Quote and source)
http://www.fathersforlife.org/health/anorexia10.htm
I can't help but believe that the modern image of the "perfect" woman (i.e. skinny and anorexic looking) in fashion ads and magazine covers has been foisted on us by the gayocracy -- the trendy fashion designers and editors who I think tend to be largely gay (or female).
I doubt that there are many heterosexual men making the decisions about which women will appear as models or what the "ideal" woman should look like.
Bingo! Why would any woman buy into a definition of "sexy" offered by men who want to have sex with 13-year-old boys?
Same here. Personality is also a big factor IMHO.
My sister, who is absolutely gorgeous, is always complaining about how bad she looks. Men stop to turn and look at her as she passes by, yet she is never satisfied with her appearance.
There's not a thing wrong with a woman having a little meat on her bones. But you can tell them that until the cows come home and they'll never believe how they look so good in your eyes. And then they'll wail when the compliments stop.
A man just can't win against such an invisible and irrational Enemy.
To the author of this article: Tough ta-tas. Women are just as vicious in their attitudes towards mens' bodies. If their expectations of perfection are finally coming back to haunt them, I'm quite happy to see it.
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