Some kind o' crazy

[flatandgreen]

So I'm doing the research on body image in Latin America, right. My thoughtful, kind, nice, yet naïve guy friend asked me why I thought advertising was so evil in relation to body image.

I told him how beauty is a very real concept and it shouldn't be written off as just a social construction, but that the evidence shows that in countries where Western advertisements are fewer, women have better body images overall. This seems to prove to me that the weird bodies promoted really do effect our self-image. This makes sense to me and maybe I'm missing some vital point. I'll concede -- painfully -- that I DON'T have all the answers.

He followed up with, "Isn't there personal responsibility involved? Shouldn't we be able to look at those images and realize they're fake and not be affected by them?" GAH!

I tried to explain that I'm not over or underweight, that I don't buy every beauty product I see advertised, that I DO believe I'm beautiful and that those images are not normal, but that EVEN I have crazy body issues and I think that my experience as a white, teenage girl in the US (a country with a huge number of weight, emotional, and body image issues) lends credence to my statement.

In short, he didn't get it.

Am I wrong?

I can distance myself somewhat from what I see portrayed as "normal" and what I believe to be normal, but I don't think I can do that entirely and I couldn't BELIEVE he was being so obtuse.

We left it as friends, agreeing to disagree. My voice is hoarse and my patience is short.

[pixiedust]

I totally agree with you but then again your friend is a guy lol...he wouldnt understand where a girl would be coming from.

[akira]

yeah guys are idiots when it comes to these things cause no matter how they look, they will have some woman who will find them attractive for one reason or another.

Women are the ones in our species to attract males. Males are turned on by visuals. The visuals are usually for child rearing purposes. Most men look for women with big breasts and nice hips and ass because they see that if you have these components, that you should be able to survive during childbirth and be able to provide for the young afterwards.

Why we have images of big breasted women with shapely bodies is because of the primitive thought pattern males still carry with them(the one I explained above)and who controls a good majority of advertising in america? Males are at the top of almost every major company. They oversee their product. They know this image is the quinticcential image of women that males love to see. This is what sells their product. Women sell every type of product under the sun(just about anyways)so women see this stereotypical woman as someone who is attractive. Men see it as the norm for women to look like. If women don't measure up to the standard of the stereotypical woman, they either have to find other ways of attracting males, or they have to find ways to fix themselves into the stereotype and hope for the best.

anyways I hope that helped some.