Wednesday, July 7, 2010

HERE IS A CONCEPT: NOT EVERY WOMAN IS A SIZE 2



Towards the end of the television season, a controversial ad was pulled from the networks of ABC and Fox.
Here is the ad that infected the masses:
The ad was deemed racy because the model, Ashley Graham (tasteful picture), displayed too much cleavage.
Is that any different than this?
And let’s take a look at the programs that are shown on these networks…
I would advise muting this clip. The music is annoyingly loud.
Ah… here’s a TV Drama with a woman in her bra. I don’t recall there ever being any outrage or the show getting pulled off the air.
Oh, here’s ABC’s newest reality show…
When the network censors said the Lane Bryant ad showed too much cleavage, I called bullshit.
Was this breaking news to these people?
THIS JUST IN…. WOMEN HAVE BREASTS. THE AVERAGE WOMAN HAS TWO OF THEM, NO MORE, NO LESS…
Women have breasts? We must spread the word to the masses…
I guess these people slept through their health classes in school. Once again, the products of an underfunded education system.

STEPPING OFF THE ANGRY SOAP BOX
I think the model in the Lane Bryant ad is a lot better looking than the stick figures in the Victoria Secret ad. As I have stated before I am a red blooded American male. I like football on Sundays, my music cranked to 11, cold Shiner Bock, and a healthy buxom woman with some meat on her bones.
Note I said healthy. I think it is not natural for a woman to starve herself in order to be thin. On the other hand being overweight is not healthy either. There has to be balance between the two.
Let’s review the content of the ads. The Lane Bryant ad was somewhat classy. The woman received a text to meet her boyfriend. There was nothing wrong with that. The Victoria’s Secret ad paraded women around as objects. There is a problem with that.
And let me clue you in on Victoria’s secret.
A lot of padding…
I put up the ad for the new reality show to show my point. Body image issues affect both men and women. For women, the only way I can get a man is if I am thin, pretty, blonde, and ditzy. For men, it’s I have to have huge muscles and be a macho jerk. It can be damaging to ones psyche when it appears that relationships are only for certain groups of people. (Hmmmm….. No, this will not evolve into a rant about LGBT Rights. Save that card for another time).
Let me present another analogy:
Women : Eating disorders :: Men : Steroids
How do women achieve these impossible standards of beauty? They engage in damaging physical and mental actions such as anorexia and bulimia. Sorry, ribs and rotting teeth due to stomach acid is not sexy in my book. Men turn to steroids when working out in order to get that extra bulk. Those too have physical and mental consequences as well.
Hmmm…. What happens when men take steroids?
I think that is a convincing argument for me to not take steroids, no?
Anyways…
I did a little bit of research for the topic and I found these vital statics.
The average woman is 5-4, weighs 140 lbs, and is a size 14 dress size. The idealized image of woman portrayed by models is 5-7, weighs 100 lbs and wears a size 8.
I also saw this statistic of that only 30% of women ages 21-35 have normal bone mass. Researchers concluded that the reason the number is so low is because the women surveyed were afraid to consume dairy products for the fear of becoming fat.
Women are expected to be naturally fat (I am not using that term in a bad way; it’s biology). What is one thing that women can do that men can’t? Carry children. They need that extra body and bone mass in order to carry a child to full term.
What are breasts? Surprise: fat (well, unless they are injected with saline… much safer than silicone). They are much more than just things to look at; they are a source of food for their offspring.
I am not looking for perfection. Do you know how hard it is to achieve that?
I am a human being with his own shortcomings and frailties. I’d like to be with someone who has those qualities and be willing to share those. That is what beauty is in my opinion.
I think I have made my point. I close with the sage advice of a well known philosopher: Mr. Ron White


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