Female Body Image

yes, that IS a brilliant point. women can't help their need to find a good provider for their breeding. women need to be attractive to find that mate. one of the problems with the body image thing is that not everyone gets off on the look of the supermodels. dare i say *gasp* they're too tall and slender for some men to find more that distantly aesthetically pleasing. if your family tends towards not being able to maintain a healthy body weight, being too slender, going for slender isn't really what you're going to look for. that doesn't mean you're going to look for obese and nastily unhealthy, but like my dave, you're probably gonna be way more attracted to just a little more meat on your women.

 

"it's becoming an increasing problem for are boys, too. unrealistic expectations in this media age is tearing down our young men, too."

i'm glad to see more sensitive to men's issues! if it's okay for women to be attracted to income then it should be perfectly acceptable for men to be attracted to body!

men have such high expectations placed on them these days. they are still expected to earn more than their spouses; and in some cases these women are earning 80k a year. i think that's why men commit suicide 4x more than women. there's just too much pressure on them.

 

i think it's because they're not attention seeking like female suiciders are. and they do know how to get a job done.

no one ever said, here at least, that it's not perfectly acceptable for men to be attracted to body. it's natural. however, there's a huge market of men who are being neglected by the overly thin models used in advertising. but who cares? there's enough women out there for a man to ogle to his heart's content.

what this thread was about is miserable body image among young women due to an overwhelming advertising onslaught. i brought up boys because it's hurting them, too. obviously it's not purely a feminist driven complaint, our youth are being given an unrealistic image. i'm not referring to people who sit on the couch eating hoho's and potato chips, getting fatter by the hour and feeling guilty, i'm referring to very healthy young girls who then believe they need to be a size zero where there's no way that their body is designed for anything less than a six. and now it's striking at our young men, too.

 

Well, for me personally, I don't give a shit about what a man thinks of me. I have plenty of male friends who I get along with b/c of personality.

I find women attractive that have confidence and strength and love how they are. Typically "barbie doll" looking women who slather on make-up, go tan and eat nothing but celery irritate me b/c underneath their manufactured beauty, they have no confidence. And they are trying to attract a man whom they can be dependent on for the rest of their lives. Now, it's still possible for a woman who wears make-up and goes tanning to have confidence. But, I prefer the natural women - like ones on www.hippiegoddess.com. Okay, those women are a huge turn on for me

 

you're going to be who you are, whether you like it or not. so you might as well like it.

 

it better be acceptable for men to be attracted to body because that's what many men are attracted to .... FIRST. they can't help it, it's instinctual and natural. what kind of body? that depends on the man.

men have always had high exptectations placed on them, they're men, they're strong and most of them can actually handle it. it's even better for them if they have loving support at home and not someone working against them. women and men are different so to *think* we can walk a mile in their shoes is delusional ... we're women, we can't possibly or completely understand.

the men i know who are supporting families are happy to do it, with all the stress and pressure that comes with it. they especially like it when things are nice and tidy at home when they do arrive so they enjoy the fruits of their labor and the company of the woman they chose to marry.

 

it seems pretty simple to not act like a jerk to the man you love. i'm not entirely sure why it is an issue for so many people. be nice to your wife, be nice to your husband.

 

I like the way i look for the most part. Most girls wouldnt want to look like me though, cause I have a boy-ish figure and after all "real women have curves". But I dont care. I woulnt trade it. I just wish i could hold a tan instead of burning and then fading back to white. lol.

 

I have always been a pretty thin girl. I am about 170 cm tall and weigh about 62-64 kilos. I have small breasts and slightly bigger hips. My hair is always in my face and I know that if I commited to doing sit ups everynight I could get the six pack I've always known I could achieve if I set my mind to it. But I don't give a rats ass about it now.

I personally don't think that the women portrayed in magazines and TV and movies etc are beautiful at all. They are not what normal people should look like. I just look at what the media is portraying as perfection and I cant comprehend why girls would ever think that what they see there is how they should look.

Eventually everyones going to get wrinkles, your hair will start to grey, your breasts will sag, and you wont look as youthful as you once did.

It isnt the physical side of you that matters, it's what you are on the inside that really matters.

 

I am not a woman but this goes along the lines of anybody...I do believe in being comfortable with yourself, and not caring about what other people think....however I do believe that you should strive to be the best person you can be (looks, health, career) and then be satisfied with that.....don't be like well I'm heavy, or ugly, I have a shitty job or whatever and trick yourself into believing I am happy with who I am..It's all bullshit...It's like telling yourself well I am fat and theres no way I could lose weight so I am OK with that, I'm happy...If you are heavy maybe you do have to work a little hard to have a healthier body, but it's just like a child being born with an autism - he/she has to work that much harder to perform the simply daily task that you or I do.....The only allowance of judgement from others is the effort your put into yourself and the people around you...if you are a lazy POS then well guess what you should feel like one then.............

On the flip side the media has destroyed the whole concept of being comfortable with yourself anyhow...victoria secret models, "Are you large enough for your woman"? BS; media advertisement is created to brainwash people into thinking they need to be have a certain body figure, or penis size or breast size, or whatever to sell merchandise/products, and sadly we buy right into it because we care what society thinks of us, and more sadly we are judged and prejudice does occur because that....

But the point is you workout because its a great way to stay healthy, its a stress reliever, ect....wear lingerie because your spouse thinks you are sexy, don't let society judge you by how much money you make (the funny thing is rich people are crooks, liars, and thieves, they lie, cheat and steal their way to being rich or simply get it all handed to them).....Use them as guidelines to having a healthier life, the world isn't going to end b/c your dress size is 6 and that model is sporting a size 3....my wife has had horrible elf-esteem issues ever since our son was born, she is fat, blah blah, blah, because she has been sizing herself up to society and other people....I tell her everyday how beautiful she is (she really is eff'n hot) but her self-esteem is based on what someone else might think, rather than what I actually think of her......

Sorry ladies to but in and rant just thought I would share my opinion.

 

My body image sucks... suffer with it everyday

 

i once invited a conversation with some guys. they prefer real women who fart and burp after a meal... who get up in the morning with g strings stuck up their butts...they like confidence and intelligence, who are not afraid to say what they think and feel...to anyone.
they like women who know what they want, and arnt afraid to show it...they like women who are not made up to the eyeballs, but with the hair out of place...because they like to remind us we are great the way are in that moment...

 

not all men do all the time. at some point in time it gets to be too much. i know, my awesome, gorgeous little sister is like that, but after a certain point, it gets to be a turn off for the guys. but i think she does it to get the guys to back off a little bit, to treat her like one of them. she's VERY beautiful, and she works in heavily masculine industries. she's also in the Navy Seabees. that's not an easy place to be when you look the way she does. so she knows how to drink, burp, fart, fight and get guys to stop seeing her as a blonde haired, blue eyed piece of hot ass. i'm very proud of her.

 

this is what it all comes down to? sigh. You are proud of your sister because she burps, farts and fights? This is considered masculine ? to be rude and obscene?

I sometimes wonder what kind of times I have been born in. your signature picture is actually pretty disgusting and not funny, sorry if this appears to be mean but I had to be blunt.

 

Maybe this is just my observation, but most women who suffer with body image issues also tend to be low achievers from the beginning on.


Those who are in high successful leadership positions do not face these issues. In my opinion, if women try to be successful in their careers and take the focus of themselves and put that focus into something useful, more and more women will naturally love themselves for it

 

mamaK,... yeh your right, i agree..there's a time and a place for everything.

 

I've got to say, I think a core of the issue is gender IMBALANCE. I personally think girls that are OVERLY FEMININE are significantly less attractive than a more balanced sister. Why has feminine come to be associated with weakness and frailty? I prefer a good strong hardy sister that is REAL. I like female bodies as much (or more than) the next Brother! I am attracted to most sisters that aren't actually obese. Short and squat is fine with me, lanky is alright too, as long as their real. I far prefer sisters whos faces are clean (not painted up) and who haven't scraped themselves hairless, and have confidence and are STRONG.

I feel similarly about Brothers, although I'm not into them sexually. Overly masculine is as unbalanced as overly feminine.

 

Well well... not the case here I suffer from it yet I am anything but a low achiever...

 

unless you're overly feminine and married to someone overly masculine. it's a nice balance, in my house anyway.

 

actually it can be quite the opposite. low body image issues can drive a woman to achieve more with her brain. a woman with a hot body can get jobs and promotions without using her brain as much as her average sister. truthfully, it's just the way it works.

women's body competition was originally there to snag the best man. the prettier and better bodied girls typically got the best choices for a husband and future father to their children. in ancient times, these women were actually *cursed* in some ways, because they would become picked out of the group and chosen to be part of a king's harem. average girls got one man (cause he could only afford one wife) and lived a simpler life.