There are a couple of things wrong with this news story. The first is that any time I hear women complain that media is responsible for creating unrealistic perceptions of the female form, I have to mention that most of the fashion media is directed by women. In fact, the most influential fashion media, women’s magazines, are all directed (at least editorially) by women. So, I think it would be much more truthful to say that women are responsible for creating an unrealistic perception of the female form.
Secondly, I find the research that young girls mutilating a Barbie doll and claiming that they regarded it as an unwelcome reminder of their childhood just the biggest crock of shit ever. Barbie is a fucking doll and if you’re a big enough idiot to believe that she is the "ideal" then you’ve got way more problems than can be singled out by some research team in the UK. If this leap of logic by the researchers (ie, children mutilating their toys is equal to children despising their childhood) is true, what does that say about every single child to ever walk god’s green earth? I blew up most of my toys with explosives, but not because I despised my childhood… it was because I liked blowing shit up. It was cool to blow shit up when I was a kid. In fact, I don’t know any kids that cruised through childhood without destroying a majority of their toys… only anal retentive, obessive compulsives still have the toys they played with as children once they reach adulthood… I would go out on a limb and say that if you still have childhood toys in relatively good shape, you didn’t play with them much.
On a similar note, can I just say that I am aghast at the number of seemingly intelligent adults who blame the media for their problems? I don’t mean to belittle you if you’re one of the tens of millions of people who blame the media for: your obesity, your anorexia, your lack of emotions, your overly aggressive tendencies, your lack of education, your sexual proclivities, your inability to reason like a FUCKING FUNCTIONING ADULT… or whatever the "cry-me-a-river" flaw de jour might be. Fucking take responsibility for your own failures and inadequacies! You’re a loser because for one of two reasons: it is either genetics or somewhere along the way you got lazy and then you couldn’t even be bothered to come up with an original excuse for your ineptitude and you picked the media! It wasn’t TV or magazines that made you that way… no matter how many fucktards in white coats with government grants say that it was.
Yay! Fucktards!
I am a loser only when I let myself be one; I do try to avoid that, naturally.
LMAO @ “flaw du jour”.
You should know not to trust any “research” that comes from a nation that knows that Prince Charles is the future head of state yet chooses to do nothing about it.
My thing when I was a lad was toy cars, and I would spend large amounts of time smashing them up, burying them, throwing them and painting them in garish colours. Never did me any harm. And my case worker says that I am ready to go home soon, and that the cars aren’t really talking to me and telling me to burn things…
I don’t blame the media for my past body image issues. I’m skinny, and don’t you know? Your life is perfect when your skinny! *breathe*…I’m okay now…
I blame the people specifically responsible for making my life a living hell as a kid.
I certainly didn’t mame my Barbies either. Cuz when your poor, you don’t kill your toys because then what the hell would you have left?!
But to say fashion media is ran by women is a tad bit incorrect. Yeah, fashion magazines are are largely women, however, editors answer to Execs who are largely male, the advertising heads who are largely male, and fashion designers who are largely gay males with atrocious ideas. Lets not forget that women have only come into positions of power in the media in the last half century. Ideas of beauty don’t change overnight, they evolve (or regress). Also, the fashion industry is not totally to blame for beauty standards. You have film and television. Combine all of that and there are not enough women in positions of absolute power to say that women are the sole creators of their own chaos. Teehee, my 10 cents ;-P
I only somewhat agree with you Laura. Editors don’t answer to the suits in terms of content… they answer to the suits in terms of fiscal health. They watch the purse strings not the content. Unfortunately, it IS the editors who make the decision to feature a 20-something rail thin airbrushed beauty on the cover… not the suits at corporate. The suits just want to make money and if everything was equal, money is more likely to be made selling off the rack clothing rather than houte couture.
Oh Ed you got me hook line and sinker! ;-P
I still think that the fashion industry is not entirely to blame. It is a large part of it sure, but it’s tied into the rest of the media world. Television and film play a HUGE role. Take a look at the casting industry. Why don’t you see more bigger women in lead roles? Is that because a woman is directing and producing film? Hells no. What about the age old notion that that you are only beautiful when your young? That’s been a “rule” since long before women could vote so how can that be blamed on the amount of control women have? Another point to consider,
Men’s magazines. Maxxim, Stuff, FHM etc. etc. Explain those. You don’t get on a cover of those mags unless you’ve got a decent rack. Is that idea born from women? You can’t convince me that standards for female beauty are not heavily influenced by men at all. Hell most feminists would blame men entirely. I don’t, but I’m no feminist. We can’t leave out our everyone’s dirty little stashes either. You know what I’m talkin’ about. P*rn. I’ll spare you the “o”.
A woman driven industry? Women filled (no pun intended) yes. But not until the last few years have women broke into directing it. Now, there is something out there to suit everyone’s tastes, but the “mainstream” stuff has a clear cut formula. Now, tell me these ideas of what’s sexy don’t venture out from under the mattress or the VCR/DVD.
You can’t pinpoint exactly were beauty standards come from when there are so many contributing factors including the consumer who let the industries know that as long as they dish, the money will be spent. European media is far more liberated in some ways than American. As for the Aussie market, I’m not so sure, I can only speak for what I see in my own backyard.
I like boobs.