So today I was looking at the forums on CG Society and came across a thread by someone who was bent out of shape about a seriously hot female character in an advertisement for ImagineFX.
Here is my reply.
posted by Souhuntre on 02/02/2006 at 17:29:00
“It’s maddening what the media tells women is attractive, what they should look like and so on”
The thing is… the media doesn’t TELL people this, the media reflects it. The things humans (as a whole) find attractive are not driven by the media… they are driven by our evolution. Does this mean that EVERY single person likes the same thing? No. But it does mean that over large populations (and this is useful for marketing) then some things will be much more commonly received than others.
What I fail to understand is why some people insist on getting all bent out of shape about it.
The character in question is not getting raped, killed or engaging in hardcore sexual activity. It is simply a attractive female form in clothing no more revealing than most club wear. If imagery like that is the cause of anorexia or depression in someone or is “oppressing them” then they IMHO have issues to start with.
To me it’s mostly just a idea of having a fairly clear outlook on life. Many people in the world are more attractive than me. Many idealized images in the world are more attractive than THAT. This will effect how many humans int he world consider me a viable mate. The only way that could make me feel bad about myself is if I somehow expected the whole universe to always consider me a perfect example of anything I want.
The Olympics are starting soon. Those people are almost universally more gifted than most of the viewers in some areas. Are we going to blame them when someone feels bad that they can’t run a world class sprint? If not, then I fail to see why people will blame others for their own body image.
What amazes me is how many people, faced with the stark reality that humans do (overall) have preferences about shape and that their shape is not the ideal decide that it is easier to try and change all of humanities idea on beauty than it is to just get on with their life.
I also kinda find that odd. I wonder how many people are outraged at my drawings of scantily clad women, until they find out i’m a chick.