Saturday Medley

9 comments to Saturday Medley

• graham

  February 16, 2013 at 3:53 pm Log in to Reply

  more SI

• adrena

  February 16, 2013 at 6:37 pm Log in to Reply

  More on SI

  The SI Swimsuit Issue profits from a philosophy of constructing men as active, women as passive; men as subjects, women as objects; men as actors, women as receivers; men as the lookers and women as the looked-at; and I argue, men as consumers and women as the “to-be-consumed” (Betterton, 1987). Women today have been socialized to see themselves through the male gaze so that they are both spectators and spectacles. As spectators of themselves, women learn from popular media, in this case the wildly popular Swimsuit Issue, to compare their appearances with the media’s feminine ideal, becoming objects of their own gaze. This feminine ideal, as proven again and again by the Swimsuit Issue, leads women to internalize these mediated ideals and constantly work to live up to these perfected “norms” of beauty while leading men to believe these qualities are essential (and attainable) in a mate. Essentially, “the feminine ideal is tanned, healthy slenderness, with no unsightly bumps, bulges, or cellulite, and bodily and facial perfection that results from hours of labor: exercise, makeup, and hair care” ( Kuhn, 1985), and 20 years later, plastic surgery and digital manipulation.

  Much more at the link

• graham

  February 16, 2013 at 6:45 pm Log in to Reply

  Thanks Adrena, but did you note the dates of comments… An old article updated???

  Also read this two days ago

  • adrena

    February 17, 2013 at 10:23 am Log in to Reply

    An old article updated?. Has anything changed? On the contrary, the male gaze has become even more overwhelming. It is omnipresent – even on my iPhone I’m constantly confronted with it through the ads (for games) that regularly appear on the screen. So I hope these two women revive this article every year at the launch of the SI because what they write is as true today as it was yesterday.

    Pussy Pride

    Regarding the article about rape you linked to, one guy gets it and shares his belief in a powerful poetic way.

• dk

  February 17, 2013 at 11:51 am Log in to Reply

  ESPN caters to many tastes:

  http://espn.go.com/espn/photos/gallery/_/id/8136693/2012-body-issue-bodies-want-espn-magazine

  • dk

    February 17, 2013 at 12:10 pm Log in to Reply

    because the market is small for this:
    http://fatassinaskinnyworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/fat-men.jpg

    or this

    • adrena

      February 17, 2013 at 1:00 pm Log in to Reply

      Thanks, but no thanks.

      Following is what I prefer.

      

      

      

      

    • adrena

      February 18, 2013 at 1:55 pm Log in to Reply

      One more thing

      I have always been a strong supporter of gay rights. I find it therefore, incredulous that you, a self-proclaimed lesbian, choose to ridicule the sexual orientation of hetero women by treating the female gaze as a fucking joke. You’ve just proven yourself to be as much of a bigot as the anti-gay crowd. Solidarity works both ways, sister.

      What does fighting for the rights of hetero women involve?

      Fight slut-shaming
      Promote the female gaze
      Stop treating male sexuality as the automatic default.
      Stop grooming women to become confused beauty-obsessed neurotic robots.
      Recognize and accept the authentic sexual nature of all women.

      • dk

        February 18, 2013 at 2:12 pm Log in to Reply

        ???