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'Ugly girl': The negative messages we send to our daughters

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Infinite

Member
Which leads to my reaction.

(ノ`Д´)ノ彡┻━┻ (ノ`Д´)ノ彡┻━┻ (ノ`Д´)ノ彡┻━┻ (ノ`Д´)ノ彡┻━┻ (ノ`Д´)ノ彡┻━┻

There's probably a lot to discuss including the reasons as to why it's ignored but eh, best saved for another thread and when I have free time/the energy to.

There's could a interesting discussion on the phrase "a real man" alone.
 
Or how about this crap being fostered on young girls:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YR742do-Jtk

Who the hell thinks up this shit?

It isn't forced on them as part of some sort of conspiracy. They made this game because they think it's something girls would want to buy. If girls were all buying Transformers or GI Joes, then they would just make more Transformers. Most girls don't buy Transformers, so they come up with a product that they think girls will like, like this phone game.
 

Mumei

Member
This.

My teenage years were hell because of the standards I thought I had to live up to, and I know plenty of guys (and girls) for whom the same thing applies.
Stop making everything a gender issue.

Sure. My teen years were rough. I had years of depression, counseling and therapy and attempted suicide. I didn't start to feel okay with myself until my early 20s, and I still have issues with my appearance.

It is true that everyone has problems in their teen years. It is also true that girls face unique pressures when it comes to their appearances that boys do not face. I am quite aware of the pressures boys face when it comes to their looks; it simply isn't the same in terms of ubiquity. Some things are a gender issue in that girls and boys do not face the same pressures. I never would have thought "Girls face unique issues relating to pressures to appear a certain way that boys historically have not faced as overtly or as intensely as girls do, even if those pressures have been increasing on boys in recent decades" would be a controversial statement before having one of these conversations online.
 

Infinite

Member
People that know how to make money? Most of the things we spend money on in life is crap, garbage,etc. Whenever people invent stuff that people actually buy no matter how dumb it seems, sadly they're doing something right.

I'm but stuff like this pisses me off

tutu-cookie-monster-costume.jpg
 
I haven't seen that brought up on here before. I assume you are talking about drop out rates, minorities in particular.

I majored in education and chose not to pursue it. I had to take many classes. A lot of people feel like that young boys are overmedicated (ADD medicine is targeted at boys much more than girls). Boys are more likely to drop out of school, less likely to attend college, and make worse grades. They're more likely to be suspended. They read at lower levels. They're more likely to be expelled. They're more likely to repeat a grade. The only thing boys excel at is math and that gap is getting smaller and smaller because such a huge emphasis was placed on getting girls into math and science fields.
 
Sure. My teen years were rough. I had years of depression, counseling and therapy and attempted suicide. I didn't start to feel okay with myself until my early 20s, and I still have issues with my appearance.

It is true that everyone has problems in their teen years. It is also true that girls face unique pressures when it comes to their appearances that boys do not face. I am quite aware of the pressures boys face when it comes to their looks; it simply isn't the same in terms of ubiquity. Some things are a gender issue in that girls and boys do not face the same pressures. I never would have thought "Girls face unique issues relating to pressures to appear a certain way that boys historically have not faced as overtly or as intensely as girls do, even if those pressures have been increasing on boys in recent decades" would be a controversial statement before having one of these conversations online.

It's not a controversial statement. Boys obviously do not face exactly the same pressures as girls.
The thing is, the pressures that boys face are somewhat similar in nature and just as bad, and I never see any threads about them. It's mostly "girls have it so rough" or "women are at a constant disadvantage at everything, because sexism".

I'm but stuff like this pisses me off

tutu-cookie-monster-costume.jpg

Not sure why this is supposed to be bad? It's a rather ugly costume, yeah, but I don't see the harm in it.
 

A.E Suggs

Member
I'm but stuff like this pisses me off

tutu-cookie-monster-costume.jpg

Is that supposed to be a costume or something that you wear regularly? It wouldn't be bad if it didn't have a design on it and cookie monster of all characters. That said I don't let my kids dress up for Halloween anyway so I won't have this problem to deal with.
 

anaron

Member
It's not a controversial statement. Boys obviously do not face exactly the same pressures as girls.
The thing is, the pressures that boys face are somewhat similar in nature and just as bad, and I never see any threads about them. It's mostly "girls have it so rough" or "women are at a constant disadvantage at everything".
Because societal standards guarantee they will be. I'm not sure why you're trying to downplay the fact that women are predisposed to more hardships than men are.
 

Mumei

Member
ThisWreckage, perhaps you could make a topic about the issues boys are facing in education? I feel it is a distraction from this discussion.

It's not a controversial statement. Boys obviously do not face exactly the same pressures as girls.
The thing is, the pressures that boys face are somewhat similar in nature and just as bad, and I never see any threads about them.

I just came across this editorial, and it addresses precisely this:

This abnormal obsession with women's faces and bodies has become so normal that we (I include myself at times—I absolutely fall for it still) have internalized patriarchy almost seamlessly. We are unable at times to identify ourselves as our own denigrating abusers, or as abusing other girls and women.

...News outlets with whom I do serious work, such as publishing op-eds about preventing HIV, empowering poor youth worldwide, and conflict mineral mining in Democratic Republic of Congo, all ran this "story" without checking with my office first for verification, or offering me the dignity of the opportunity to comment. It's an indictment of them that they would even consider the content printable, and that they, too, without using time-honored journalistic standards, would perpetuate with un-edifying delight such blatantly gendered, ageist, and mean-spirited content.

I hope the sharing of my thoughts can generate a new conversation: Why was a puffy face cause for such a conversation in the first place? How, and why, did people participate? [...] I ask especially how we can leverage strong female-to-female alliances to confront and change that there is no winning here as women. It doesn't actually matter if we are aging naturally, or resorting to surgical assistance. We experience brutal criticism. The dialogue is constructed so that our bodies are a source of speculation, ridicule, and invalidation, as if they belong to others—and in my case, to the actual public. (I am also aware that inevitably some will comment that because I am a creative person, I have abdicated my right to a distinction between my public and private selves, an additional, albeit related, track of highly distorted thinking that will have to be addressed at another time).

If this conversation about me is going to be had, I will do my part to insist that it is a feminist one, because it has been misogynistic from the start.

I'm not denying that boys don't see difficult-to-impossible to obtain images of ideal male bodies in the media or that that men don't face pressures to look a certain way or even that the pressures for boys have been on the upswing and have been expanding. But saying it is just as bad is simply inaccurate. I think any cursory examination of a topic on GAF about a female celebrity (or even "a female") is indicative of the sort of pressures that girls face from a very young age with regards to their appearance.
 

Vagabundo

Member
It isn't forced on them as part of some sort of conspiracy. They made this game because they think it's something girls would want to buy. If girls were all buying Transformers or GI Joes, then they would just make more Transformers. Most girls don't buy Transformers, so they come up with a product that they think girls will like, like this phone game.

People that know how to make money? Most of the things we spend money on in life is crap, garbage,etc. Whenever people invent stuff that people actually buy no matter how dumb it seems, sadly they're doing something right.

I've no problem with companies marketing specifically toward girls. Of course there tends to be differences between what girls like and boy like, mostly, although that's a whole other topic. But these companies need to be responsible in what they make, this ad ran while I was watching sponge bob with my two year old girl on nickelodeon . I'm conscious of how much crap she gets bombarded with on a daily basis.

What the hell is wrong with "geeks"? I didn't like what the ad was saying.
 
lol only on the internet does one have to explain how women have it worse in the world.

Really? Because men are more likely to have depression/mental disorders. They're more likely to commit suicide. They're more likely to abuse drugs. They're more likely to be homeless. They're more likely to drop out school. They're more likely to be incarcerated in prisons. Men become victims of violent crime more than women (the only exception being rape). Women outlive men. Men are more likely to get cancer than women. This goes on and on.
 
Welp, the pissing has begun for better or worse.
I majored in education and chose not to pursue it. I had to take many classes. A lot of people feel like that young boys are overmedicated (ADD medicine is targeted at boys much more than girls). Boys are more likely to drop out of school, less likely to attend college, and make worse grades. They're more likely to be suspended. They read at lower levels. They're more likely to be expelled. They're more likely to repeat a grade. The only thing boys excel at is math and that gap is getting smaller and smaller because such a huge emphasis was placed on getting girls into math and science fields.
I'd have to see some numbers before I believe that boys are being "left completely behind." However, I can readily believe that the current state of the education system combined with societal factors is disadvantaging boys/men to some extent, in relation to girls/women. Edit: Just talking about education, to be clear.
 

Vagabundo

Member
I'd have to see some numbers before I believe that boys are being "left completely behind." However, I can readily believe that the current state of the education system combined with societal factors is disadvantaging boys/men to some extent.

It's an international. It's happening here in Ireland at the moment. They is a big disparity between how well girls are doing in education compared to the boys; drop out rates, exam results, going on to third level etc. It seems to be the early to mid teens when boys start losing out, but I do think it's should be it's own topic.
 

anaron

Member
Really? Because men are more likely to have depression/mental disorders. They're more likely to commit suicide. They're more likely to abuse drugs. They're more likely to be homeless. They're more likely to drop out school. They're more likely to be incarcerated in prisons. Men become victims of violent crime more than women (the only exception being rape). Women outlive men. Men are more likely to get cancer than women. This goes on and on.

p4Xu7.jpg
 

patapuf

Member
I'm not denying that boys don't see difficult-to-impossible to obtain images of ideal male bodies in the media or that that men don't face pressures to look a certain way or even that the pressures for boys have been on the upswing and have been expanding. But saying it is just as bad is simply inaccurate. I think any cursory examination of a topic on GAF about a female celebrity (or even "a female") is indicative of the sort of pressures that girls face from a very young age with regards to their appearance.

Men are going to talk about attractive women regardless of standart of beauty. Women want to be desired by men (and vise versa of course) - pressures in that regard will always exist, they are unavoidable. Whatever the other gender finds most attractive will be one of the things people try to meet.

Of course the comparisons in some beautiful women threads are ridicoulous sometimes. I've always found the stalking of celebrities strange. Especially because it's a sport both genders participate in, with similar enthusiasm.
 
Really? Because men are more likely to have depression/mental disorders. They're more likely to commit suicide. They're more likely to abuse drugs. They're more likely to be homeless. They're more likely to drop out school. They're more likely to be incarcerated in prisons. Men become victims of violent crime more than women (the only exception being rape). Women outlive men. Men are more likely to get cancer than women. This goes on and on.

Men are victims of other men thanks to the patriarchy. Go figure. Such an antiquated rigid structure backfires on men. It still doesn't mean women are somehow elevated above men because there are less of us in prison or dying from cancer. Plenty of women suffer domestic abuse and rape that never gets reported. More women attempt suicide, and a good portion of these are due to sexual assault. You're not really listing ways in which men are subjugated in comparison or due to women just listing some problems that men tend to face.
 
lol only on the internet does one have to explain how women have it worse in the world.

In the world? Obviously women have it way worse, look at all the ass-backwards cuntries where women aren't allowed to go out of the house without a male companion and stuff like that.

In first-world countries? Not convinced that the gap is so big.
Yes, misogyny and sexism are still running rampant, and frankly I was pretty shocked about the stuff girls told me they experience in everyday life.
But: men have whole host of other problems people like to ignore. Such as being more likely to die or be heavily injured in workplace related accidents, being more likely to be homeless, more likely to commit suicide, more likely to get killed in a war, being expected to be tough and manly all the time...
But enough of the derail, I'm not going to get into more detail ITT.
 
I would all of them
except the blonde one on the right, the pale one that looks like she's fusing with the background
You're crazy, she's the cutest!

Sure. My teen years were rough. I had years of depression, counseling and therapy and attempted suicide. I didn't start to feel okay with myself until my early 20s, and I still have issues with my appearance.

It is true that everyone has problems in their teen years. It is also true that girls face unique pressures when it comes to their appearances that boys do not face. I am quite aware of the pressures boys face when it comes to their looks; it simply isn't the same in terms of ubiquity. Some things are a gender issue in that girls and boys do not face the same pressures. I never would have thought "Girls face unique issues relating to pressures to appear a certain way that boys historically have not faced as overtly or as intensely as girls do, even if those pressures have been increasing on boys in recent decades" would be a controversial statement before having one of these conversations online.

We can't have a thread about women's issues without it turning into a 'but men have issues' thread.
 

zoukka

Member
But: men have whole host of other problems people like to ignore. Such as being more likely to die or be heavily injured in workplace related accidents, being more likely to be homeless, more likely to commit suicide, more likely to get killed in a war, being expected to be tough and manly all the time...

Yes and all of these are true because men have more freedom and responsibilities in running the finances of a family.
 
I'm not denying that boys don't see difficult-to-impossible to obtain images of ideal male bodies in the media or that that men don't face pressures to look a certain way or even that the pressures for boys have been on the upswing and have been expanding. But saying it is just as bad is simply inaccurate. I think any cursory examination of a topic on GAF about a female celebrity (or even "a female") is indicative of the sort of pressures that girls face from a very young age with regards to their appearance.

I think I worded that poorly. The pressure girls face about their looks are probably (??) worse than the ones boys face. Although I have to say I was relentlessly teased for being a skinny guy throughout my youth. So there's that.

Anyway, I meant to say the sum of all pressures bearing down on a girl/boy are pretty much equally bad. Girls have it worse in the looks department, boys have it worse in the behavior department.

e.g.: A boy is expected to be tough and in control at all times, he cannot show weakness. For girls, nowadays, it is acceptable to be feminine & weak, or they can be boyish and tough too. They get to play either role. Boys have to roll with tough, or they face a pretty good chance of being called a f*ggot and being generally pushed around.

Edit:
ThisWreckage, perhaps you could make a topic about the issues boys are facing in education? I feel it is a distraction from this discussion.
This, please.
 
It's an international. It's happening here in Ireland at the moment. They is a big disparity between how well girls are doing in education compared to the boys; drop out rates, exam results, going on to third level etc. It seems to be the early to mid teens when boys start losing out, but I do think it's should be it's own topic.
Hmm. I was just thinking in terms of the United States.
I think I worded that poorly. The pressure girls face about their looks are probably (??) worse than the ones boys face. Although I have to say I was relentlessly teased for being a skinny guy throughout my youth. So there's that.

Anyway, I meant to say the sum of all pressures bearing down on a girl/boy are pretty much equally bad. Girls have it worse in the looks department, boys have it worse in the behavior department.

e.g.: A boy is expected to be tough and in control at all times, he cannot show weakness. For girls, nowadays, it is acceptable to be feminine & weak, or they can be boyish and tough too. They get to play either role. Boys have to roll with tough.
Tomboys don't exactly get it easy. Maybe easier than feminine boys.
Yes and all of these are true because men have more freedom and responsibilities in running the finances of a family.
Well, that's getting at the root of the problem.
 
lol only on the internet does one have to explain how women have it worse in the world.

Men are victims of other men thanks to the patriarchy. Go figure. Such an antiquated rigid structure backfires on men. It still doesn't mean women are somehow elevated above men because there are less of us in prison or dying from cancer. Plenty of women suffer domestic abuse and rape that never gets reported. More women attempt suicide, and a good portion of these are due to sexual assault. You're not really listing ways in which men are subjugated in comparison or due to women just listing some problems that men tend to face.

Men tend to have it just as bad, if not worse, when faced with tons of problems. You basically just dismissed a litany of problems men face and then posted "sexual assault" and "rape" in random intervals to try to drive your point across.
 
In the world? Obviously women have it way worse, look at all the ass-backwards cuntries where women aren't allowed to go out of the house without a male companion and stuff like that.

In first-world countries? Not convinced that the gap is so big.
Yes, misogyny and sexism are still running rampant, and frankly I was pretty shocked about the stuff girls told me they experience in everyday life.
But: men have whole host of other problems people like to ignore. Such as being more likely to die or be heavily injured in workplace related accidents, being more likely to be homeless, more likely to commit suicide, more likely to get killed in a war, being expected to be tough and manly all the time...
But enough of the derail, I'm not going to get into more detail ITT.

More likely to get killed in a war precisely because of the sexism that dictates women should not fight in it. I love how people bring war drafts up. What do you think happens to women in occupied territories? Friendship, cupcakes and sunshine? How about massive rape and being sold into prostitution.
 

Mumei

Member
But enough of the derail

Quite enough.

I am sympathetic to some of what you said in your last post, but in this topic the discussions about men's issues are simply a distraction from talking about the issues that this topic is actually about. The discussions about men's issues with appearance are at least tangentially related; this argument over men or women have it worse or boys having worse to worry about because of how they are doing in education are not.

If you aren't interested in a discussion about female body issues and would rather have a discussion about the issues men face or about men in education or whatever, make that topic. Don't derail this topic. This isn't addressed specifically towards you; this goes for everyone.
 
Yeah I'd be interested in doing some reading too. I watched this the other day, which deals with that in part, and is also generally entertaining: http://www.vice.com/fashion-week-internationale/seoul-fashion-week-full-length

That was really fascinating. "Double eyelids" and rounder eyes to look like Westerners.
T8sSh.jpg

Interesting.
iiAIdcrdp87fr.jpg

1/5 females have had cosmetic surgery. It's a popular graduation gift from their parents?!
iS6iqCZpFukvN.jpg

plastic-surgery-you-cant-hide-it-forever.jpg

Whoah.

So they want to look like Westerners. Westerners want to get tanned. And Indians/Pakistanis do the fair cream stuff. Reminds me of a Louis CK joke, "everything's amazing, nobody's happy".
 

Yoshiya

Member
Hopefully, this doesn't run too much against what Mumei just said, but I'd be fascinated to know more about body image issues amongst same-sex attracted males because that could perhaps infer about what causes the issue more widely. Women appear to be amply critical of other women, though I don't think body insecurity need directly be caused by male expectations of female beauty for it to originate with patriarchal societal flaws. Though I'm being wildly speculative, perhaps the gay community in particular suffers the problems of the "male gaze," squared.
 
Hopefully, this doesn't run too much against what Mumei just aid, but I'd be fascinated to know more about body image issues amongst same-sex attracted males because that could perhaps infer about what causes the issue more widely. Women appear to be amply critical of other women, though I don't think body insecurity need directly be caused by male expectations of female beauty for it to originate with patriarchal societal flaws. Though I'm being wildly speculative, perhaps the gay community in particular suffers the problems of the "male gaze," squared.

I think they honestly suffer under "the ideal male" concept and are expected to exhibit masculine features that reflect strength and power. For us it's much more specific and there are huge industries vested in our insecurities like cosmetics, hair coloring, facial/skin creams and fashion to an extent.
 

Mr_Zombie

Member
So what's the solution to this problem? Force people to use unattractive and overweight women as models and actresses? If companies did this, their clothing and other products wouldn't sell as well and their movies and TV shows would make less money.

Women used in the Dove ad campaign are hardly unattractive or overweight. They are good looking women with average body - the type of women you will usually see everyday.

The solution to the problem is to stop advertising this unnatural "perfect" women, with airbrushed skin and photoshopped body, hair, lips, boobs and everything else.
 

A.E Suggs

Member
I've no problem with companies marketing specifically toward girls. Of course there tends to be differences between what girls like and boy like, mostly, although that's a whole other topic. But these companies need to be responsible in what they make, this ad ran while I was watching sponge bob with my two year old girl on nickelodeon . I'm conscious of how much crap she gets bombarded with on a daily basis.
I will agree here which is the main problem I have in general with companies.


I must be sexist - I think that costume is adorably cute lol

Its not sexiest at all just more so demeaning for her age and that its a halloween costume with a cookie monster head gear.

Also this topic has been derailed and turned into that topic, i'm outta here.
 

WanderingWind

Mecklemore Is My Favorite Wrapper
I think banding together to discuss common issues that affect us all is extremely beneficial - if you stop trying to figure out who has it worse and stop trying to denigrate the other "side's" struggles. There is no point to prove there, nothing to gain from it. But talking about things that affect us all can definitely help open eyes, alieviate feelings of isolation and educate those who may be unaware of just how ubiquitous these problems can be - if you don't let your preconceived notions get in the way.
 
Women used in the Dove ad campaign are hardly unattractive or overweight. They are good looking women with average body - the type of women you will usually see everyday.

The solution to the problem is to stop advertising this unnatural "perfect" women, with airbrushed skin and photoshopped body, hair, lips, boobs and everything else.

I'm pretty sure even the dove models have had some kind of 'shopping done.

Every picture nowadays is shopped in some way. Be it a small color correction, a heightened exposure, the removal of a mole or some wrinkles,...

Where do you draw the line?
Only use straight-from-the-camera pictures for ads?
 
I'm pretty sure even the dove models have had some kind of 'shopping done.

Every picture nowadays is shopped in some way. Be it a small color correction, the removal of a mole or some wrinkles,...

Where do you draw the line?
Only use straight-from-the-camera pictures for ads?

Skin blemishes and acne removal is fine. Turning an already attractive woman into a Picasso piece, not so much.
 

WanderingWind

Mecklemore Is My Favorite Wrapper
I'm pretty sure even the dove models have had some kind of 'shopping done.

Every picture nowadays is shopped in some way. Be it a small color correction, a heightened exposure, the removal of a mole or some wrinkles,...

Where do you draw the line?
Only use straight-from-the-camera pictures for ads?

Honestly...yeah. That would go a long way toward helping. And it's not as if you can't make somebody or something attractive enough without Photoshop. You just can't make it look ridiculously unreal. Have print ads held to print journalism standards, at the very least, where you're supposed to stick to cropping/dodging/burning only.
 
and seeing how a lot on people on gaf judge woman by their looks i can see how this girl can feel this way

look? the next time you post "WOULD" or another silly joke of how you will have sex with any woman posted via photo on a forum think twice,the next time you call a woman "fat" "ugly" or make a joke because its not a perfect model with huge tits,think twice because this behaviour his everywhere and its a real problem.
 
So, what I'm getting from this thread (and similar threads) is that men don't understand how it is to be a woman and women don't understand how it is to be a man.

I wish it wasn't like this but nothing new.


On topic:

You can be successful without being good looking, but it's true that society appears to keep raising the bar as to what being successful actually means to the point that you have to be perfect in every way.

Yes, I can see how that can put too much pressure on immature people and we could do something to lessen the effect these messages cause on young people.

Thing is, the media is distorting our perception of the world. Some time ago, you felt like you were competing with those around you but nowdays your impression is that you are competing with the whole world. That's intimidating, especially if we start including things like photoshop, where not even the actual models can match the photos you see on those covers. Truth is, for the most part you are still just competing with those around you, so nothing has changed all that much, just your perception of reality.
 

Mr_Zombie

Member
I'm pretty sure even the dove models have had some kind of 'shopping done.

Every picture nowadays is shopped in some way. Be it a small color correction, a heightened exposure, the removal of a mole or some wrinkles,...

Where do you draw the line?
Only use straight-from-the-camera pictures for ads?

There's a difference between color correction, removing highlights etc. and turning a 54-year-old women into a teenager with skin smooth as a newborn baby:
Fhn9q.jpg


or completely changing body type by enhancing waist, boobs, tights etc:
lSR2X.jpg

yY3ZC.jpg


Magazines create false image that lots of women try to reach and will obviously fail to do so.
 

CiSTM

Banned
and seeing how a lot on people on gaf judge woman by their looks i can see how this girl can feel this way

look? the next time you post "WOULD" or another silly joke of how you will have sex with any woman posted via photo on a forum think twice,the next time you call a woman "fat" "ugly" or make a joke because its not a perfect model with huge tits,think twice because this behaviour his everywhere and its a real problem.
This women needs paperbag over her head before some Gaffers would do her.
http://i.imgur.com/vfIfw.jpg
 
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