General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Posting T&A threads helps to create a hostile environment for women here. [View all]Squinch
(50,955 posts)As you point out, men's magazines show what is deemed sexually attractive to men, and women's magazines show what is deemed sexually attractive to men.
And Vogue is nothing. Try Cosmopolitan or even some images in Seventeen! And don't even get me started about what it's like to try and buy underwear through a catalogue!
Think about that.
There is nowhere that even a beautiful girl like your granddaughter can look where her beauty would be good enough. So imagine what an average looking girl feels when she sees the universality of these images.
Women's magazines train young women that "You need to meet this impossible and unnatural ideal of sexual beauty." But they say, "we'll show you how to get there," which is why women buy them. Men's magazines then say, "when you achieve that look, you are really only there for one thing."
I think it is possible that my hatred for the SI swimsuit edition comes from the fact that, sometimes, the SI covers show powerful and beautiful women achieving success in sports. That is one of the only places in the media where a girl like your granddaughter can see a woman who is shown with respect. So the swimsuit edition actually feels like a terrible betrayal of that very unique portrayal of respect.
But I have to agree with the poster you were describing: almost all images of young women in mens' and womens' magazines are freakish and unnatural.