No Wonder our Perception of Beauty is Distorted

powernoodle

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I don't believe our perception of beauty is distorted. Its innate. That link is just a soap commercial. :)

On a related note, I will say that with few exceptions I find that so-called "supermodels" generally look like 10 year old boys (no thanks) or heroine addicts. But thats because supermodels are neither created by - nor intended to impress - heterosexual men.

peace
 

jch79

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Hmmm...

A marketing video saying people should be free to look however they want, from the company that not only owns Dove, but owns 400 other brands, including:

- Breyers Ice Cream
- Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream
- Slim Fast (that's the funniest)

So, what do I think? I think I agree with the message of the advertising campaign, however I also think it's just a large corporation (Unilever) who has interests in both dieting (Slim Fast) and "not dieting" (Ice Cream & Margarines), finding a way of selling a product to people who otherwise don't think for themselves.

What's worse is that they still do animal testing on some of their products. For shame.

Off my horse!

john

EDIT: I didn't post links to support of any of my statements, but would be happy to do so if someone requests it! Otherwise all it takes is 2 minutes of research!
 

jtr1962

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I can't say I really agree with the message that commercial is trying to send. While I can't stand the idea of either sex altering their appearance to try to match the prevailing standard of beauty I don't go along with the idea of "take me as I am" either. Different types are good since we all have our preferences. As it is the types I like are relatively rare. I would hate for them to alter their appearance to try and match everyone else. For example, I don't like the idea of flat-chested females trying to look bigger, or short ones trying to look taller, or Asians trying to make their eyes look Western, etc. However, I do like trying to make the most of your particular type. This doesn't necessarily mean tons of makeup, or even any makeup at all. Rather, it just means keeping yourself healthy, a proper weight, and having a hairstyle which suits your type. Too often I see people complain nobody finds them attractive when they dress slovenly, are 100 pounds overweight, and their whole attitude says they have low self-esteem. Different types are great but I stop short at the whole so-called "fat acceptance" movement. That's where I diverge from the message this commercial is sending. Overweight is unhealthy, and, yes, unattractive. Anyone who might look OK being fat would look way better being normal weight. The model in the commercial isn't obese by any means, but losing 15 or 20 pounds wouldn't hurt her.

I don't find supermodels attractive, either. Way too tall, usually too thin, and with masculine features. Nor do I find that many celebraties attractive, either. Unfortunately, Hollywood long ago went for a certain monolithic standard of "beauty" but that image isn't necessarily what everyone likes.
 
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KingSmono

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jch79 said:
A marketing video saying people should be free to look however they want, from the company that not only owns Dove, but owns 400 other brands, including:

- Breyers Ice Cream
- Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream
- Slim Fast (that's the funniest)

Very interesting. I wasn't aware! I did some research on Unilever, and was shocked to see how many brands were under them. (and how wide the variety of the brands were)

jtr1962, well put.
 

revolvergeek

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powernoodle said:
On a related note, I will say that with few exceptions I find that so-called "supermodels" generally look like 10 year old boys (no thanks) or heroine addicts. But thats because supermodels are neither created by - nor intended to impress - heterosexual men.
peace

Amen Brother Preach! :goodjob:
 

TedTheLed

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" Unfortunately, Hollywood long ago went for a certain monolithic standard of "beauty" but that image isn't necessarily what everyone likes. -- jtr "

..then again you have to hand it to Hollywood for making "Shallow Hal" --
(you have to have seen it; simple-mindedly put; Jack Black is robbed of the ability to see the "outer" (fat) girl and sees only the beauty..)
 

Mike Painter

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powernoodle said:
I don't believe our perception of beauty is distorted. Its innate.
The perception is hardly innate. It is mostly cultural. One of the easy examples of this is found in Africa where women were deformed and or scarred to make them unattractive to the slave traders. A generation or two later and these were signs of beauty.
The American culture tends to find slim women attractive. Many others find rubinesque women attractive as did people in the time of Rubins.

I find that the movie stars of my youth are not nearly as attractive today as they were at the time.
 

elgarak

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What I find interesting to me personally, is that the end result in the commercial is way less attractive to me than the start.

Go figure.
 

jtr1962

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elgarak said:
What I find interesting to me personally, is that the end result in the commercial is way less attractive to me than the start.
I didn't like either one that much but I also disliked the end result more. Some of the altered features, especially the eyebrows, just didn't go with the rest of the face.

Mike Painter said:
The American culture tends to find slim women attractive. Many others find rubinesque women attractive as did people in the time of Rubins.
I think that had to do with the availability or lack of availability of food. In a time when food is relatively scarce heavy people are a sign of abundance. In the US where too many people have too much food being thin might be taken as a sign of greater self-discipline. My thoughts anyway.

Interesting how a lot of beauty is indeed cultural.
 

BB

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Had a (Irish American heritage) friend that is an engineer who was on a trip to China back in the 1970's... They had the obligatory dinners and supplied company. Asked for him to choose from one of several available to go (as in dinner companion--not the other type of "company"...). He picked a gorgeous woman--and heard a lot of snickering. It was explained to him that he picked the "dog" of the litter (in their eyes).

-Bill
 

KingSmono

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You guys have got to see this... more "beautiful people" photoshopping goodness.


"A photo retouching studio did a wonderful service to the universe by
posting the untouched and retouched versions of fashion and celebrity
photos on their website:
http://www.fluideffect.com/
1 Click Portfolio
2 Click Agree
3 Then Before and After

You will then see a pic, HOLD DOWN THE WORD "BEFORE" to see what the
models really looked like."
 

Greta

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Different perspective on "fat" people... and "thin" people...

As many of you know, I've been working for the county medical examiner. So I get to see these people in a completely different light!

I have to admit that the first time I had to do a removal on a... let us say... "overweight" person... I vowed then and there that I would never let myself become "overweight" again! And then... doing the autopsy... (sorry if this might be a bit graphic... I'll try to be gentle... but it NEEDS to be said!!!)... the doctor had to cut through 6 inches of FAT (yes, we actually measured it!) just to get to the organs. That is when I told myself and everyone else around me that I would NEVER allow myself to become "overweight"!!! ... And then... what was the cause of death? Take your pick. There were so many health issues with multiple organs and every single one of those problems stemmed from... obesity. And so... on this person's death certificate, the secondary cause of death was officially listed and registered with vital statistics as... "complications of morbid obesity". Nice.

Without exception, every "overweight" person who came through my morgue died as a result of health issues that were caused by being "overweight".

There's no superficiality here... there's GOOD HEALTH and LONG QUALITY OF LIFE!... and... no one will ever do my autopsy and have to measure how many inches of fat they had to carve through to get to my organs and find out what killed me.


*NOTE: I put the words fat and thin and overweight in "" because I do feel that those terms ARE subjective to a degree.
 

soapy

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BB said:
Had a (Irish American heritage) friend that is an engineer who was on a trip to China back in the 1970's... They had the obligatory dinners and supplied company. Asked for him to choose from one of several available to go (as in dinner companion--not the other type of "company"...). He picked a gorgeous woman--and heard a lot of snickering. It was explained to him that he picked the "dog" of the litter (in their eyes).

-Bill
"Confucious he say: I see only the inner beauty."

After all, if they ever work it out it will be well after the fact... ...and the beauty might be that little more impressed with you, too! ;-)



Beauty is, beyond the basic design, totally cultural. However, everyone accepts and rejects parts of that culture differently. I find a gothed up girl incredibly hot, with the right curves. I don't like piercings. I like dark things. Other people, my brother for instance, is a pure machine for the corporate ideal, and dates only hot models by the defined standards.

Massively obese people only die from being fat? I might wear 6" of blubber instead of body armour then! (As long as I can hang the fat suit in a closed cupboard! :sick2:)
 
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idleprocess

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Funny, I see this, uh, outreach campaign as more underhanded marketing than anything.

The gritty reality:
* There will always be inequality
* There will always be an elusive standard of beauty/handomsness/etc
* The standards of beauty/handsomeness will tend to match the upper classes
* Only a small fraction of the population will match these standards

The standards of beauty aren't fair, but that's tough. If you want to say "everyone is beautiful," then you render the term meaningless.

In the end, you have to be comfortable with yourself as you are or whatever you can change yourself into in a healthy fashion. If you're not comfortable in your own skin, trying to be something that you just can't ever be, it shows.
 

RCatR

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I think that no makeup/comfortable clothes make for cooler women, as they don't give a damn about "corporate beauty"

Cargo's & a T-shirt look fine to me dear.........
 
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jtr1962

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RCatR said:
I think that no makeup/comfortable clothes make for cooler women, as they don't give a damn about "corporate beauty"
My thoughts exactly. I hate makeup, dresses, high heels, business suits, highly made-up hair, etc. Casual dress/natural appearance always seems more attractive than a forced appearance to conform to society's standards. I don't like men in suits, either. A suit and especially a tie is about the most unbecoming thing you can do to a man.
 

Blazer

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I firmly believe that women should not wear makup at all. Men don't so we're all "compared" on the same playing field. Women have their own beauty and it may not be in their skin tone or texture. I believe the cosmetics industry is a collosal scam on women telling them they have to be something different than what they are.

That said, we ALL have our ugliness and beauty. Some have more of one on the outside and more of the other on the inside. Doesn't matter, we all have both.

That's one thing I really like about online discussion forums, no judgement based on appearance only content. Basically we can see one another's inner person more than if we only looked at their appearance and tried to see who they really "are".
 
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