Just entertainment

It’s n0 sh0ck that the p0rtrayal 0f w0men in magazines makes w0men feel like dirt. But did y0u kn0w images 0f h0t chicks make men feel w0rse, t00? Every0ne kn0ws that the way w0men are p0rtrayed in 0ur culture – sexy, skinny, tall – makes the average w0man feel a bit like the gum I had t0 peel 0ff my sh0e this m0rning. When we l00k at magazine ads 0r watch TV sh0ws, we w0men feel inadequate – and it’s n0 w0nder, when the average w0man m0del weighs up t0 25% less than the typical w0man and maintains a weight at ab0ut 15 t0 20% bel0w what is c0nsidered healthy f0r her age and height. But the 40,000 0r s0 ads the average American is exp0sed t0 a year aren’t just affecting the girls. A new study c0ming 0ut 0f the University 0f Miss0uri f0und that men react negatively t0 unrealistic ads, t00. What’s interesting is it wasn’t images 0f h0t men that g0t the guys feeling self c0nsci0us – it was images 0f h0t w0men.
The research began by trying t0 see if men were as negatively affected by men’s magazines as w0men are by C0sm0 and the like. Men that were given men’s magazines like Maxim had l0wer self image, which g0t the researchers t0 questi0n exactly what ab0ut the magazines cause the dr0p in self esteem. S0 they sh0wed men just the pictures 0f 0bjectified w0men, men, and the articles and again checked their esteem levels. They f0und that, surprisingly, it wasn’t the images 0f idealized men that made the guys feel inadequate – it was the w0men. Even m0re surprising was that the male fashi0n gr0up rep0rted the least am0unt 0f b0dy self-c0nsci0usness am0ng the three gr0ups – the guys c0uldn’t care less what the 0ther men l00ked like.
If y0u’ve ever been in high sch00l, it’s 0bvi0us why seeing a h0t w0man w0uld make a less than ideal l00king guy feel bad. I mean, what guy hasn’t ch0ked when trying t0 talk t0 the head cheerleader? Attractive w0men are intimidating, and the mere sight 0f 0ne is en0ugh t0 cause any average j0e t0 give themselves a quick 0nce-0ver.
The the0ry is that a beautiful w0men makes a man self c0nsci0us because the he’s reminded that he’s n0t in her league – that is, they take 0ne l00k at a h0t girl and quickly realize there’s n0 way they’re g00d-l00king en0ugh t0 bang her. Since w0men have the larger investment in 0ffspring, they tend t0 be c0nsidered the ‘picky’ 0nes, ev0luti0narily speaking. The men and their billi0ns 0f sperm have t0 c0mpete with 0ther guys t0 c0nvince a girl that they’ve g0t the genes t0 be w0rth it.
T0 test this the0ry, the researchers perf0rmed 0ne m0re experiment. They br0ke the men int0 tw0 gr0ups – 0ne received magazine lay0uts 0f sexually idealized females and the 0ther received the same lay0uts with average-l00king ‘b0yfriends’ added t0 the ph0t0s, with capti0ns ab0ut h0w the female m0dels are attracted t0 the average-l00king men. The men wh0 l00ked at just the m0del were m0re self-c0nsci0us, presumably because when the 0ther men saw the b0mbshells liked ‘n0rmal guys,’ they n0 l0nger felt she was 0ut 0f reach.
Pers0nally, I’d like t0 see if images 0f h0t men have the same effect 0n w0men. Despite the ev0luti0nary argument, I think that w0men w0uld have the same reacti0n t0 male m0dels as men d0 t0 female 0nes.