Posted on 01/16/2007 3:52:39 AM PST by theothercheek
The New York Times reports that anorexia was all but unheard-of in Brazil until the Barbie aesthetic, celebrity models, satellite television and medical makeovers began to infiltrate the culture: [U]ntil recently no one here would ever have talked with admiration about having an hourglass figure like Barbies, let alone the coat-hanger physiques of the international runways. Instead, the ideal was what is known as um corpo de violão, or guitar-shaped body thicker in the waist, hips and fanny.
The Times notes that only in the English version of the bossa nova hit, "The Girl from Ipanema," is she tall and tan and young and lovely. In the original Portuguese, the lyrics emphasize the sweet swing of her hips and rear end as she walks - more than a poem, the most beautiful thing I have ever seen.
But an internationalized standard of beauty depicted in the media particularly celebrity and fashion magazines may be contributing to anorexia among Brazilian girls. Brazils most successful fashion model, Ana Carolina Reston, was 5 8 tall and just 88 pounds when she died of anorexia-related complications at the age of 21.
So why this emphasis on an unnatural and unfeminine body types on the catwalk? Gay men rule the fashion industry, and it is possible that androgynous models are the only women who do not repulse them.
But what if there was something more sinister behind fashion designers efforts to foist anorexic chic as the female archetype: Stop heteros (AKA breeders) from having children. Anorexia and infertility go hand in hand. Menarche occurs when a girls body fat content hits 17 percent; regular ovulation - fertility - depends on maintaining 22 percent body fat. When a womans weight and body fat percentage fall below levels necessary to sustain pregnancy, she stops ovulating.
Fortunately, the ultra-thin standard of beauty in the fashion world does not translate to the real world in part, because the vast majority of women will not deliberately become anorexic or bulimic to achieve an abnormally underweight physique. Plus Brazilian men are not alone in their appreciation of curvy women. When a well-endowed woman walks down the street, heterosexual men worldwide instinctively swivel their heads to see whether she has a sexy ass, too. No man bothers to turn his head when a flat-chested woman goes by, because her backside is likely to be equally disappointing.
And neither feminists nor fashionistas are ever going to change this basic male instinct.
NOTE: Original source includes links to relevant Web sites and articles.
Rules.....
I believe that would make me a dreadnaught.
Meaning? Anorexia in the fashion industry has been in the news repeatedly over the past month. At least a half dozen nations instituted regulations for catwalk models - but the NYC fashion industry refuses to. This is a major worldwide controversy. The fashion industry dictates to girls and women what they should look like and some of them develop likelong - and life threatening - eating disorders as a result. As a man this issue might not be your cup of tea, but it is very important to women.
LOL!
Sometimes, the "rules" don't give the desired results.....
Victor is citing THE RULES...this thread is worthless without pictures ;^)
I'm quite sure a great many men would love to have the answer to why some women come to the conlusion that they can ignore what their mothers taught them about the need for nourishment sufficient, to maintain who and what they are, but apparently, as with drug addicts, who and what you are isn't good enough.
I certainly wouldn't call it something as simple as an eating disorder. It is an extremely complex psychological disfunction of the worst kind. The end result if not fixed, is death.
"It is an extremely complex psychological disfunction of the worst kind."
You've just described the entire "fashion" industry. They're all sick.
I think one technology will solve the problem of what real women are supposed to look like: HDTV. I once saw a teeny tiny gymnast (4 foot something, less than 80 pounds) doing mat exercises on an HD set - and it wasn't even one of those humongous ones you can buy today. She clearly had a touch of cellulite on her thighs. No make-up, no artful taping of tiny titties to create false cleavage, no nothing will escape the clarity of HDTV. At first, more models will die because they simply cannot maintain the artificial standards the fashion industry has created for women under the magnifying glass of HDTV. Then the pendulum will swing the other way and the fashion industry will embrace more realistic body types and shapes - they'll have to, since all the cadaverous/androgynous will have died of anorexia.
I'm quite sure a great many men would love to have the answer to why some women come to the conlusion that they can ignore what their mothers taught them about the need for nourishment sufficient, to maintain who and what they are, but apparently, as with drug addicts, who and what you are isn't good enough.
I certainly wouldn't call it something as simple as an eating disorder. It is an extremely complex psychological disfunction of the worst kind. The end result if not fixed, is death.
http://eatingdisorders.suite101.com/article.cfm/eating_disorders_recovery
There is more at this site including information on Ana Reston.
if fully developed, 1/3 will get better, 1/3 will stay the same, and 1/3 will die!
These are amazing odds for a disease!
The bow of course. Without the bow to stimulate it's strings, the fiddle is just a piece of dead wood.
Have you not heard of pizzicato - plucking the strings with the fingers? You can play a violin without a bow, but all you can do with a bow is apply rosin - and then what happens next is none of my business.
That really says it all but don't look for the MSM to explain that homosexuality has any negatives whatsoever.
and they must hate this
I think Dove is doing a great thing with their "Campaign for Real Beauty" advertisements. They have a bunch of better-than-average looking women who look happy and healthy and like they are having a good time. This seems like a much healthier model.
I wonder how women respond to this.
All I know is it works for me.
If you really take a close look at these women they are all in great shape - no rolls of flab, pretty firm in the tummy, strong thighs. Actually, that blonde in the middle looks kinda pale and puny compared to the zaftig women surrounding her. That's one woman's reaction, anyway.
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