Quote:
Originally Posted by suns song
i'd also just like to add something:
yes, the media puts pressure on men as well. however, how does that pressure affect men in real life, really? you say most men would shrug it off, which is true. they can shrug it off because society has conditioned them, and told them from the start, that they have lots of good things going for them! they are strong, the providers; they have so many good male role models celebrated throughout history. they can be anything.
women, however, are not that lucky. there are a lot of campaigns trying to change that these days, but we're surrounded by images telling us that our worth lies in two things: our appearance, and our fertility. what if we can't have children? what if we're not that attractive? science is a man's field. math is a man's field. men can be fat, that's fine; they can still hold a job. if we're a little overweight, we're nothing. there are advertisements everywhere targeting women, telling us that if we're a little hairy, or a little overweight, we have no worth, and have to fix it immediately. that if we're attractive, we don't need anything else in life. it's ok to do nothing. all you need is a man.
historically we've been taught that it's the woman's job to be subservient, and more recently, to be sexy. we're to be sexy, but not embrace our sexuality, or else we're ****s (or just asking to get raped... but that is for another time). and if we deny any of that, try to push past it, we're 'butch', we're 'ugly', we'll 'never find a man', like these are all the worst things a woman can be.
again, this is starting to change, and i'm really happy about it! but like you said, there is a difference between the pressure the media puts on men and the pressure the media puts on women.
i'm not trying to paint women as this horrible oppressed class. just that there is a lot more to this than first meets the eye.
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Another fine post!
While I understand and completely agree with the points you have made I find myself at a loss of words. Mainly, because it is hard for me as a male to relate to this pressure that a woman feels as you describe.
I find it quite interesting how differently men and women think and feel. From my personal experience, whenever I am under pressure to provide or to overcome a hurdle in life the decision I have to make is quite simple. Either I push forward or I find a different path to reach my goal.
From your insight though, I can understand a woman's pressure more clearly. I can see how there really is no clear choice. I can also see how it can be depressing or very difficult to overcome what social media and advertisement display as "what men want".
For you ladies, I hope that you do understand that us regular guys do not expect Angelina Jolie. At the end of the day, most of us truly enjoy you for who you are.
Thank you for the insight suns song
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