Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Not Buying It

I have noticed a disturbing (at least to me) trend. And it is bugging me.

It's even worse than the "Mama Bear" epidemic that seems to be sweeping America.

Wanna know what it is?

Too bad, I am going to tell you anyway.

It is the tendency a lot of women have of "pinning", "liking", and "sharing" what I deem (and if I deem it is so, it IS) to be inappropriate pictures; pictures usually having to do with "fitness"; pictures I think all people of my gender (at least) should be appalled at, offended by, and straight-up feministic over.

And I know I tend to take something little and blow it WAY out of proportion, so bare with me, take me with a grain of salt (cause salt makes everything a little more salty), and then completely agree with me.

I actually call it pornography, for lack of a less-scandalous word. Seriously, I don't know another word to describe it.

Are the women naked? Not technically. I mean, they may as well be, but 'naked' wouldn't hold up in a court of law as an accurate description, no.

Are the women salaciously posed? Yes.

Are the women usually wet? Yes.

Beyond a reasonable point of sweaty from working out? Way.

Is their hair always super long and hanging down? Yep.

Even though their head is usually cropped out, can you still see the hair lightly brushing their lower back? Uh-huh.

Has anyone in the history of gym memberships ever seen a fellow exerciser dress like that? No.

Or pose like that? Never.

Are there always men commenters that say creepy things that should, to any self-respecting woman, make us cringe for the model that posed for the picture? Every time.

Would I want my child to see it on my computer screen? Huh-uh. Or on the cover of a magazine on my coffee table? Nope!

So why are we buying (in my opinion, when we "like" "share" and "pin" something we are endorsing it - so technologically "buying") this crap?

Why are we (I assume) concerned enough about pornography to want to keep this kind of trash away from our sons and husbands, but then we turn and give it a big ol' thumbs-up?

It troubles me.

In my downward-spiral way of thinking, I want to say "Congratulations" to every woman who does their part to keep these pictures circulating, "Way to undo decades of progress, and prove to a few more men that we are nothing more than objects to be used, abused, and never taken seriously."

(because, if you haven't noticed by now, I have a deep, dark feminist streak that makes me freaky about certain things, and makes me ashamed for other members of my sex at times)

(and because I blow things out of proportion, remember)

Why are we being force-fed this diet of images that belong in skeevy men's magazines? There, at least, I can half-way understand their relevance. But as a sales ploy directed at women? Seriously? Are we going to be that gullible?

Now, now. Calm down. Don't start second-guessing all those fitness links you just pinned. Or getting all defensive. I am not talking about the millions of photos out there of truly fitness-related things. I am not going to go through my fitness magazines and draw long-sleeve shirts and pants on all the people. It's not the outfits that make the issue. If it is legit, great. Motivational - even better! (although, if you try to convince me that a picture of a girl who has clearly just come down from her pole, superimposed with a cheesy, greeting card-esque saying that could have been written by a 6-year old is motivational, then we have another problem altogether...)

I am talking about a completely different realm of photography that, lately, has seemed shockingly abundant.

It is not motivating. It does not make you feel good about yourself, or anyone else. In fact, it creates confusion, as it relates to nothing you can put your finger on precisely.

Does anyone else know what I am talking about?

Is anyone else concerned?

Do I just need to take my medication and calm it on down?

Am I just bitter about a lengthy bum workout I did last week that was filled with these type of pictures (I scrolled down to hide them from view, they were that bothersome) that didn't even make me sore, let alone morph my bum into delightful mounds of perfection?

Bracing myself,

let the comments begin.






9 comments:

Mardee Rae said...

I love you. And completely agree. Wholly, fanatically, agree. How can we raise sons to look at women as people and not objects, and daughters to not be obsessed, depressed, and wanting completely unrealistic things if we are allowing ourselves to embrace those? I don't get it but I suspect the same ppl who were behind making "cuz" in the 90s acceptable for because and r and u acceptable these days. Don't they stand for anything?

vanessa said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Burrups said...

Amen!! I can't believe how many women our same religion post an article from the Prophet and then their very next post is about joining some stupid diet trend and the pictures they posted are of half naked woman saying we could look like this if we join. I don't get it! Makes me glad I won't let my boys on social websites.

vanessa said...

I totally understand where you're coming from. I HATE that women are soooo easily exploited for the shock value, and shame on the women who buy into the illusion that a naked woman means "liberation" and "art". Blergh. Liberation?? quit facebook. That is sooo liberating. :)

Thanks for posting and bringing this to light. You said it perfectly.
February 1, 2012 8:42 AM

Michelle said...

OHHHH MMMYYYY GOOODDNEESSS!!! My sister and I had this conversation the other day! If I may add . . .some of the photo's have an inspirational caption that says "be yourself" or "love yourself the way you are" or "Don't do it for anyone but you" (I can't for the life of me think of a good one). So they want us to "be who we are" and "love ourselves the way we are" BUT then post an airbrushed-6-pack-ab-bootalicious-sexy-camouflage-porn-star as the picture. Seriously?! Of course I would love myself if I looked like that! (Well not the porn star look but the 6-pack ab look)

Your comment about drawing cloths on girls in the magazines made me laugh! When I was a kiddo my dad drew cloths on the naked people in our encyclopedia!

Paige of Pearls said...

Have you heard of Voices For Virtue? You sound like you could be one of their founders. If you want to read a blog that is devoted solely to what this one entry talks about, go to beautyredefined.net. It's made me think a lot about media and its influence on our society on even - or perhaps especially - women of our faith.

I wholeheartedly agree with what you're saying, Andrea!

Michelle said...

PS I had to "unfollow" certain boards of some of my people.

PPS Have you seen the the professional pictures that women have taken of them nursing their kids? (Readers don't freak out I am all nursing, with class.) Ewww - that is not a photo to hang on your living room wall. Why should it be on pinterest?!

Priceless Heritage said...

Although I understand where you are going with this I'm sad if you aren't going to Pin. It has so much inspiration. As with everything in life there is good and evil. It's about filtering and having the foundation to not let things get to us. If we worry about the pins of others that aren't to our standards then we miss the beauty and purpose of all the things good. When you have an account then you follow only those you choose and that has been a huge filter for my boards since my friends and those I follow that pin are to my standards. There will be an occasional pin that I wouldn't pin myself but everyone is at their own progression in life and I just move on and don't worry it. Love & miss ya girl ;)

Emily said...

Love this one! Soft porn masquerading as girl power bugs me too. Whenever you cut off a woman's face in the picture, it's bad news. Can you imagine looking at pictures of men dressed - or not dressed like that? Of course not. Gross. So why it's OK for women is beyond me. Also, tangent, it bugs me when women/girls are encouraged to be modest/feminine/etc. so that guys will like them/respect them/get their minds out of the gutter. Now I'm all for respect & guys being nice & not thinking dirty thoughts, but I hate when what GUYS think about girls is the reason we tell girls to act/dress a certain way. Guess what girls, it's about YOU. Nabbing a nice guy is definitely a perk, but how you portray yourself should be about how you feel about yourself, not how you want men to feel about you. How's that for a deep dark feminist streak? We should get together & rant about the world we live in sometime. (Maybe on your way to AZ????) & thanks for slipping in that bit about your butt workout (excuse me, bum workout). I thought this blog was safe, but no, it's just another I worked out more than you today. (Big wink, lol, etc.) Love you!