This research indicates that both active and passive peer effects are stronger influences on female body dissatisfaction than are the media. These findings can be illuminated using an evolutionary perspective. Female competition for men who possess putative indicators of good genes, status, or willingness to invest resources is one factor that has led to the evolution of prominent secondary sex characteristics (Thornhill & Gangestad, 2008). Numerous studies have shown that men use these characteristics to discriminate among potential mates (for examples, see Geary, 2010). Thus for women, physical appearance is an important component of reproductive success (Rhodes, Simmons, & Peters, 2005). Put another way, body dissatisfaction may have less to do with misplaced media ideals, and more to do with very real concerns about successfully finding mates.Lähde
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Because youth is highly correlated with reproductive value in women, the most salient traits that men have evolved to be attuned to are those that indicate youth (Durante & Li, 2009; Law Smith et al., 2006). There are many potential indicators of female youth such as lustrous hair, clear and vibrant skin, vivid eyes, rounded breasts, low waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), and symmetry (D. M. Buss, 2008; Marlowe, 1999).
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Women’s intrasexual competition increases negative affective states such as depression and anxiety and is often geared toward making the victims of such competition conscious of their bodies, particularly given the emphasis that men place on physical features in selecting mates. Women often compete by derogating same-sex competitors, especially focusing on physical appearance and sexual behavior (Baumeister & Twenge, 2002; D. M. Buss & Dedden, 1990; Joseph, 1985). These insults have real-life effects on women (Rucas et al., 2006). For example, Fisher and Cox (2009) found that when women insult the photographs of other women, men rate those photographs as being lower in attractiveness. Studies have also demonstrated that women feel high levels of distress when around attractive rivals or, often times, attractive women in general (D. M. Buss, Shackelford, Choe, Buunk, & Dijkstra, 2000; Luxen & Van De Vijver, 2006).
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For example, girls and women have been found to rate the ideal female figure to be thinner than do men, that is, men find the ideal female body to be somewhat plumper than women think they do (Cohn et al., 1987; Dwyer, Feldman, Seltzer, & Mayer, 1969; Fallon, & Rozin, 1985). Consistent with these findings, Barber (1998) found that magazines targeting women showed slimmer women than did magazines targeting men. Thus, women are competing intrasexually to the point of attempting to obtain a figure that men actually do not prefer. The copious money that women spend on clothing and cosmetic products is also evidence of an increasing arms race to achieve attractiveness and status (Chao & Schor, 1998; Ectoff, 1999), as arguably women pay more attention to elements of “fashion” than do the men they wish to attract.
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One might argue that competition with proximal peers does not differ from viewing images in the media. However, there is a very real psychological difference between competition with peers and imaginary competition with media figures. Real-life peers are far more relevant to a woman’s relative mate value. For example, even if young women think Megan Fox or Aishwarya Rai are paragons of beauty, they are equally aware that the men in their social circle stand no conceivable chance of mating with these women. By contrast, their female peers are directly competing with them for access to high-quality men. For example, consider a young woman who peruses Victoria’s Secret catalogue. She may be mildly distressed by comparing herself with the models in the catalogue. However, this distress would likely dissipate rapidly. On the other hand, if one of the models became a member of her peer group, her distress would likely be intense and prolonged. This distress and body dissatisfaction would be an adaptive response to her social circumstances because the model would lower her status among her peers and would have access to the same mate pool, resulting in an unwinnable competition.
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An important and reasonable counterargument contends that the media can link body types to status; therefore if thin bodies are portrayed in the media, those body types will garner status and cause women to strive to obtain them (Wiseman, Gray, Mosimann, & Ahrens, 1992). There is validity to this argument; however, the body types that the media present are not arbitrary. Rather, they are often linked to health and reproductive potential because those are the bodies that men have evolved to prefer (Grammer, Fink, Moller, & Manning, 2005; Jasienska et al., 2004, 2006; Singh, Renn, & Singh, 2007). Therefore, even if women were attempting to obtain body types portrayed in the media, they would also be attempting obtain healthy-looking bodies and bodies that would allow them to compete success fully with mating rivals.
Tuli tässä mieleen, että Tallinnaan matkatessa on aina saatavilla ilmainen The Baltic Guide lehti, jonka etukannessa on usein huomattavan kaunis nainen. Kauneus on tietysti lopulta katsojan silmissä, mutta kyllä näissä naisissa usein täyttyy kauneuden kannalta peruskriteerit, josta voidaan ajatella varsinkin länsimaalaisten miesten suurelta osin tykkäävän.
Kesän juhlia ja juhannusperinteitä
Kauneus ja terveys
I noticed this as well. Two of my white male friends don't find Beyonce attractive, they don't think she's ugly but not exactly appealing. But they said they found Aaliyah and Halle Berry attractive.Lähde
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People magazine put her on the cover of the "most beautiful" magazine and they always choose a hot/popular celebrity. I assume that's where you heard it from. They always choose someone who is making waves in their field. Beyonce is at the top of her game right now. If you don't agree, that's fine.
Travelers Digest’s ‘Top Ten Cities With The Most Beautiful Woman’ says Kiev is “without a doubt, home to the world’s most beautiful women”.Lähde
The online magazine also praised the population of Kiev.
“A visit to Kiev is truly awe-inducing and it’s almost hard to believe that women this beautiful even exist,” the Daily Mail quoted it as saying.
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I don't understand why people get mad about white men preferring their white women...???
Isn't that how it's supposed to be? A man should think his race of woman is the most beautiful thing on the planet.... isn't that what we expect but rarely ever get from black men???
