Active Low-Carber Forums - View Single Post - "Girl Love Handles: The backlash"

Quote:

Originally Posted by waywardsis

Who gives a crap what anyone else is wearing? Caveat: pants look best when the waistband sits BELOW your navel! On everyone! Doesn't have to be miles below, but below.

Here in Canada, Dove has a new campaign (soap, shampoo, etc) that features 'normal' women - women of all shapes and sizes, colours and ages; women with bellies, butts, hips, thighs, freckles, grey hair, big noses, big ears...in short, REAL WOMEN. I can't tell you how fantastic it is to drive down the highway and see a huge billboard with women who look like me (short and soft) on it! And they are always smiling and looking happy - not pouting and looking a) stoned b) hungry c) painfully orgasmic. They are calling it their "Campaign for Real Beauty", and, driven by dollars or not, it's a huge step in the right direction IMO, esp for young girls.

Tangent: Women are always being told they suck: too smelly, oily, hairy, pimply, dry, fat etc. How many men do you know that have a cabinet full of skin care products? Not many, I'm sure. How many companies would admit that what you eat has more to do with the health of your skin that what you scrub it with? None, I'm sure (unless they were also selling products, a la Dr. Perricone). I see your frustration, Zippity, because I feel it too with myself and with other women. We buy into this ~#*! I mean, come on...why are we pretty much the only species where the man is the less colourful one?

I read an interesting review of the Dove ad campaign in Slate magazine. The writer was saying that the campaign will do really well at first, as women embrace the feel-good idea of "Real Beauty". But, he pointed out, long-term Dove will become the "fat girl brand", and ultimately sales will drop due to this association. What do you guys think?

I admire the effort to bring some reality to the world of beauty marketing.

On the topic of guys and love handles, I had a very interesting conversation with my wonderful man the other night. He was telling me that most guys don't find super skinny girls attractive. The guys who DO find skinny skinny girls hot tend to be a few things: more insecure (need a thin girlfriend as a social status symbol), more immmature (tend to be obnoxious and vocal - like catcalling), and, obviously, more superficial. Since these type of dude is louder about his preferences (he's more likely to be the guy in the bar making loud comments at skinny girls), these preferences are attributed to the majority of guys.

However, "good" guys - smart, well-educated, funny, down-to-earth, sensible - don't find the skin and bones thing attractive at all. They tend to prefer normal looking girls, slim and healthy and curvy, NOT skinny.

Regarding who gives a crap what anyone else is wearing...I think this thread is partly a fashion "Don't!". Basically, it's the information that the majority of people find skin spilling over the top of tight jeans unattractive. If, when you get dressed in the morning, you care about the way the rest of society will see you, that might be useful information.