There is no conspiracy.

[daphnep]

Okay, after a fair amount of interest in my "Improving Aphrodite" post from the other day, I made it public, and I'm happy to see so many people as piqued by the injustice to art and anatomy as I was

Comments

[angeladunn]

After reading both of your posts and plenty of replies left I think I've reached my point of view (partly) on this subject.

At first seeing the comparisons' all I could think was 'Aww MAN why???' But with the points that people have made on the David and the talk of the proportions for them being as small as they are, it does make sense.

But really, my view on this is I think it hits a lot of us, and me, definitely, on a more personal level than it being 'a conspiracy' or 'the media getting to us'.

I can only speak for myself here, but when I see figurines and girls being created/drawn/sculpted whatever as these tall elegant women I feel a pang in my chest out of jealousy. I'm a short girl, with muscles and any extra weight that I have can be seen more easily than a woman a few inches taller than me.

So, for me, this is a jealousy issue because I know I can't ever have a body that continues to be made for movies/magazines or figurines. Because I do think those figurines are beautiful. I love the classical paintings, those are absolutely gorgeous. But they both have one thing in common (and someone's pointed it out already, I'm sure):
To create a desired figure that most women couldn't acheive.

So, I just get jealous over these things.

[daphnep]

I hear you, so loud and clear. I know all about the jealousy and body insecurities. The thing is, though, that makes this more absurd to me is that what we're looking at isn't simply a "figure that most women couldn't achieve", it's a figure that's not even human. NO woman can achieve it, because it's not anatomically possible. It's a distortion of an image that was itself (as another commenter reminded me) a distortion of a real figure.

And it's pathetic. Imagine for a second that beyond mere clumsiness, the model-maker here is a heterosexual male, and imagine he was sculpting out his fantasy woman. That makes me feel sad for him, because he's longing after something that he will never find, because it doesn't exist on earth. He can never be satisfied.

That's how far removed these figurines are from anything real. They're like comic-book art, or something. That's why I wanted to post them and mock them. That's why I want women with body-image issues, in particular, to see them, and to be able to realize how many times they're looking longingly after something that has no relation to them, it's like longing after (or being jealous of) a unicorn.

And then, hopefully, the next step would be looking realistically at what is real and possible, at good, healthy images (and GOOD ART) and being able to appreciate that for what it is. I guess we'll see.