One thing that bugs me about it from a purely aesthetic angle is that beauty doesn't work like that anyway - I really don't think it's something you can quantify.
IME, being a size 6 or having big tits or whatever doesn't automatically make someone beautiful. Nothing does. People are beautiful because they work as ensembles. Some people look better as a size 6 than a 16, other people look better at 16 than 6, and the same goes for everything. Saying being a certain size or whatever automatically makes you prettier is a bit like saying any piece of music can be improved if you add a guitar solo. It's a really simplistic and childish way to look at it, but unfortunately society seems to think it works that way.
I'm picky enough about "style" as it is, and even when specifically looking for them, it's very hard to find pictures I like of non thin / white / etc people. It's frustrating
Oh God, IKR. Sorry for wanking on about art so much but it's the main way all this impacts my life: I've wanted to do pictures of men so, so badly for so long now and it just isn't out there. Where it is, it's in such small quantities that it's useless (it's like taking photos of yourself - 99% of them you're going to throw away so you only have that good 1%). The only picture I've done of a male figure in a long time is this because it's the only good reference photo I've got.
No worries about "wanking on art" - your art is another person's fashion / blog / tv / film :)
I think you're right about not being able to quantify beauty; it really is subjective. This is why I'm also wary of tokenism.
So, this seems to be taking two paths in my mind at least: the availability of "alternatives" (ironically, these are seldom the minority in the quantitative sense) in the media; and the ability of the individual to recognise that the saturation of such images in the media is not representative of a universal beauty, or real life, or something that is attainable by everyone.
One reason why I'm interested in the rise of blogging is the ability to create the aesthetic that ones wants; magazines self censor for fear of losing ad revenue, but bloggers can do their own things and if people like it, great, if not, they're still doing their own thing. Granted, there's still slim pickings in terms of available images, but DIY is key, in my mind. Personally, in the absence of a fashion magazine that I consider to be relevant to me, I'm collecting blogs and images and kind of creating my own. I have to dig a little deeper, but I'm sure that there are many other people doing the same thing, and it's a case of finding each other.
I think that self acceptance and learning to say "fuck you" is a really important step for people to learn to take (myself included); the world of advertising and media is not going to have a miraculous overhaul of values, but we can learn to build our own defences to them. Being aware that there are alternatives out there (which are seldom alternatives in the sense of being a minority, but rather in the amount of space and exposure they're given), and that the skinny white "ideal" girl is neither a realistic representation is an integral realisation to make. I mean, all through my teens, I was surrounded by misleading messages, and I lapped them up. By writing / drawing things like these, it's cathartic for me; I'm making my realisations real and concrete.
Again, I'm really crap at explaining myself so apologies if this has come across as some strange ramble, but I'm hoping it is more of a "we're in this together!" ramble than anything else :)
the ability of the individual to recognise that the saturation of such images in the media is not representative of a universal beauty, or real life, or something that is attainable by everyone.
I'd like to think this is something that slowly seeps into people's heads as they get older regardless, though. I couldn't say whether women become more accepting of their own body image or even if men's taste become more realistic, but I know that as I've become older my taste has drifted away from quite a stereotyped form of attractiveness towards something a lot more realistic. But also my idea of what constitutes attractiveness has got a lot more diffuse and less strictly quantified. It wouldn't surprise me if I'm fairly normal in that regard.
Personally, in the absence of a fashion magazine that I consider to be relevant to me, I'm collecting blogs and images and kind of creating my own.
I do wonder if Filament would have existed in the pre-blogging days. It's certainly conceivable, but like you say blogging has fostered an almost punk DIY ethic to the media. Which is quite cool.
I think that self acceptance and learning to say "fuck you" is a really important step for people to learn to take (myself included)
I really admire that. I still get bursts of shame if I show a lack of manliness in some way, and they seem to getting a lot more regular recently for some reason. So I envy your ability to do that :/
I started the whole Aether thing basically because I was so sick of the kind of porn that was out there. Your stereotype porn star (made up to hell and back, slim, generally dull and generic looking) does nothing for me and I wanted to see real people as well as getting a big hit of what they're actually like as people at the same time.
In the end I stopped doing it because I couldn't get anough contributors, which was a shame :( Well, that and doing it always made me really uncomfortable. I can't say "pornographer" was high on my list of career aspirations, ha :P
but I'm hoping it is more of a "we're in this together!" ramble than anything else :)
I don't think I can ever really get what it feels like to be a woman in such an image-obsessed society as ours, but I do try.
I would hope you're right about getting older and wiser, but my poor Mum still looks at herself in the mirror and points out all the areas of her body she hates and wants to change, and it makes me sad. I certainly have a loooong way to go in terms of self acceptance, but at least now I vary between self love and self hate instead of constantly hating what I see. I'll get there, right?! I also think it's important to acknowledge that it's not just something that women have to deal with, but that everyone does in some degree. It's a journey, and it's going to be a long one, so I like to be able to document it and share it with others so that it's not lonely :)
IME, being a size 6 or having big tits or whatever doesn't automatically make someone beautiful. Nothing does. People are beautiful because they work as ensembles. Some people look better as a size 6 than a 16, other people look better at 16 than 6, and the same goes for everything. Saying being a certain size or whatever automatically makes you prettier is a bit like saying any piece of music can be improved if you add a guitar solo. It's a really simplistic and childish way to look at it, but unfortunately society seems to think it works that way.
I'm picky enough about "style" as it is, and even when specifically looking for them, it's very hard to find pictures I like of non thin / white / etc people. It's frustrating
Oh God, IKR. Sorry for wanking on about art so much but it's the main way all this impacts my life: I've wanted to do pictures of men so, so badly for so long now and it just isn't out there. Where it is, it's in such small quantities that it's useless (it's like taking photos of yourself - 99% of them you're going to throw away so you only have that good 1%). The only picture I've done of a male figure in a long time is this because it's the only good reference photo I've got.
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I think you're right about not being able to quantify beauty; it really is subjective. This is why I'm also wary of tokenism.
So, this seems to be taking two paths in my mind at least: the availability of "alternatives" (ironically, these are seldom the minority in the quantitative sense) in the media; and the ability of the individual to recognise that the saturation of such images in the media is not representative of a universal beauty, or real life, or something that is attainable by everyone.
One reason why I'm interested in the rise of blogging is the ability to create the aesthetic that ones wants; magazines self censor for fear of losing ad revenue, but bloggers can do their own things and if people like it, great, if not, they're still doing their own thing. Granted, there's still slim pickings in terms of available images, but DIY is key, in my mind. Personally, in the absence of a fashion magazine that I consider to be relevant to me, I'm collecting blogs and images and kind of creating my own. I have to dig a little deeper, but I'm sure that there are many other people doing the same thing, and it's a case of finding each other.
I think that self acceptance and learning to say "fuck you" is a really important step for people to learn to take (myself included); the world of advertising and media is not going to have a miraculous overhaul of values, but we can learn to build our own defences to them. Being aware that there are alternatives out there (which are seldom alternatives in the sense of being a minority, but rather in the amount of space and exposure they're given), and that the skinny white "ideal" girl is neither a realistic representation is an integral realisation to make. I mean, all through my teens, I was surrounded by misleading messages, and I lapped them up. By writing / drawing things like these, it's cathartic for me; I'm making my realisations real and concrete.
Again, I'm really crap at explaining myself so apologies if this has come across as some strange ramble, but I'm hoping it is more of a "we're in this together!" ramble than anything else :)
Reply
I'd like to think this is something that slowly seeps into people's heads as they get older regardless, though. I couldn't say whether women become more accepting of their own body image or even if men's taste become more realistic, but I know that as I've become older my taste has drifted away from quite a stereotyped form of attractiveness towards something a lot more realistic. But also my idea of what constitutes attractiveness has got a lot more diffuse and less strictly quantified. It wouldn't surprise me if I'm fairly normal in that regard.
Personally, in the absence of a fashion magazine that I consider to be relevant to me, I'm collecting blogs and images and kind of creating my own.
I do wonder if Filament would have existed in the pre-blogging days. It's certainly conceivable, but like you say blogging has fostered an almost punk DIY ethic to the media. Which is quite cool.
I think that self acceptance and learning to say "fuck you" is a really important step for people to learn to take (myself included)
I really admire that. I still get bursts of shame if I show a lack of manliness in some way, and they seem to getting a lot more regular recently for some reason. So I envy your ability to do that :/
I started the whole Aether thing basically because I was so sick of the kind of porn that was out there. Your stereotype porn star (made up to hell and back, slim, generally dull and generic looking) does nothing for me and I wanted to see real people as well as getting a big hit of what they're actually like as people at the same time.
In the end I stopped doing it because I couldn't get anough contributors, which was a shame :( Well, that and doing it always made me really uncomfortable. I can't say "pornographer" was high on my list of career aspirations, ha :P
but I'm hoping it is more of a "we're in this together!" ramble than anything else :)
I don't think I can ever really get what it feels like to be a woman in such an image-obsessed society as ours, but I do try.
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