Comments on: But what about the menz?

By: Of “Wacky” Japan and the Myth of the Other at Racialicious - the intersection of race and pop culture

Fri, 14 Mar 2008 13:00:54 +0000

[...] Profit” The first thing I noticed in the trailer is the fact that all the bodies featured are uniformly hyper-thin and pale. The game features the usual cliched lineup of cute boys to fall in love with: the moody cool [...]

By: mythago

mythago — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 18:27:05 +0000

beer GUT. geezmo.

By: mythago

mythago — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 18:25:13 +0000

You may be very thrilled at the fantasy of Ms. Tough-Attorney in her miniskirt (no doubt she has glasses, a bun and wears Victoria’s Secret lingerie underneath), but having been in court myself, I have to tell you that it is the exact opposite of “effective professional dress”. Judges and jurors may enjoy the view, but they’ll discount whatever’s coming out of her mouth.

And as you probably know, I was being sarcastic. “That testosterone thing” doesn’t prevent a beer guy.

By: Mold

Mold — Sat, 09 Feb 2008 21:06:19 +0000

Mythago,

Not to be scientific, just using short terms for the differential use of excess CHO and muscle production. Ugly is in the eye of the beholder.

Having been in court, I can vouch for the plethora of professional women in mini skirts in particular courtrooms. Seems the judges were cast by the same Creator as Ken Starr or Phill Kline.

Use what you got.

By: Dana

Dana — Sat, 09 Feb 2008 18:14:39 +0000

Try to be careful when criticizing the journalist for this piece. Keep in mind, articles often go through a lot of other people who change the piece to suit their own tastes or that of the readers.

Honestly, as important of an issue as it is, people are tired of reading about skinny female models and eating disorders. I’m about to graduate with a journalism degree and I have a lot of interest in women’s rights, homelessness, and domestic violence. But I’ve had editors turn me down just because it’s been written about too many times, and I’ve had to find ways to bring up an issue by telling the story a different way.

So maybe the writer does want to bring attention to the female model problem, but does so by using the men as a “new” issue. Or maybe that was just the editor’s choice.

By: CassandraSays

CassandraSays — Sat, 09 Feb 2008 00:56:55 +0000

Racy T – It’s not just you. 90% of the men I’m attracted to fall into a very specific body type – 5ft10 to 6ft3, 120-140 pounds or so. The few exceptions are equally skinny but a little shorter. The heaviest man I ever dated was about 170, and he was 6ft5. And even then I would have found him sexier if he had been a little thinner.

About the article – I agree with Zuzu that eating disorders are far more of an issue for men in sports than in modelling. The market for skinny male models is small and inconsistent – it goes in cycles. Weight classes in sport aren’t going anywhere. There are parts of the music industry in which skinniness is required for men, and I can think of at least one male rock star with an entirely business-induced eating disorder. Still – it’s not as common a problem as it is for women in the media, and it certainly doesn’t have the same societal impact. The impact of skinny male role models in confined to specific subcultures, which for women it is not.

By: Josh

Josh — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 22:24:12 +0000

bekabot,

Fair enough. Like km, I was talking about the article itself and the assertion that it somehow put body image and eating issues on equal footing.

By: Amanda Marcotte

Amanda Marcotte — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 22:03:48 +0000

Don’t forget gay men, though. That’s a population that does suffer from eating disorders and might look to models for inspiration.

By: greg

greg — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 22:03:25 +0000

the article should have not been dismissive towards womens eating disorders, but it is important to know that eating disorders are up in males who either starve themselves or work themselves out to death. just look at hipster men. they look horrifyingly thin, i dont know how they can stand up or survive a cold snap. they are following the trend of thin is in. being 6ft and under 150 is not healthy, but dangerous, and really unattractive if you ask me, a man myself.

By: Mnemosyne

Mnemosyne — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 20:31:12 +0000

I can’t help thinking that the journalist was alluding to the shamelessness of the fashion industry, on the one hand looking as if it’s taking the pressure on models to be overly thin seriously (only when forced to by the deaths of those unfortunate women) whilst at the same time shrinking men, showing it’s true feelings on the matter.

I think you may be on to something here.