Thursday, April 17, 2008

  • The 360 Degree Mirror

    Currently Reading
    I CAN MAKE YOU THIN
    By PAUL MCKENNA
    see related

    Wanna know what the single most attention-capturing image is in the advertising world?  A woman's body.  I know this:  I took Marketing.  A long time ago, but the principle still holds true.  The female form will catch the eye of both men and women and keep them looking at an advertisement longer than any other image.  So is it any wonder that we are bombarded with images of women?  We see them in magazines and on TV and billboards and in places you wouldn't expect, such as tire ads and in tractor sales fliers.  And of course, each image is a paradigm of beauty and balance.

    I have a theory as to why women worry about their weight so much more, and it has to do with mirrors.  You know how the right rear view mirror on your car says, "Objects in mirror maybe larger than they appear"?  (Actually, it says "closer" not "larger" but I'm writing this blog to suit my purposes, and that includes quotes.  So there.)  Well, women believe the mirror.  We look at ourselves and visually enlarge everything we see--just a tad.

    I was watching "What Not To Wear" a while back and the hosts had the victim draw her perception of her body on a wall, and then they traced her body with a different color.  Of course, she'd mis-judged her width by several inches, and her height was off, too.  I'm thinking most women would draw an over-sized image of themselves, while men might be more prone to come out about right.

    Here's the other thing.  Men look into the mirror straight on and think, "Hey, I look pretty good!"  And then they walk away, happy with their sense of worth.

    Women look into the mirror straight on and think, "Hey, I look okay.  Getting a little wide in the hips, there, Girlie!  Better watch that."  And then we turn to the side and think, "Whoa.  Did I give birth to three kids or a herd of cattle?  Gotta learn to hold that in!"  And then we crank our bodies around a little more and think, "Is that my rear or do I have a PT Cruiser lurking back there?"  And we turn around and around, finding more and more to be disatisfied with on every pass, until by the time we finally tear ourselves away we're vowing to diet and craving a pint of Ben & Jerry's.  We hold our exaggerated sense of size up against an air-brushed, over-dieted magazine ad and wonder why we always come out on the heavy end, why we never measure up to what we see. 

    What do you think?  Are men or women more likely to have an accurate idea of their size?  Are men or women more likely to have a healthy sense of self? 

Comments (14)

  • flailinghypocrit

    So true.  Women spend more time scrutinizing themselves, looking for flaws.  Overall, women are more pessimistic about their appearance than men.
  • GermanWrench

    I definitely think women, in general, have a harder time finding themselves attractive than do men. Men tend to focus on what they like about themselves, where women tend to focus on what they want to change. But men are also more likely to find a woman attractive than she is -- it's all perception.
  • PrincessFiveandDime

    Ever see a man pick out the right waist size in pants? No...they always think they wear a size smaller.
  • smiling_spunk

    hmm...deep thoughts.  ...and seemingly so very true...i may have to try that little experiment...
  • rockininkslinger

    I've read that women commonly mistake their body type for 3 sizes larger than they are.  I still do it, I know.  I dropped a lot of weight when I went vegan, and I've put 4 pounds back on, and every time I look in the mirror I see fat, fat, fat.  It's unhealthy, and I have to continue reminding myself that it's about how I eat, not the scale weight, but it's still difficult.  I hate the skinny model these days.
  • mamaglop

    I've read that.  A pudgy man may think he's a stud in his swim trunks, and a round-ish woman may think she's a whale in her bathing suit.  Remember when Jamie Lee Curtis had an unretouched photo of her in her skivvies published to try to dispel the perfection image women compare themselves to?
  • illgrindmyownthankyou

    there is a mall close by that has one entrance completely mirrored on both sides of the wall,  I never use that entrance ever.  I am sure my body image is way off, I am sure it has always been.
  • sortingandforting

    I usually try to keep a good perception of my body image, but occasionally I get sucked into pessimism.
  • bluemarsupial

    I think men have a better self-image, only because they lie to themselves, but overall I think women have a better sense of presence. 
  • crazyboutcoffee

    I think both tend to perceive themselves wrongly. But I agree women see themselves more wrongly than men do. (Oh yeah that makes sense.)

    For example men think bald heads and big gut distinguish them. Women obsess about a tummy in a negative way. Men just think it's cool.  While I think it should be neither. But I'm not listening to myself.

    I don't think there is a person alive who truly can have a healthy view of self apart from a believer walking in close communion with the Father. The one who finds their completion, their ...oh what word am I looking for here....true self in Him and see them as He does.

  • JJ_Ames

    It's unfortunate that women judge themselves so harshly. It's also unfortunate that image, rather than substance, is emphasized by culture and advertising so both men and women are increasingly worried about appearence. Eating and body image disorders, once almost entirely composed of women, is now more prevelent in women AND it's growing in men.
  • wodaking

    I only have one mirror in my house. head and shoulders, that's it. Imagine my horror when we had a hotel room with a full length mirror right across from the shower!
  • dlynnsb

    Good post, and so true!  I think that scales are the same.  I haven't weighed myself in years because no matter what my weight is, I am not happy. LOL  Regarding the magazines, if you still have them, I would like them.  Thanks

    Hey, is the "I can make you thin" book good?  I saw the previews for the TV show and I thought that he must be hypnotising ( still can't figure out the spelling, nor find it in the dictionary) them or something.
  • myseniormoments

    You are right.  We see that our boobs have fallen, our tummy is flabby, our thighs are enormous, our butt is sagging, our hair is turning grey, we have wrinkles and hanging flesh from our upper arms and so....we get depressed!

    Men think the more they can belch or pass gas, the manlier they are!

    So, I guess we need to stop looking in the mirror and just smile as we were still in our prime which was probably age 15 or 16!!!!  LOL
  • New! You can now edit your comments for 15 minutes after submitting.