Men’s Mags Celebrate Varied Body Types
From time to time men’s magazines exalt body types that vary from the tall, skinny, buxom shape they typically flaunt. True, the lovely ladies on Maxim’s and FHM’s “Hot 100” lists look pretty much the same, but it’s nice to see a little branching out now and again, so let’s celebrate what we can.
Small Busted Bombshells
While buxom breasts are a highly appreciated part of the female form, Mila Kunis was just named #3 on Maxim’s Hot 100, which considers their picks “the definitive list” of the world’s most beautiful women. Mila also made #9 on FHM where male readers vote for their faves. Also on that list are Kristin Stewart, Paris Hilton, Pippa and her sister Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge. And Keira Knightly once made FHM’s #1 hottest hottie.
“Un-Skinny” Stunners
Slim figures are also admired, but Kim Kardashian, along with Scarlett Johansson and pear-shaped Jennifer Lopez, made FHM’s top 100 this year. And, Christina Hendricks, “Joan” of Mad Men, was picked as a “Girls We Love” covergirl.
When women see men gaping in appreciation of Joan’s full figure, I’m sure they are better
able to appreciate their own curves. And when Mila Kunis asked Justin Timberlake if her breasts were too small in “Friends With Benefits,” I’m sure plenty of women were happy to hear him respond, “They’re breasts, aren’t they?” No problem. And then he falls in love.
Opening up the ideal is good for both women and men, even if there is still far to go.
When a woman sees herself as beautiful her self-esteem rises. It’s also easier to feel sexy. And when she feels sexier her interest in sex rises, too. She isn’t distracted, wondering if she’s attractive enough. And, women tend to get aroused by feeling that their partners see them as alluring. Plus, when men see that the ladies they love resemble Maxim’s Top 100 in some way, they can more easily see the beauty of their partners.
I suspect most women overestimate how harshly men see them and I suspect that most men are more accepting of women’s bodies than women are, themselves. So that’s good news ladies.
Our society’s ideals don’t have to determine our self-esteem, but they usually play a heavy role both in how we see ourselves and in how others see us. And so while we can work to move beyond the superficial, we’d all benefit if our culture expanded its notions of beauty, too.
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Posted on May 23, 2012, in body image, feminism, gender, men, psychology, sex, women and tagged body image, feminism, FHM Hot 100, gender, Joan Holloway Mad Men, Maxim Hot 100, Mila Kunis, pop culture, self-esteem, women. Bookmark the permalink. 5 Comments.
Women are often held to the standards that society portrays as a “pretty” or “sexy” woman. Magazines, TV, and movies all portrays a sexy woman as a particular type, usually skinny with long hair and clear skin. Women tend to feel the pressure taht all men and society expects her to look a certain way in order to be seen as sexy. This article shows that finally society is starting to categorize “sexy” in many different ways. Although the article does not yet state that plus size women are on the top 100 list, it does state that the list now has women with smaller breasts and some women with more curves. This is a good first step towards equality and women being viewed and viewing themselves as pretty and sexy no matter what their body shape is.
I’m looking forward to the day when men’s magazines not only celebrate diverse body types, but recognize women for their intelligence and talents rather than their bodies. To see a “Top 100″ list with successful, independent women would be revolutionary.
Amen.
Good that men are appreciating more body types and not just the images portrayed in the media of a woman with big breast, small waist and big butt. Women come in all shapes and sizes and it’s also comforting to hear that men aren’t as critical of our bodies that we are. So maybe now we can be nicer to our body images!
The fact that men are able to celebrate different body types on women is very telling. For one thing it shows that It is not necessarily men who are feeding into women’s obsessions with becoming physically perfect. Recently, People Magazine voted Gwyneth Paltrow the most beautiful woman in the world. Gwyneth is 40 years old, has very small breasts and loves to eat. The blog article also mentions Keira Knightly, another very small breasted woman who has won worldly acclaim for being very beautiful. Kim Kardashian and Scarlett Johansson, also considered beautiful women, are featured in the article as example of women carrying extra weight.
While we women are definitely fed images by the media of women whom the majority of us could never look like, we are also now seeing more women with whom we can relate on a physical level. What this means to me is that perhaps low self-esteem is not caused by media images of very thin women with botoxed faces and breast enhancements. Certainly, these images have their effects on women, but I think that low self-esteem begins at home and comes from the messages we receive about our bodies from the time we are born – long before we’re able to read magazines or recognize such things on TV.