Can You Tell The Difference?

Can you tell the difference between a men’s magazine and a rapist? I took the quiz and sure as hell couldn’t. Today I came across an insanely interesting article comparing quotes from a men’s magazines in the UK and convicted rapists. You might be thinking.. whaaat.. but seriously, it is pretty damn hard. I encourage you reader to take this test and see for yourself. Anyway, this is kind of f*cked up. Not only could participants who took the survey not tell the difference in quotes, but they also rated quotes from the men’s magazines as more derogatory. Prime example, “A girl may like anal sex because it makes her feel incredibly naughty and she likes feeling like a dirty slut. If this is the case, you can try all sorts of humiliating acts to help live out her filthy fantasy.” Well, I would almost hope a rapist said this, butttt I was incorrect. Sooo happy to know these sorts of things are published in magazines my potential boyfriends are reading.

Rihanna covers Cosmo.

I kind of wanted to know if I was crazy so I had four of my friends take this test to see what they thought, besides the vernacular of the writing to hint to them it might be from a men’s magazine, they literally could not tell who said what. Most disturbing might be number 10 (“There's nothing quite like a woman standing in the dock accused of murder in a sex game gone wrong . . . The possibility of murder does bring a certain frisson to the bedroom.”), when one of my friends read it outloud, one of my other friend’s replied with “I HOPE a rapist said that.”  Exactly what I had thought in my head earlier. WRONG. It was published in a men’s magazine.

Rihanna covers GQ.

People are often criticizing what is said in women’s magazines but it doesn’t seem like they are doing the same with men’s magazines. Critics say that magazines like Cosmopolitan give women an unrealistic view on men and relationships. I do agree with the idea that magazines give women an unrealistic ideal body, but when it comes to sex and relationships the articles written are actually kind of comical. Women’s magazines aren’t quite as demeaning or salacious to men as men’s magazines are to women. Some of the articles published in Cosmopolitan if taken too seriously, could create a large band of psychotic paranoid women. For example, this article makes absolutely no sense to me.  So basically if my boyfriend tells me all about his day instead of not saying anything at all that means that he is actually lying and he is hiding something. Right. Seem like a normal train of thought. Anyway, I guess I can see the similarity on the women that are put on the covers of both men and women’s magazines. Cosmopolitan regularly features the same women as the SI Swimsuit Issue, Esquire, and GQ with the same come-hither stare. I think I am going to have to pick up some men’s magazines and see what is really being published and if men’s and women’s magazines are really all that different.

Thin is still in....

In debates as whether hating exercise is setting a good example for young people....

I have always been that awkward tall skinny girl. In the 6^th grade, I was already 5’6 and had a good few inches on most all of the boys and girls in my grade. By 8^th grade, I was already at my currently height, 5’9 and skinny as a rail. I eventually filled out, but I have always been lanky, tall, and skinny. I have been under a lot of stress lately particularly with being diagnosed with a medical condition, and well as school, my family, and my relationships. Therefore my health has taken a bit of a turn, I haven’t been eating as much as a regularly do, and as a result I have lost about 10 pounds from my already thin frame.  Recently, many of my friends have been noticing how thin I look. In the best way, they make comments alluding to the fact that I need to put on some pounds, but no matter how hard I try, how many cupcakes and thin mints I eat, I just can’t put any weight back on. Sometimes, in fact, I feel like I am treated like the enemy for being thin. I know that sounds kind of ridiculous and out there, but women who are thin tend to have just as many haters as those who are overweight due. To me there seems to be a double standard with those who are overweight and those who are thin. How is it okay for random girls I don’t know to accuse me of being anorexic or doing cocaine but if I were to ever tell someone to stop eating it would be offensive? I eat what I want, I don’t starve myself and I am beautiful. So why are you allowed to love your ‘curves’ but it’s wrong for me to love my ‘bones’? If you can tell me to ‘gain weight’, why is it wrong for me to tell someone to lose weight? If you can feel beautiful being big, I can feel beautiful being small. I think people forget that it hurts me too just like it would hurt an overweight girl to be called fat; do I like being asked if I eat enough or if I have a problem? Obviously not.

So what does this have to do with women’s magazines? Well, it is this magazines that are telling us how to look, dress, act, et cetera. Everyone has different body shapes. But with today’s society, we try to normal what that body type should be, SKINNY. This is pretty much the only body type that you see in media and in the magazines. (Of course you have your non-conformers like Adele, who refuse to accept the norm the media is imposing on us). I believe that this type of pressure placed on us makes us resent others for having the body type that they see in the magazines. To you that statement might seem outlandish, this could just be me projecting my personal feelings in this post. Some girls encourage me to eat more, but others ask me what my “secret” is. It upsets me that women see my body type as the ideal, and can’t embrace what they are given. I wish that this could be changed.