| October 28, 2003 Brassiere advertisements --Well at least I got all the guys to click on this article... An odd topic to begin my new format of Random Thoughts yes? Well it struck me the other day that these are more prevalent than I previously thought. The other day I was reading the front page section of the Washington Post (something I don’t normally do. I find the online format much more efficient). Anyways, as you can imagine, me being a 23 year old virginal male, the bra and panty ads jump right out at me despite their subtle, almost trite, demeanor. There they were, beautiful women (but not overly fake beautiful women) with just underwear on smiling back at me. They did it on page A3, then again on page A10, and then again on page A19, and again on A26. Heck, almost 15% of the advertisements on one of the world’s most read papers front pages were women wearing just bras and panties. A mind-boggling revelation struck me when I realized this to say the least. Let’s first describe what these ads aren’t. They aren’t pornographic images. The women have no “implied” smiles and pose in rather ordinary ways. One could almost say they are boring in terms of today’s sexual expectations. But these ads aren’t meant to be sexual in the first place obviously. I assume the companies advertising are acting just like the hundreds of other companies advertising their products. They just want to get the word out and want to show the product in its best, most practical light...right? To answer that question, let’s analyze the target audience involved here shall we? EbbWorld is all about analysis and if that means analyzing bra and panty print ads, well somebody’s gotta do it. (sarcasm reeks here of course. This article isn’t meant to be sexually oriented even though I do address those topics. It’s more to manifest realization of the hopeless individuals we are.) I think it’s safe to assume a wide range of people read the Washington Post. I’m sure both male and female, and both young and old. So let’s break this analysis up into a couple of people groups; full anthropological customization goin on. Here’s the breakdown: Male 14-20 Female 14-20 Male 21-30 Female 21-30 Male 30-50 Female 30-50 Male 51+ Female 51+ I’m debating which gender to start first because they obviously differ greatly in how they view these ads (heterosexuality goin on here folks). Let’s go with females first because they’re less volatile in this case. And these cases are pure stereotypical inferences but I think I’m target somewhat, especially with the guys. Female 14-20 Ok, here we have the extremely impressionable, extremely insecure group of girls. It’s very unfortunate that our society works the way that it does, and it breaks my heart that these girls have low self-esteems usually. The girls in this group look at the ads and think to themselves how they wished they looked like the girl in the ads. The younger end of this group may be thinking to themselves why puberty seemingly hasn’t hit them and they feel bad because they believe their self-confidence socially is based on their chest size. And so they’re jealous of Jenny Cheerleader and her D-cups because Jenny gets all the attention from the boys and is the “popular” girl. So these girls go through high school thinking less of themselves because they believe the social lies. In some cases there are girls that have filled out “too much” and they think they’re ugly and are ashamed of what God’s genetics has given them (in the previous case, what they haven’t been given). So they feel insecure and believe they’re weird and abnormal and “don’t fit in”, literally. So what about the girls that have the “perfect” chest? Well they look at these ads and notice how the models have like a perfect waist, and how their skin isn’t dry. Then they notice how the model’s hair has better highlights and how the model doesn’t seem to have any blemishes on her face. For every physical feature a girl knows she has going for her, she’ll find three that she’s dissatisfied with. It’s a lose-lose situation emotionally for a girl ages 14-20 concerning physical appearance (I assume it’s a battle throughout a woman’s life). Female 21-30 Now we’re getting into the desperation stages. The single female wonders why she hasn’t found a man yet (am I not attractive? Maybe I should show more skin. Maybe I should lower my standards so more guys will show interest...). The married female wonders why hubbie is looking at the perky waitress at Ruby Tuesdays with googling eyes (am I not attractive to him anymore? Maybe I should show more skin in public. Maybe I should lower my standards and let him do that because maybe I don’t please him enough.). ......Ugg, utter tragedies in both cases. How does this have to do with bra ads? Well the single female 21-30 looks at these ads and starts wondering the same thing she did when she was 16 and how she wished she looked like the girl in the ad. Then she starts thinking that if she looked like the girl in the ad, then guys would be interested and she might find fulfillment and happiness with a guy (big red stop noise). The married 21-30 female gets competitive with the advertisement and starts justifying why her husband should want to look at her more than the ad. She wonders how it's possible he could still be interested in other girls when she’s right there “leg’s open” sort of speak (doesn't he love me or find me attractive?! {more to come on the craptacular selfish sinful nature of men}). And of course she has to worry about how the girl in the ad has such a flat tummy (but I’ve had two kids, of course my stomach won’t look like hers). Nice try girl, down deep you’re still insecure. Female 31-50 Well when woman get to this age, it’s about Avon and wrinkle-reducing creams. My boobs didn’t sag like this when I was 16. How come my butt isn’t as firm as that girl in the ad? Girls at these ages seem to be ignorant of the effects of time and in many cases have to learn the hard way that beauty is fleeting. They look at these 20-something women in the ads and reminisce when they could fit into a size 12 and when they could wear a bikini without any embarrassment of stretch marks or wrinkles. Heck, they remember the days when they didn’t even need a bra for support. And so insecurity comes into play once again. A lot refuse to believe time has any effect on their appearance and they try and try and buy and buy to make themselves look younger, more appealing, more sexy, and more attractive to men, married or not. These advertisements do nothing for the 31-50 crowd other than remind them of their high school bodies and the past they have no ability to go back to. Female 50+ Can’t say much here other than I hope by this point women realize time has definitely caught up with them. I don’t care about Heather Locklear and how good she looks at 45, or how Cindy Crawford at 38 and after three kids can still fit into that dress, you’re getting old and you’re getting less beautiful according to society’s standards, fact. I can’t stand the women over 50 that like wear three pints of perfume, 4 pounds of makeup, and three tons of jewelry just to try to retain beauty. Give it up yo. Hopefully if you’re married, you’ve found a guy whose main attraction to you is you. And that through your cultivating, deep relationship you’ve shared over the years, even though gray and wrinkles come, you become more beautiful to him than the day he first met you. Now to the guys... Male 14-20 Uh oh... Women in underwear isn’t good for any unmarried man at any age, but it’s especially dangerous in the minds of 14-20 year old guys. Young men, just like young women, are very impressionable. You tell them how things are, and they prolly will believe that’s how they are. So when they see Pamela Anderson on V.I.P. and Jennifer Aniston on Friends, they think every girl should look like that. When they look at underwear advertisements in the Washington Post, they think to themselves “Now that’s the kind of girl I want”. And so they develop in their mind a standard of what’s sexually pleasing and what’s not (I’m not referring to just pure physical attraction which is ok and condoned {otherwise you’re not alive}, I’m talking about sinful lust). And because they see hot chicks in underwear on the pages of a major respected newspaper, they start thinking that it’s ok for women to be prancing about in bra and panties. And then they start justifying that it’s ok to see they’re girlfriend like that and so on and so forth and bam! fornication. Anyways, believe me, I’ve been here at this stage and our little impressionable fantasy induced male minds go places, even at these younger ages that you would not want to know. And unfortunately, guys at these ages start beginning the evil habits that are so freaking hard to break from and will most likely last for life. I’ve yet to figure out how any girl could marry any guy. If you girls knew what was really going on in our minds you’d never talk to us again. But back to the point. It’s ads like these that are the beginnings of false senses of reality and result in insecure wives because they grasp reality too well. Guys grow up looking at these pictures and assume the girl they marry will look exactly like that, bust, waist, hips and all. They think the girls will not only look like that when they meet them, but will maintain that figure through rain, wind, snow, and childbirth. So we grow up with unreasonable expectations of what our future sexual life will be. And when those expectations aren’t met, we unjustifiably blame others, causing havoc in the home. Male 21-30 Not a good time in a male’s thought life. Deny it all you want, but the first thing any guy 21-30 does when he sees a woman in underwear is take that underwear off (I mean come on honey, aren’t you hot??? take something off and relax). Married or not, a guy 21-30 instantly turns a non-pornographic image advertisement in the Washington Post front page into a fully pornographic image advertisement in his mind. It’s sad yes, a very sad state of affairs that we’re pawns to our natural sexual desires. Sure we can win a few battles with sheer will, but in the end we’re just loaves of bread compared to some T & A. Perverts! you women yell. Well, that couldn’t be a more accurate description of us. Maybe damned perverts would be better. We males have an ingenious knack to be able to turn something pure into something dirty. So when a male 21-30 is flipping through the pages of the Washington Post on the Metro and he comes across one of those overt women’s underwear ads, I guarantee you he’s not thinking about turning the page (they’ll only do it out of guilt or public embarrassment. You don’t want to know what goes one when we’re alone...evil stuff), he’s surely not thinking about his wife or significant other, and he’s not thinking about how pretty the floral designs look or how the seams are invisible. So now married women know why their husbands still check out the young waitresses, or log on to porn sites, or frequent MVC Adult Video stores when they’re “going out for milk”. We’re wired for adultery. Whether mental or physical, we’ll do it in front of you or behind your back. Our apathy to your physical appearance a couple or many years into the marriage has nothing to do with whether you’re still beautiful or not, it has everything to do with our sinful, lustful, and ultimately damnable inhibitive sexual desires. Women, take this advice. Don’t marry a guy unless he’s humble and honest enough to admit these glaring faults to you. Heck, don’t even date a guy like that. We’re weak and we’re like putty when it comes to the onslaught of T & A. Underwear ads in the Washington Post sure don’t help that enervation. Just know what you’re getting into ladies when you sign up. It breaks my heart when girls come to this realization when it’s too late. Divorce ain’t pretty. Male 31-50 Not much has changed. We’re still the perverts we were at 21. Sure our sexual drive may have weakened a little bit, but that evil mind still works like a charm. We’re thinking the same things we used to when we see those ads. How we wish our wives had breasts like that. How we wish our wives had rear ends like that, or skin like that, or hips like that, or skinniness like that. Somehow we justify in our minds that we deserve a girl like that of the ads. Can you believe the audacity we have women!? Unbelievable! The saddest thing about it is at these ages some of these men are respected members of the community. We got politicians, social workers, law enforcement officials, pastors, and ministers. The male 31-50 crowd is the ultimate hypocritical crowd. On the outside they’re respected, thought to be pure of heart, and trusted by many. On the inside, they can’t even resist lusting when seeing a women’s underwear advertisement in the Washington Post (don’t mean to rank on the Post here. All major newspapers have ads like these. The Post is just my example). We’re damn hypocrites when it comes to our thought life. Male 50+ Still same old sinful lustful mind. We still try to think we have a chance with that twenty-something or that that girl over there might be attracted to our superior physique for over 50. Give it up please! You’re not a young strapping lad anymore and probably couldn’t even run the mile in under 10 minutes. It’s really sad at this point that the whole “beauty is fleeting” thing still hasn’t sunk in yet. We still value (maybe not to as great an extent as when we were younger) breast and waist size over heart and compassion size. A sad day for the male gender. You’re wondering why I did this analysis of such a “non-issue” issue. Well for one I bring it up because most men are too wussy and proud to bring it up and admit their hopeless inner faults. Guys don’t want to accept the fact they commit adultery on a daily basis. Let me clarify things for ya guys: “You shall not commit adultery.” -Deuteronomy 5:18 “'If a man commits adultery with another man's wife-with the wife of his neighbor-both the adulterer and the adulteress must be put to death.” -Leviticus 20:10 “But a man who commits adultery lacks judgment; whoever does so destroys himself.” -Proverbs 6:32 But come on Keith, I’ve never committed adultery! I’m not a Kobe Bryant or a Jesse Jackson! You’re falsely accusing me. Hey, isn’t that a commandment too!!! Good smokescreen my friend....not! “But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” -Matthew 5:28 ........you can hear a pin drop in the room now. You’ll notice the Greek used for “adultery” in Matthew carries the exact conotation as the ancient Hebrew “adultery”. Bing! Bang! Boom! Accused, convicted, sentenced! I don’t care if you’re a porn star or the Pope, you’ve committed adultery, the same act deserving of death, most likely in the range of millions to billions of times. So I come towards my conclusion after the analysis and wonder to myself, are women’s underwear advertisements in such overt methods good for anyone? I mean all their doing is advertising a product billions of women wear everyday. What could be the harm in that? Well there’s not direct physical harm per se, but I think I’ve proved there’s plenty of potential emotional and spiritual harm (even physical harm down the road). I was thinking to myself if those ads could be good for anyone. What about the models themselves? I mean they must see those ads in major publications and feel proud and have confidence right? Well ten bucks says they look at those same ads and point out imperfections that they see that no one else could possibly identify. Then they think to themselves how the camera hides the fat and scars. When it comes down to it, models probably become even more insecure after seeing photos of themselves in print because they know the photos are so doctored and are unnatural. Then they start getting upset because they think the only way anyone will think that they’re pretty is if they’re behind cameras, makeup, and push-up bras. I wonder why these companies can’t just advertise their products in text format only for people like me. I mean it’s not like the brassiere has changed much in the past couple years. There’s really no innovative “new model” out there (save the push-up bra... oops, did I say that out loud?!). It’s all about comfort, support, and breathe-ability from what I gather what women want in underwear. Then I look back at all I just wrote and it becomes crystal clear why the textile companies spend thousands of dollars taking full page picture ads. Those businessmen in suits know the human heart all too well. They know if you can make the consumer feel insecure with what they already have (which usually is more than enough) then they’ll make money because the consumer will think they need to buy what they’ve yet to have. It’s all about the money when you break it down. But really, if we’re honest with ourselves, it’s all about our hearts, and how broken and undone they are. “A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies. Her husband has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of value. She brings him good, not harm, all the days of her life. She selects wool and flax and works with eager hands. She is like the merchant ships, bringing her food from afar. She gets up while it is still dark; she provides food for her family and portions for her servant girls. She considers a field and buys it; out of her earnings she plants a vineyard. She sets about her work vigorously; her arms are strong for her tasks. She sees that her trading is profitable, and her lamp does not go out at night. In her hand she holds the distaff and grasps the spindle with her fingers. She opens her arms to the poor and extends her hands to the needy. When it snows, she has no fear for her household; for all of them are clothed in scarlet. She makes coverings for her bed; she is clothed in fine linen and purple. Her husband is respected at the city gate, where he takes his seat among the elders of the land. She makes linen garments and sells them, and supplies the merchants with sashes. She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come. She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue. She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness. Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: "Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all." Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised. Give her the reward she has earned, and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.” -Proverbs 31:10-31 |