Body image in ads

[Irulan]

It's a known thing, the way women's bodies are presented in advertising, and the very low key but persistent backlash starting to occur against the images presented.

So I saw this ad in the most recent Kootenay Culture magazine ( really excellent BC magazine) I'm still struggling with my reaction.
What has surprised me the most about my reaction to this is how conditioned I am to think of the super sculpted, cellulite and fat free, no fat on the thighs butt as the ideal, whether I want to think that way or not. When presented with an image of a "real" woman's butt who is no doubt fit and healthy, but is different from what we usually see, I am really having a mixed set of reactions. They range from, "how cool that they did this" to "wow, not the most flattering photo", and "is that what my rear view looks like?" and assorted other things.
Here's a link to google images on "boy shorts" for comparison.
http://tinyurl.com/6t6wqff
(should be safe for work)
I'd be interested in others reactions to this.

[zoom-zoom]

I wish my @ss looked that good!

[Tri Girl]

I see this and think: hey that butt looks like mine- a little imperfect (although it still has FAR less cellulite than mine).
I like the ad. I think the lighting isn't so great, tho. If the lighting were better, I think it would be a lot more flattering.

[lph]

I hope I look that good too. That is a fit woman with great muscles! If I were the ad company I'd want to warm up the skin tone a bit to make the pic more appealing, but the body looks great. She would look even better in a more sporty model, there's a bit of a mismatch between the feminine lacy orange+pink and the sturdy well-muscled body.

[limewave]

I think it looks great too! Although, I think a different color of panties would be more flattering. That orange just looks off against her skin. I think black, white, or a turquoise would look loverly.

[GLC1968]

I look at that and see how those particular panties probably look on all those women out there who are thinner than I am. But I do think REAL women...so that's very, very cool.

I see very little point to seeing underwear on super skinny, super perfect looking 18 year olds...particularly more so as I age. Maybe men who use those catalogs (I'm looking at you, VS) for ulterior uses would prefer the perfect models, but do women?
I don't.

[LovelyGirl]

But I am a fan of modesty. Old-fashioned, I know, but I still believe in private parts being kept private. Just think, if I didn't encounter women in their underwear on giant billboard ads, I probably wouldn't be comparing myself to them. And the husbands of the world wouldn't either. We'd just all be happier with our own butts! Haha!

[Eden]

Puts on photographer hat.....

Of course those "perfect" models are often (usually) not nearly as perfect as the photos.......good lighting, makeup and photoshop can easily create something unobtainable in real life....

Funny my first thought was probably less about the rear end and more on the lines of hmmm low budget photo shoot

If you crave the real, your best bet is probably to buy a "beach bodies" edition of some scandal rag. Paparazzi generally are not into flattery.

[Aggie_Ama]

My reaction was only "that color is not flattering". Then after a minute I noticed her minor imperfections and thought looks like a lower budget photo shoot. But mostly I was just hung up on the orange being unflattering.

I am not nearly that fit but I like the fact that this model appears to have an normal, obtainable body. And no one over re-touched it to make her appear fake! Many models either look like they never hit puberty or were molded to be "perfect".

[lph]

pardon the highjack, but somewhere somewhere I came across a really funny web site dedicated to clothing ads from the 70s, underwear and all. I can't for the life of me remember the name, but the photos and the captions were hilarious. Anyway - this was before photoshopping and airbrushing, and boy did the underwear pics show it Stray hairs, bumps, bulges, the lot. It was quite an eye-opener.

eta: Oh, but I found it: http://plaidstallions.com/fashion.html

There's a lingerie section there somewhere, which may not be totally SFW.

eta 2: yup, obviously guys get airbrushed and styled a bit more these days too...
http://plaidstallions.blogspot.no/20...ye-summer.html

[Tri Girl]

Plaid Stallions. LOL Classic stuff!!!

[lovelygamer]

That is a pretty flattering photo, and a nice behind. Just based on where my a** is coming from.

Okay, classic fashion ads crack me up!!!! HA!!!!

[GLC1968]

pardon the highjack, but somewhere somewhere I came across a really funny web site dedicated to clothing ads from the 70s, underwear and all. I can't for the life of me remember the name, but the photos and the captions were hilarious. Anyway - this was before photoshopping and airbrushing, and boy did the underwear pics show it Stray hairs, bumps, bulges, the lot. It was quite an eye-opener.

eta: Oh, but I found it: http://plaidstallions.com/fashion.html

There's a lingerie section there somewhere, which may not be totally SFW.

eta 2: yup, obviously guys get airbrushed and styled a bit more these days too...
http://plaidstallions.blogspot.no/20...ye-summer.html

I so want to open these links but I'm at work and will have to wait until this evening! What a tease!

[emily_in_nc]

eta: Oh, but I found it: http://plaidstallions.com/fashion.html

http://plaidstallions.blogspot.no/20...ye-summer.html

I am am amazed that as a civilization, we actually survived the '70s with clothes like that. (And yes, I'm old enough to remember some of this stuff, tho' this catalog seems to be the worst of the worst!)

[Irulan]

I so want to open these links but I'm at work and will have to wait until this evening! What a tease!

a recent VS catalog shows more than any of the old stuff.