"Media outlets need to be much more reflective about the role they play in fostering this kind of self-scrutiny among women. They must abandon the practice of uncritically promoting sexist material about women, of the kind we see in the Maxim poll. Because, as a woman, I can only do so much to avoid such harmful nonsense."

this author really must have her nose out of joint.

So i suppose it OK for women's magazines to have bachelor competitions and to diss men in general, but it is not OK for a mens mag to take the micky out of some stuck up women.

Funny thing when I hear women talking about other women, sometimes they are just plain bagging the other women critising shoes, hangbags, nails, the hair do etc.

Focussing in on such minor details that I do not even notice.

Mens mags just do not have the same level of readership that the women's mag's enjoy. This mens mag may have sold only 100,000 copies when compared to 250,000 or more of the popular womens mags.

Rather than wringing our hands about such things perhaps we should just turn the tv off .

It’s just a billboard anyway .

The skanky images & juicy (non) stories are only to intrigue the viewer (us) with titillation so that we watch more tv , Thus availing ourselves to more advertising of more consumer products that we don’t really need .
It’s simply a matter of sex being used as a tool to market stuff .

Methinks the bimbolititians also using similar method .

So if we'd prefer less of this trash , simple ,

Pull the plug on the tele .

Then maybe go read a book , or if it’s fine outside, have a chat with the neighbor , or take the kids fishing , or plant a few veggies in the back garden . Quality stuff .

The trashy displays only work so long as we watch them .

actually, pelican, not.

the social idealization of beauty is how homo sap maintains species unity. by tending to breed back into a central ideal, we have remained one species even though we are spread all around the world.

since we choose mates visually, rather than by smell, young men, and old, like to look at women's bodies- it is in our genes.

the process is slap-dash and often drifts into dysfunctional behavior. none the less, it is vital.

lot's more to be said, we're talking about the core of life here, but i think well-educated professional women lose sight of biological reality when they try to impose a cool unisex ethos on business life. since they often have 'do-me' stilettos peeking out at the bottom of their business suits, there's a element of hypocrisy as well.

Men choose mates by appearance (initially)

Women actually choose men by their smell. If they have nothing else to go on, a woman will select a potential mate who smells the least like her own body odour - apparently personal scent is directly related to the health of your immune system, so a woman who subconsciously chooses a man that smells nothing like her, is choosing a genetic combination that (hopefully) produces a child with a hybridised immune system and a greater chance of survival.

http://health.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=230696

http://www.abc.net.au/catalyst/stories/s1210487.htm

This of course may change when you get to know the potential partner more personally, because the other aspects of attraction also play an important part. But its interesting, nonetheless.

I agree with Kate's comments and also those of runner and spritegal.

The media does obsess over women's looks but women themselves are becoming increasingly obsessive as well. It's become a vicious cycle with both feeding each other.

We need more women prepared to break this mould. Julia Gillard comes to mind as one such example. She's a woman you listen to; you're not distracted by what she's wearing or flaunting. Her dress style is low key and you soon realise there's much more to her than the sum total of her looks.

I disagree with DEMOS's statement that "well-educated professional women lose sight of biological reality when they try to impose a cool unisex ethos on business life." To me, it's the very adoption of a trend towards this unisex ethos, and not just in business, that is necessary if women are to ever shake off the lingering bimbo tag. But I do agree, the stilettos will have to go!

DEMOS

I agree with you about biology but if someone is reading the News do we need to be thinking about the perpetuation of the species even on this subliminal level?

I have nothing against femininity but I also don't want to buy into the media, pop-video version of woman as only sexualised beings. Some of the latest teen music videos are enough to make your hair curl with the lip pouting gyrating antics of teen idols whose primary target market are older children and young teens.

You only have to look at the sexualisation of children as a real problem which is being promulgated in the both print and electronic media. There was a great discussion on this issue on ABC's 'Difference of Opinion' recently and the bottom line, unsurprisingly, was this is not healthy for our children or for society as a whole.

As someone else said in an earlier post, it is a self feeding cycle