Friday 14 September 2012

Men, beauty and perfume (and women too)

Some of you may know that about two months ago I joined a gym. That is going well. Being healthy and fit is a good thing. However, I recently purchased a men's health and fitness magazine (Men's Health, if you're interested), hoping that it would contain some useful articles on fitness and health. Now, call me naive, but I was surprised to discover that there was relatively little about health and fitness, and plenty about sex, how to seduce women and more than half the magazine was filled out with advertising.

This is slightly off topic, but I hate the insidious way so many women are influenced by what 'society' considers is an acceptable woman. By this I mean her size, her weight, her dress size, and other things like body hair. However, it is also disturbing to see that increasingly men are being influenced this way too. Men's Health, for instance, contained numerous images of men ( the majority actually) without a single evident strand of body hair. Now, I understand the power of Photoshop, but even at my local gym I would estimate that 75-85% of all men I see are literally hairless, save for the tops of their heads (if they're fortunate enough). When I go to our local public swimming pool, I see men with the hairiest arms and legs and facial hair, yet not a strand is seen on their torsos, chests, shoulders and back. Now I realise I am possibly getting into contentious territory here, and I am not saying that men and women don't and shouldn't have a choice about how much body hair they have, but equally, why should 'society' and 'societal norms', whatever the hell they are, also dictate what is an acceptable amount and distribution of body hair to have? I am not saying that it is attractive to see men at the pool with rugs of hair on their back, but let's face it, it isn't their fault that genetically they are this way. It is natural after all. And men are increasingly becoming as obsessed with weight, shape and looks as women are, with hugely detrimental effects to their self-esteem and health. Both men and women are victims here. Just for the record, I'd much rather know a woman or man who is hairy and is a lovely person, than some vacuous, dictated-to 'individual' who suffers the monthly pain of having vast swathes of body hair ripped out by hot wax. Even more disturbingly, I've read a number of reports of girls who aren't even at the age of puberty yet who are asking their mothers (and who knows who else) to take them for arm and leg waxes. Well done society - you're doing a great job...

So where does perfume figure in this post/rant? Well, before I get to that, I wanted to quote some of the vacuous drivel that can be contained in Men's Health and probably many other magazines. Such as: "Fight fat and win!", "17 sex moves that build muscle", the 18 drugs your body needs now!" And while I'm ranting, what is the obsession with 50 Shades of Grey? Every other magazine I've looked at over the last few months sees fit to presume that every man thinks every woman has a secret yearning for bondage, and that every woman has read 50 Shades of Grey (and thinks it is actually a literary masterpiece) and thinks it is the gold-standard for how to engage in bondage.

Anyway, I looked at the advertisements in Men's Health and in order, the the perfumes advertised were: Bleu de Chanel, Armani Code, Dolce & Gabbana Pour Femme and Pour Homme, Calvin Klein Encounter and Aramis. That's as mainstream, safe and boring as it gets. Between waxing, fantasizing about nipple clamps (and watches it seems, there were scores of adverts for these) and silk ties, it seems men on the cutting edge of what society wants them to be are also happy to buy mundane, they-all-smell-like-each-other-but-my-mate-likes-it-so-it-must-be-cool perfumes. 

14 comments:

  1. Michael, nice rant! I'm with you totally - we're all sheep when it comes to size, shape, hair and everything else you mention. Plus, Fifty Shades of Grey is the dumbest damn thing I have ever read. Actually, I couldn't even get through the first book after I attempted it on multiple co-workers' recommendations. I will be ranting on that myself soon.

    Thanks for sharing your annoyance - it can feel good, don't you think?

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  2. For the most part yes, ugh, etc., but! Aramis, I'd argue, is not safe and boring! I wish more men wore it. My boyfriend has a bottle and it reminds me of vintage Jolie Madame!

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  3. Josephine, it can feel good, but doesn't change my frustration of how homogenised we are all becoming - like bottles off a production line.

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  4. Elisa, I take your point about Aramis. Thinking about it, it is incongruous in that line up, particularly as it predates everything else on that list by decades. I had a closer look at the ad to see if it was a Sports twist on the original perhaps, but not so.

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  5. This is actually funny. :) I never thought about it from the male perspective so I'm glad you wrote about it. It seems guys are now fighting the same battle as the girls.
    Hopefully we all win at some point.

    And speaking of 50 shades, did you see this Goodreads review? I send this to everyone contemplating reading that book.

    http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/340987215

    Is it ok for me to post a link?

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    1. Ines, glad it is funny, although not totally intentional. I have to have a good old rant every now and then. No problem with the link - that was comedy, nice one!

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  6. "50 Shades Of Grey"?, gag me with a spoon!(oops, is that "bondage"?)

    You're "preaching to the choir" on this one, Michael! Loved the rant : D

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    1. Cym, rants are probably a little childish, but I do believe in my convictions in this case!

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  7. Yes, I too loved loved loved the rant! I won't even touch Shades of Grey or the sequels - my life is too short for crap reads.

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    1. Carol, I've been on a journey of strangely crap reads recently. I know its a matter of opinion, but I hit a high a year ago with Harry Potter, which I thought I would hate, but absolutely loved, then went downhill from there, moving from the Twilight series and then to Hunger Games. I am now seriously getting into the Game of Thrones series by George RR Martin and I feel its an upward curve again, as I'm really enjoying that!

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    2. oh gosh I don't think HP is a crap read. I watched the first Twilight film and hated it. But I want to read the Hunger Games. Because I'm watching the Game of Thrones I haven't read them yet. I just read a ton of Ursula LeGuin, and am reading more fantasy right now, and enjoying it.

      So many books, so little time!!

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    3. Carol, no, Harry Potter was great. I wrongly dismissed the series, mistakenly thinking it was all hype. I don't want to put you off the Hunger Games - the series is not terrible (actually I did quite enjoy the first book; it got weaker as the series progress in my opinion) but I still don't think it is brilliantly written, but the idea in and of itself is very good.

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  8. Hooray and kudos for the ranting! Those who strike at self-esteem are apparently not slowed down at all by a little ol' gender line... RE: 50 Shades of Grey-- nothing skeeved me more today than seeing a huge cardboard display of these books in my local supermarket. Man, I have to buy my MILK AND EGGS here! WTF! :D

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    1. Meg, all the bookstores in the UK have been taken over by these cairns of 50 Shades of Grey, towering over everything else like funeral pyres! I haven't read the books, so I shouldn't really judge I suppose, but I hate the mass marketing forced upon us and what I think is overblown hype.

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