MANY excellent comments have been added to the thread on the neurotic, quasi-religious pursuit of fitness. In that post, MarkyMark writes:

I have a simple theory about why women are obsessed with looks, sex appeal, and exercise these days. For me, it’s simple: they have nothing else to offer a man besides sex appeal and looks. Does the modern woman know how to cook these days? No. Does she even know how to boil water? No. Does she know how to clean and keep house? No. Is she even a kind, decent, warm, and supportive companion? Hell no! So what, pray tell me, does a woman have to offer a man besides looks and sex appeal? From where I sit, not a whole lot. Ergo, women freak out if they gain two ounces of weight….

Pop star Miley Cyrus would probably say that’s enough to offer a man. According to The Daily Mail, she will not be having children soon after her pending marriage:

A source said: ‘It might be a little while after marriage for Miley to start having kids because she really loves her body and wants to spend some time being the “Hot Wife.” ‘

   —- Comments —–

Fred Owens writes:

Men fear death. Women fear gaining weight.

Natalie writes:

I’m a long term reader of your site and would like to add some observations to the debate on women’s obsession with looks. I thought the debate excellent and there were some very pertinent comments regarding the quasi religious obsession with obtaining the body beautiful.

However, I surprised that no one mentioned the aesthetic of the current “hot body” fad. For a woman, as for a man, the ideal body is strong and toned. Women want defined arms, strong legs and abs. This represents a massive cultural change – and one which is fairly recent. When I was a young teen, Madonna was seen as the girl all of the boys thought “hot”. The young Madonna was defined by her softness: her curls, her soft body, her lacey feminity. In fact, her image was so very feminine it was too cloying and too sexy. In the British popular press at least, she was seen as something of a danger because of her obviously feminine sexuality. Twenty-five years on and she is a “strong” “powerful” woman. She is a “role model”. She looks like a man with long hair. Next, if we think of the male “beauty”. He has strong legs, arms and abs – but God forbid if he has any body hair. He “grooms”, he plucks his eye brows, he may even dye them, he is just as obsessed with yoga and fad diets as his “partner”. He spends on clothes and beauty products. There has been a speedy dash towards the homogeniety of the male and female “body beautiful” in the past twenty-five years, where sexual difference has been blurred and commodified and our culture is significantly poorer for it.

Please follow and like us: