True love comes in the form of long dark hair, radiantly tanned skin, and beautiful clear blue eyes. I probably couldn’t paint a picture of my ideal soul mate, but from this less than detailed description, who would be opposed to cuddling up next to that image for the remainder of their life? Now I understand that we all have different preferences and what works for one individual does not work for another. So some of you may be reading this right now and saying, “Who is this guy, with such skewed taste? I like deep brown eyes, like blonde hair and fair skin.” The fact of the matter is that our individual preferences are irrelevant to the argument and the point I am trying to prove. Instead I would like to argue that both men and women are trending towards pairing themselves by looks instead of by substance.
How often do we hear someone say, “Oh she’s way to cute for him” or “he’s so hot, way out of her league.” These comments and side remarks are being made strictly based on physical attractiveness. It’s rare that someone will comment on how two people’s personalities compliment one another’s so well. I’m not here to argue whether this is right or wrong, I merely would like to point out that this issue is prevalent in society.
Chapter 7 discuses how political figures utilize media in order to manipulate public image. In 1960 a nationally televised debate was held between Nixon and Kennedy. Polls showed that viewers who watched the debate thought Kennedy had won, yet those who listened by radio agreed Nixon made the better argument. I think the reason Kennedy’s team was so incredibly focused on making him telegenic (synonyms with photogenic except on TV) is because mental images seem to stick longer in people’s minds yet words are soon forgotten.
Now whether the issue at hand is running for presidential election or running for the top spot in someone’s long term love affair, if your biceps aren’t as big as your brains… then you may as well count yourself out of the race.
Great observation Andrew. This generation is so image obsessed, it's all that people notice in others. Due to this image issue, it leads to people getting plastic surgery, going on crazy diets and having eating problems, going on steroids, fake tanning, dying hair, etc. All things that most likely are unhealthy people do anyways to alter their image into one that they believe will be mostly accepted by others. Why do people care so much about an appearance, usually all fake, compared to what actually makes up the person?
ReplyDeleteI think this is a very interesting blog post. It is interesting that not only has so much attention been put on physical features, but that what is "attractive" has been changing over time. I think that media plays a crucial role in determining what society views as "attractive" and they do so by putting images of a certain type of person in front of us. Everywhere we turn we see billboards and ads of a certain type of male or female so eventually we view this people as "attractive". I agree with you that it is something that is going on, but I also think that it is something that is going to be extremely hard to change and I think that it is very difficult for media to use intangible features (such as personality) instead of tangible ones (appearance) to try and sell something.
ReplyDeleteI think this is very true Andrew. Our society has become completely obsessed with image. From what you look like to your weight poeple seem to be much more judgemental of someone based solely on their looks. We have even become image obsessed when it comes to what car we drive, where we shop, and with so many other materialistis things. I would like to say that I think this could change. However, I just don't think it will. We as a Society are just becoming more and more obsessed with our image as time goes on.
ReplyDeleteSome very interesting observation here! What you described about interpersonal relationships are most of the times true. However, do not easily ASSUME that what works on the interpersonal level can be directly applied to the mass mediated level. Something is certainly changed, dramatized, or pushed to an extreme when a face-to-face phenomenon crosses the gap and become a mass phenomenon. I would like to see you invest more analysis on the "changed" element, instead of asserting that 'they are all the same.' Does this make sense?
ReplyDeletec.