link | Submitted by Wendy K. on Wed, 01/02/2008 - 14:22.
I think that there are many variations on feminine beauty, just as there are many variations on male beauty or attractiveness, and it depends on the taste of the individual, or, the "eye" of the beholder. I do agree that many female models today look a bit harsh, but there are some attractive ones here and there. Then again, many of the male models to me, also look very harsh and overly masculine, and I'm more attracted to men who don't look so garishly rugged.
I also think it's important to remember that beauty ideals change. It was once thought, during the 1930's, that a tomboyish beauty and flat chest were ideal (flappers, etc.) Back in ancient Greek, the ideal beauty was androgynous.
The entire emphasis on skinniness today also has to do with financial status. When it used to be hard for poor people to eat, like in the times of Rubens the painter (thus the term Rubenesque), people used to show off their higher social status by having a larger girth. Women were considered beautiful if they were heavy. You can still see this going on in India, where women of higher status are a bit "chubby."
So I don't really think that "masculine-females" are a new invention, it's just that people think that women with higher cheekbones are more photogenic, and to be honest, I think they do photograph better. I am a woman with a rounder face and I don't have very jutting features; however, I don't often photograph well, but I think at times I look a bit better (in real life) than many of the harsher-looking models you see in magazines. Then again, it's all relative. Some of the models you hate, like Alessandra, can have good and bad days just like the rest of us. She often photographs well, but can have bad days too, and this goes for her candid "real life" photos.
Also, I'd like to mention that, if you think having high cheekbones (for women) makes a woman more masculine, then take a look at Asian women. Many Asian women, I think, are very beautiful and very feminine, but they have flatter faces and very high (almost jutting) cheekbones; this, however, does not mar their femininity in any way.
As an end note, I'd also like to make a comment that there are way too many pressures on women already to conform to specific "looks" and stereotypes, and you've probably heard this before, but I think this needs to end. While I think you have some good points about the unrealistic and often weird looks of some models, in the end, all this obsession with womens' looks isn't helping anybody. In fact, women can't help it if they're born looking less feminine than your ideal, so why put more pressure on them.
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I think that there are many variations on feminine beauty, just as there are many variations on male beauty or attractiveness, and it depends on the taste of the individual, or, the "eye" of the beholder. I do agree that many female models today look a bit harsh, but there are some attractive ones here and there. Then again, many of the male models to me, also look very harsh and overly masculine, and I'm more attracted to men who don't look so garishly rugged.
I also think it's important to remember that beauty ideals change. It was once thought, during the 1930's, that a tomboyish beauty and flat chest were ideal (flappers, etc.) Back in ancient Greek, the ideal beauty was androgynous.
The entire emphasis on skinniness today also has to do with financial status. When it used to be hard for poor people to eat, like in the times of Rubens the painter (thus the term Rubenesque), people used to show off their higher social status by having a larger girth. Women were considered beautiful if they were heavy. You can still see this going on in India, where women of higher status are a bit "chubby."
So I don't really think that "masculine-females" are a new invention, it's just that people think that women with higher cheekbones are more photogenic, and to be honest, I think they do photograph better. I am a woman with a rounder face and I don't have very jutting features; however, I don't often photograph well, but I think at times I look a bit better (in real life) than many of the harsher-looking models you see in magazines. Then again, it's all relative. Some of the models you hate, like Alessandra, can have good and bad days just like the rest of us. She often photographs well, but can have bad days too, and this goes for her candid "real life" photos.
Also, I'd like to mention that, if you think having high cheekbones (for women) makes a woman more masculine, then take a look at Asian women. Many Asian women, I think, are very beautiful and very feminine, but they have flatter faces and very high (almost jutting) cheekbones; this, however, does not mar their femininity in any way.
As an end note, I'd also like to make a comment that there are way too many pressures on women already to conform to specific "looks" and stereotypes, and you've probably heard this before, but I think this needs to end. While I think you have some good points about the unrealistic and often weird looks of some models, in the end, all this obsession with womens' looks isn't helping anybody. In fact, women can't help it if they're born looking less feminine than your ideal, so why put more pressure on them.