Analysis Of Beauty (Re) Discovers The Male Body By Susan Bordo

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In the essay "Beauty (Re)discovers the Male Body" by Susan Bordo, she talks about the culture of advertising and the different stereotypes associated with men and women. While men and women 's bodies are viewed differently though media, people are starting to view them in a contrasting demeanor. In Bordo 's section "Men on Display" she presents a quote encompassing the idea of women being seen as sex objects, but the second a male decides to be put on display, suddenly it becomes inappropriate. Not only do we live in a society that is "body-obsessed", women are openly revealed for people to see, while a male doing the same is considered to be "overexposure" (194). This section of Bordo 's piece brings up a controversial aspect of gender equality, and at what point, if ever, will our society and culture reach that point
Though Bordo expresses that the public is used to seeing it more-so of women, the new idea of using men as well has been introduced into our society as a rather new concept, and is causing varying reactions from the public. As a society, we have instilled into our minds that women are allowed to put themselves on display for everyone to see. These differences between how the public views men and women in the fashion industry via media has evolved significantly from exposing too little to too much. Today, it is normal to see men and women in advertisements exposing themselves in various ways. I believe that there are certain stereotypes attached to these images regardless of the social norm. In the Bordo quote, she was reacting to an article from the New York Times Magazine about the male body being advertised in ways that were considered “overkill” (194). I sincerely agree with the reaction of Bordo, and I do not think our society is progressing towards a society in which men and women will be viewed as

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