You are here

Two anecdotes on the fashion model look

Two instances of what is missing in mainstream media reporting.

When does Alessandra Ambrosio not look androgynous?

Mike Larkin from the Daily Mail had the following to say about Alessandra Ambrosio’s recent appearance on MUSE magazine’s cover.

Alessandra Ambrosio

Her legion of male fans are used to seeing Victoria's Secret model Alessandra Ambrosio looking feminine.

But the gorgeous Brazilian still managed to look sensational in an androgynous shoot titled Fire and Ice for Muse magazine.

The 30-year-old looked stunning in the sci-fi themed pictures for the winter edition of the popular fashion periodical.

Larkin forgot to mention that the demographic that finds a woman stunning and sensational if she has the appearance of a young man in make-up and long hair comprises of men of the non-heterosexual variety.  This demographic has certainly been used to seeing Alessandra Ambrosio looking feminine, but with respect to adult men, not women.  Reference (more here); it takes some work to make something like this appear feminine.

Julia Schneider, Elite Model Look contest winner

Julia Schneider

A Daily Mail reporter commented on 15-year-old Julia Schneider winning the recent Elite Model look contest.  The reporter did not mention his or her name, perhaps to avoid embarrassment over asking retarded questions.

The first question is, “Is this the model world’s idea of a beautiful woman?”  What do you think, reporter?  Why has she won the competition?

Then there is the following quote from Marcos Townsend of the Montreal Gazette...

Sweden’s Julia Schneider looks more like a “model” of anorexia than anything stylish that the fashion industry should be putting on a pedestal as a standard for emulation.  This is not new, but it is a trend one might have hoped fashion houses and model agencies would have started to drift away from.  Skeletons are meant jump out of closets not on to fashion runways.  Why are only male models generally allowed to have an adult’s body shape?

...and no attempt to answer this question.

These people do not have a clue.  Fashion designers do not select fashion models as a standard others should emulate but pick the looks that aesthetically please them.  The reason for male models more likely to have adult body shapes is that fashion designers could not get away with predominantly using boys in their early teens as male models, though they push the boundaries, or else the pederastic aesthetic of most of them would be obvious.

Here are the face of Julia Schneider and the runners-up.

Julia Schneider, Lenka Hanakova, Liev Dannau
Julia Schneider (15), Lenka Hanakova (18), Lieve Dannau (16)

Their faces are a notch below the masculinization fashion designers prefer, but Julia and Lieve have compensatory characteristics and could do well for the next couple of years as long as they remain very thin and close to the body of a boy in his early adolescence.  The two significant issues are that Julia is only 15 and her bones are already not slender enough, and Lenka is getting a little old for high-fashion modeling, which suggest that these girls are likely not looking at a long career as high-fashion models.

Categories: 

Comments

The beauty of women is a feminine gender specification. In addition to female body characteristics, feminine way of dressing is very important for fashion making.

http://spiritofnature99.blogspot.com/

Wow, I can't believe that, after years, this website is still claiming that there is set, objective, and specific type of beauty for everybody, (nevertheless that this site is even still existent!)

"Larkin forgot to mention that the demographic that finds a woman stunning and sensational if she has the appearance of a young man in make-up and long hair comprises of men of the non-heterosexual variety."

Obviously starving models unecesarily is wrong and promotes eating disorders, yaddayaddadeadhorse. But this comment is straight up rude... not to mention completely unrealistic and ignorant. Do you really believe that if a man happens to be attracted to a woman who is naturally androgynous then he is gay? Do you actually think that Ambrosio's husband married her because he is gay and she looks like a man? (Which she does not.) If so, then you should think about taking some time off of your little website to learn about the real world.

To the honey who did not leave her name, as often in the past: I do not believe I have argued that a man who happens to be attracted to a woman who is naturally androgynous is gay. In the case of an individual, this person could be perfectly straight. In the case of the man who married Ambrosio, there could be any number of reasons, including those unrelated to sexual inclination. I can think of a large number of straight men who would marry Alessandra Ambrosio in a heartbeat because this is one woman that is often traveling because of her work, and her riches can be used to obtain all the feminine hotties one wants with the wife being none the wiser.

You need to look at the matter in statistical terms. What can one infer about the men who find esthetically pleasing or fantasize about androgynous or mannish-looking females? Not your typical straight males. Not typically straight does not necessarily mean gay as there are the atypically straight and those between gay and straight. Fantasy is important because the cover is not from a publication offering its escorts to men, in which case you would have a difficult time finding many examples of showcasing involving the likes of Ambrosio above if the escort agency is targeting the general male population.

Erik now that you seem to be back on con you please answer me?

nicegirl: Sorry, I will answer you over the next couple of days.

I really don't get why the author of this page takes the gay stance on female aesthetics.
1. Claiming that *his* taste is the baseline heterosexual taste could be totally wrong since attraction is subjective. What if it's the author's taste in women that is in fact, gay, and it is the media's that is 'normal' (if there even is such a thing?

2. I'm searching through the site to find non-european/eastern european examples of beauty, and I haven't found any yet.
How is it possible that there are no asians, african or afro carribean, southeast asians or arabs?
This site seems to be 100% skewed one way, which alone should be in indicator of extreeme bias.

Can we rectify this?

Alyssa: Attraction is subjective indeed, but most people share the same subjective preferences, which in the case of women is a preference for above average femininity: http://www.femininebeauty.info/aesthetics/femininity and http://www.femininebeauty.info/aesthetics/gender

This site targets European populations, which is why it does not focus on non-European women. Plenty of Eastern European women are shown in the context of attractive women; you just have to look closer as they are usually not very slavic looking.

A step in the right direction? Story of one model being banned from catwalk for being size 0, surely a first): She then admits she has eating disorders but always felt she had to be/look anorexic to please industry, check the link for more info:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-480962/Size-zero-model-banned-London-Fashion-Week-thin.html

You're right, Eric, in what the majority of hetro men really want in women , check out the link:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2029680/What-men-REALLY-want-brown-haired-blue-eyed-size-14-woman.html

Great site/ blog on too skinny women/ models where the author cites your website, Eric, in a very positive and good light, check it out:

http://the-lovely-marilyn-monroe.popsugar.com/What-Marilyns-REAL-size-Models-today-VS-Marilyn-Monroe-144140

Hi, Eric, seems Coco Chanel was in agreement of and aware of your realistic theory about why fashion models are so emaciated/ thin, here is a paragraph from this article on celebrating curvier more healthy women, check it out:

"Coco Chanel put her finger on it when she blamed the trend for androgynous clothes on the emergence of male fashion designers, mostly gay, who dressed women like young boys." Taken from article, here's the link:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2037493/Like-Christina-Hendricks-I-ALWAYS-dress-impress-men--women.html

Click here to post a new comment