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submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by Eccehom@lemmy.world to c/lemmyshitpost@lemmy.world
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[-] hungryphrog 34 points 1 year ago

The difference is that those men are not objectified. Yes, those bodies are unrealistic indeed, but those beefcake guys are not presented as sex objects who have no other purpose in this world than to please women.

[-] b00m@kbin.social 71 points 1 year ago

I get the feeling that you never hang out with a group of gals on a night out

[-] hungryphrog 6 points 1 year ago

I guess I don't hang out with myself then

[-] ruckblack@sh.itjust.works 60 points 1 year ago

Oh yes, Thor is oiled up and shirtless while Natalie Portman ogles him for the entire first movie because... It looks powerful? It represents his stoicism? Definitely not a sexual objectification thing, oh no sir

[-] DudePluto@lemmy.world 18 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Tbf you can be ogled and not objectified. The difference is that Thor absolutely is portrayed as a complex character with his own agency, or subjectivity. The whole movie is about him learning to step out of the role of warmonger and into a more mature, nurturing role of a king. That gives him a lot of subjectivity - the opposite of objectivity

Edit: So to clarify, yes Thor is part of a series of unrealistic body standards for men. But he's not objectified

In social philosophy, objectification is the act of treating a person as an object or a thing. It is part of dehumanization, the act of disavowing the humanity of others. Sexual objectification, the act of treating a person as a mere object of sexual desire, is a subset of objectification,

Emphasis mine. Where in "Thor" is Thor dehumanized? Do the creators of the movie dehumanize him? No, if anything he exhibits more humanity as the movie goes on. Does Jane Foster dehumanize him? No, she's clearly sexually attracted to him and some scenes do focus on his body, but that's not enough to dehumanize someone. He is not a "mere object of sexual desire" because those scenes exist amid an entire movie that treats Thor with respect as a character, including Jane who gets to know him and love him. The only character who dehumanizes him could be Loki but he's clearly portrayed as being wrong

[-] anonono@lemmy.world 18 points 1 year ago

Tbf you can be ogled and not objectified

I gotta get me some of that copium, looks like the good stuff.

[-] DudePluto@lemmy.world 8 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Or, like, learn what objectification actually means (and "cope" for that matter, what am I coping about? I'm just having an internet discussion)

[-] Aesthesiaphilia@kbin.social 8 points 1 year ago

The difference is that Thor absolutely is portrayed as a complex character with his own agency, or subjectivity.

So is Black Widow, but she is 100% leathered up sex symbol too and no one questions that.

[-] DudePluto@lemmy.world 6 points 1 year ago

Sex symbol =/= objectified. There's nothing wrong with being a sexy character. Sexual objectification is the reduction of a person or character to nothing but sex. Or, if you want a more accurate definition, you can look at Wikipedia's definition which I gave somewhere else

[-] Tedesche@lemmy.world 7 points 1 year ago

Tbf you can be ogled and not objectified. The difference is that Thor absolutely is portrayed as a complex character with his own agency, or subjectivity.

By that definition, no female main character of a film ever has been objectified.

[-] DudePluto@lemmy.world 7 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

No there are plenty of female characters who are portrayed as two-dimensional sex objects, just like there are male characters who are portrayed the same. But Thor is not one of them. And the existence of sex appeal around a person =/= objectification

[-] Tedesche@lemmy.world 7 points 1 year ago

No there are plenty of female characters who are portrayed as two-dimensional sex objects

But none of them were their film's main characters, right? I mean, by definition if the character has agency and complexity to them, they're not being objectified, and basically every main character has some degree of agency and complexity. Can you give me an example of a female film lead who is objectified by the definition you've provided here?

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[-] people_are_cute@lemmy.sdf.org 7 points 1 year ago

I think what the commenter is trying to say is that male characters tend to have more to their overall presence in movies than just their body since they are generally the protagonists, but female characters are often only there to show their bodies and have very little character depth in comparison.

Though, granted, that commenter probably has horrible taste in movies if this observation is so starkly visible to them.

[-] Guadin@k.fe.derate.me 49 points 1 year ago

You've never watched a romatic movie or chickflick have you?

[-] zalack@kbin.social 15 points 1 year ago

It happens, but it's not pervasive. There's nothing wrong with sexual imagery in a vacuum.

The issue for women is the sheer avalanche of bullshit. Images of half naked women with unrealistic bodies are EVERYWHERE. Billboards, magazine covers, commercials, etc.

[-] mrpants@sh.itjust.works 33 points 1 year ago

It's okay to discuss men's issues without needing to whatabout them. Women's issues are also valid. This isn't a competition it's about media creating body dysmorphia in people.

[-] zalack@kbin.social 10 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I don't disagree. In these discussions though there almost always are a few comments that try to make the case that men actually have it just as bad as women, and I think it's good to challenge that.

You can support what men have to deal with while also acknowledging that it's infinitely more oppressive towards women. I think it's often hard for some people not to mention it because it's like, yes, feminists have been talking about this exact thing for decades, why is this a realization suddenly?

[-] theragu40@lemmy.world 17 points 1 year ago

But men have been told since forever to bottle things up and not acknowledge them. Men don't get to have emotions. This is not a new issue and in fact many men themselves perpetuate this problem. That isn't the exact same issue anymore.

When we finally get to a point where people are discussing it, bringing up the group who have been dealing with it for years as though men aren't allowed to to have these feelings too absolutely minimizes the initial conversation.

There is space for both conversations to happen, and both should happen. But when this happens in literally every thread trying to discuss male body dysmorphia that's not positive conversation anymore.

[-] zalack@kbin.social 6 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I agree. I'm not trying to shut down that conversation, just contextualize it a bit and have it be part of both conversations. Both conversations are linked so I don't see why that wouldn't be natural.

[-] some_guy@kbin.social 10 points 1 year ago

“i’m not trying to shut down that conversation i just don’t think your viewpoints are valid”

🤣

[-] theragu40@lemmy.world 6 points 1 year ago

I think my point is that they really aren't linked. It is two groups experiencing similar things, but for a variety of reasons the context is completely different. And moreover because the conversation is essentially brand new for one group and extremely well known for the other, talking about them like they are the same cheapens the conversation around the newer group.

I'd liken it to a friend telling you about a problem they're having and instead of listening to them, starting to talk about your own similar problems. I realize that's a superficial example but I think it explains where I'm coming from.

I mean in no way to disregard or minimize the long and well documented struggle women have had with body image issues. But I do think men's body image issues deserve to be discussed on their own merit without always needing to be contextualized through the lens of women's issues.

[-] zalack@kbin.social 6 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I think they are linked, though. Objectified male bodies tend to be the type of body that men in charge think is the ideal, the same way that objectified female bodies tend to be the type of body that men in charge think is the ideal.

Most of the women I talk to don't really care for the ultra-built body type we tend to see in blockbusters. If they're attracted to the leads it tends to be for other reasons that are orthogonal to them being jacked.

One of the goals behind breaking down the patriarchy is removing the singular vision that our culture tends to have on a lot of issues, since our culture is run predominantly by a single demographic. I don't think sexualized imagery would ever go away, but a higher variety of that imagery that caters to a wider variety of tastes might help with body image issues.

Men feeling shitty for not being jacked, women feeling shitty for not being slim and large-breasted, black women feeling shitty about their hair, black and asian men feeling shitty about their features because so much of our beauty standards are set on white individuals... It's all particular flavors of the same underlying issue. There's no harm in adding women have been talking about this for decades. Let's team up and stop this bullshit.

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[-] priapus@sh.itjust.works 15 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I don't see a comment saying that. All I see is someone saying that it isn't a real problem for men.

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[-] Tedesche@lemmy.world 8 points 1 year ago

The only thing you're doing here with your comments is saying "but women have it worse!" You're not here to discuss the actual issue, you're here to derail the conversation.

And the only spaces in which feminists have had these conversations is in private academic settings on the "men's issues" day of their course curriculum. To feminists, men's issues are a footnote. And that's fine--I don't expect feminists to really give a crap about how societal sexism affects men; that's not their purview and it certainly isn't on them to bring attention to those problems. But stop pretending feminists have given men or their issues equal or even just proportional time in their discussions, much less their activism.

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[-] TheDankHold@kbin.social 28 points 1 year ago

If you think they aren’t objectified that’s your own lack of perspective.

[-] Aesthesiaphilia@kbin.social 23 points 1 year ago

Reminds me of the "everyone has sinful urges" anti-gay pastors

"Buff men are built for the male gaze"

My guy, I have some news for you

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[-] archiotterpup@lemmy.world 24 points 1 year ago

Oh my friend, they very much are objectified. Have you never hung around straight women or gay men? Those men are slabs of meat and that's it.

[-] xoniq@sopuli.xyz 22 points 1 year ago

Even guys are objectified if they are pretty enough. Many women do that with movie stars.

[-] iAmTheTot@kbin.social 17 points 1 year ago

The thing is on both sides it's for the male gaze. Women are are objectified for men (look how sexy she is, don't you want this?), and men are objectified for men (look how strong and handsome he is, don't you want to be like him?)

[-] Aesthesiaphilia@kbin.social 35 points 1 year ago

men are objectified for men (look how strong and handsome he is, don't you want to be like him?)

If you think women aren't enjoying the male eye candy, I have some news for you

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[-] Veltoss@lemmy.world 17 points 1 year ago
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[-] ARk@lemm.ee 12 points 1 year ago

...no? Have you actually hung out with real people?

[-] ch00f@lemmy.world 7 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

My partner and I tried to come up with an example of a character built for the female gaze. The best we could do was Idris Elba as a Jinn from 3000 Years of Longing.

Edit: I think you all are missing the point.

From Wikipedia

In cinematic representations of women, the male gaze denies the woman's human agency and human identity to transform her from person to object — someone to be considered only for her beauty, physique, and sex appeal, as defined in the male sexual fantasy of narrative cinema.

So while women might like looking at the men in Magic Mike or watching nameless romcoms, the women in the stories have no agency. The men might serve their every need and save them from whatever situation, but the men are still doing all the things, and they follow the men-in-charge storyline.

[-] axtualdave@lemmy.world 16 points 1 year ago
[-] KevonLooney@lemm.ee 12 points 1 year ago

Any male character from Twilight? Any male romcom character?

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[-] BackStabbath@lemm.ee 7 points 1 year ago

As someone mentioned, literally almost any male romcom lead.

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[-] hungryphrog 6 points 1 year ago

Exactly. This is pretty much what I wanted to say, but couldn't find the words.

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[-] DudePluto@lemmy.world 16 points 1 year ago

I think you have a point except for the fact that the meme is about unrealistic body standards, not objectification. So it's kinda like bringing up pancakes in a conversation about waffles

[-] ParsnipWitch@feddit.de 7 points 1 year ago

But why does the meme has to take a jab at the problems women face? It's undebatable that women are faced with unrealistic body standards all the time. And I don't get why the meme has to try and take away from that.

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[-] peyotecosmico@programming.dev 13 points 1 year ago

I'll take "someone that hasn't hang out with women for 300" Alex

[-] theragu40@lemmy.world 12 points 1 year ago

I really feel like this misses the point. And it sells both men and women short.

The most cruel part of depictions like this isn't simply that the opposite sex is or isn't drooling over them. It's that they are presented as ideal and desirable physiques.

This impacts how people feel like they should aspire to look. And that impacts how they feel about their own bodies.

It is so reductive to focus just on whether these bodies are objectified by the opposite sex. It's the internal struggle people are faced with that is the real issue.

[-] Finnagain@lemmy.world 7 points 1 year ago

That's not just a hot take, that's straight up nuclear.

this post was submitted on 08 Jul 2023
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