EDITORIAL – Men’s body image tainted by ads

You’re driving down the Parkway, and you’re suddenly confronted with a nude, chiseled,… You’re driving down the Parkway, and you’re suddenly confronted with a nude, chiseled, hairless man’s torso.

You’ve just passed a billboard for Abercrombie ‘ Fitch — and the advertisement has told you nothing about the company or the clothes, just that the company identifies itself with sexy, half-naked men.

An article from CNN.com notes that advertisements like this are forcing body image issues on men as well as women.

Although the body-image dilemma has traditionally been a women’s issue — with the painfully thin models who grace the pages of fashion magazines and the tabloid covers of Lindsay Lohan and Nicole Richie, it’s important to note that it affects men, too.

“Asking men about just weight or size misses the boat,” said researcher Deborah Schooler. She said that men are more concerned with “real body” factors such as sweat, body hair and body odor, according to the article.

Makes sense to us. The commercials for Axe deodorants and body sprays more or less equate smelling good with obtaining sexual partners.

Schooler’s study noted that the more media men “consumed” — especially music videos and prime-time television — the more likely they were to feel bad about the “real” factors of their bodies.

We agree that eliminating the sexual aspects of advertising would be good for the body image for both men and women, but we know that won’t happen as long as these tactics are increasing sales while lowering self-esteem.

And it’s not fair to target Abercrombie ‘ Fitch exclusively when plenty of advertisers, celebrities and magazines are to blame, but its the shining example of the fact that sex sells.

Furthermore, Abercrombie ‘ Fitch is really only catering to certain body types, leaving people who don’t have bodies that look like sculptures from the Italian Renaissance unable to wear its clothes — regardless of how effective the advertising may be.

So in the future, perhaps Abercrombie and Fitch should actually show us more than just headless, sexy body parts in its ads and showcase its products for once, because it does sell clothes in its stores, right?