I was recently discussing what people consider the most fashionable male image. The first thought that came to my mind is GQ Magazine. The magazine’s cover often displays images of the most “fashionable” people of the time. For further research, I decided to take a look at the GQ website. I was immediately shocked by what I saw.
On the front page of the website, they displayed promotional images for their special New Years topics. The first two were articles on the top male and female fashions of past years. I had learned once that male figures tend to be displayed with close-ups of their faces while women’s whole bodies are shown. Women, even in professional and business settings, are usually unable to avoid being represented by their bodies. This is evidence of our society’s obsession with the female body image.
The first image I saw was for “The 50 Most Stylish Men of the Past 50 Years.” The image was a close-up of Elvis Presley. He wears a stylish suit, but only his face and shoulders can be seen.
The second image was for “The Top 10 Cover Girls of the 2000s.” The image displays the woman’s whole body as is often the case. However, if that wasn’t enough, she is also wearing absolutely nothing but a tie.
If you care to actually view the slideshows these images promote, you’ll find that the men tend to be well dressed and appear in a number of different poses and settings. The female section, on the other hand, does not fall very short of being a soft-core pornographic photo shoot. Each woman either flashes underwear to the camera, wears clothing that reveals a significant amount of skin or cleavage, or wears nothing at all.
It is no secret that women are more sexualized than men are, but would it be too much to ask that the places we turn to for fashion advice and current trends be more conscious of overt sexism?
It is now 2010, let’s try to be more self-aware this year.
::Images found on the GQ website 01/03/2010::
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