Political correctness is everywhere these days and I got a literal eyeful of it while shopping at Albany mall on Saturday. These days we are not allowed to say what we really think. We are expected to pretend that we like things that we don’t and that inferior things are just as good as superior things.
Even the word “superior” can no longer be used without people feeling instantly guilty and looking over their shoulders for the Thought Police.
I can quite confidently state right now that my body when I was in my early twenties was far superior to the body that I have now. Even if I were to slim back down to the size ten I was at 18 years of age when I was in my prime, I would still have an inferior body. My mind, however: that is another thing entirely! I would love to have my 51-year-old mind in my 23-year-old body as that would be a lethal combination; but I digress.
My point is that quite naturally we are attracted to slim and fit, youthful bodies. We may be trained to be polite and to spare people’s feelings about their less than perfect bodies but that does not change the fact that we all fantasise and lust after movie stars and other prime specimens of humanity because we are naturally attracted to good looking and idealised bodies.
While we can certainly argue that some models are slim to the point of anorexia, with boy-like bodies (due perhaps to gay men controlling much of the fashion industry). Others, such as swimwear and lingerie models, are desirable to red-blooded heterosexual males and also catch the eye of women who can only dream of looking that good.
I can’t speak for womankind but I can say that I personally do not like politically correct ads like the ones I came across on Sunday. In fact, they really annoy me. I don’t want to see ordinary and overweight bodies let alone bodies covered in tattoos. By all means, sell your products in my size but sell me on the dream, not the unattractive reality. I am not going to buy from a store because they are big on virtue signalling. Yes, real women look like that but I don’t want to see it up close and personal, thank you very much.
Note in the final photo that the store mannequin models on the left are not plus-sized. The ad does not reflect the reality of stores like this one.
It is lovely to accept people exactly as they are and to make the most of our bodies no matter how plus-sized they are. At 51 I care more about a man’s character and mind than whether or not he has a six-pack but that is not the point I am making.
I want to ogle a poster of a hunk with a six-pack, not a Dad with a beer belly, when shopping for men’s underpants.