Regendering the Dove Ads

Ramblin Educat blogged today about people defacing the Dove "Campaign for Real Beauty" ads, and editorialists expressing their disdain for photos of not so skinny & gorgeous women.

Let's just regender that now & see how it turns out.

"When we're talking men in their underwear on billboards outside my living room windows, give me the fantasy hunks, please," said Roeper in her column.

This isn't about whether the Dove men are beautiful or not. We could argue endlessly over whether the men are too fat to be attractive, or not fat enough to be "real," or too airbrushed; whether they're prettier with their clothes on, if the angles of their photos are flattering. But we'd be taking them apart the way we do with so many other men in the media, dissecting them piece by piece. Which gets us nowhere.

And this isn't about whether women's fantasies are unrealistic or stupid or shallow or shameful. Women are certainly entitled to their preferences. Having preferences is one thing; expecting the world to cater to them is another.

Women aren't obligated to consider every man beautiful, or for that matter, to make every man feel good about himself.

But by the same token, nobody owes you a nice view, gals.

Entire regendered article (if that doesn't work, go to http://regender.com and enter the URL for the story)

Original article