>Do men on Instagram contend with this many half-naked dudes and their butts all the time? I really want to know.
In a way, yes. Men are shown ads or muscular, successful men with chiseled jawlines reminding us that we're inferior, our clothes style sucks, how we can't be a man because we don't smoke the same cigarettes as he.
Sure, but imagine how worse it would be to see the outline of the said muscular men’s penises.
Because breasts are similarly sexualized. The muscular man may hurt my sense of self but he does not challenge me to sexually improve or supplement myself.
Making you feel bad is a proven effective advertising strategy, and a proven terrible world to exist. There needs to be a pollution tax for advertising the way there should be for carbon. If you deliberately pump a harmful product out into the world you should have to pay through the nose for it.
It's pretty easy to avoid Instagram and Facebook. Install an ad blocker and the rest of the web becomes reasonably friendly.
They'll just keep ratcheting up the obnoxiousness until they find your threshold for quitting. These are "free" products, so if you're still enjoying the rest of the site, then they're leaving money on the table.
I agree with the author and wish I could see less ads for bras. I am a male and mostly follow makers and woodworkers, yet I see a ton of ads for bras. My wife doesn't send me too many links to bra companies either.
I deleted my Facebook 2 years ago, and my Instagram is only about 6 months old. I used the same email address in both accounts.
Same here. It's all bras and "slimming clothing" ads. I'm neither a woman nor am I obese. I've repeatedly clicked on the "this ad is not relevant" buttons but they just bombard me with more.
I haven't checked instagram in months as a result.
> says something really depressing about our value as women in the world
Well, most women want attractive men to be attracted to them. The advertisers attempt to associate their products with being attractive.
Men are advertised to the same way, it says nothing about men's "value to the world". This is embarrassing melodrama.
Instead of stopping use of a commercial-propaganda-infested app like Instagram, the author continues to use it, but shouts at the wind, essentially, on this is annoying.
This is a ridiculous criticism. Ancient Greeks didn’t look at sculptures of ripped dudes and “feel bad about themselves.” They got INSPIRED and felt GOOD about themselves. Be like an Ancient Greek.
Is this satire? Because there are a hell of a lot of differences.
For one... seeing David in rare moments (you listed this example down below, but it was not ancient nor greek) or any art is very different than the current effects of advertising. In those cases, between long stretches of real life, it’s possible or even easy to appreciate. When bombarded constantly with an unrealistic ideal hundreds of times a day, it has a different effect.
Ancient Greeks were “bombarded by unrealistic image ideals hundreds of times a day” as well while passing sculptures and murals in public places. Yet these “unrealistic image ideals” served as a font of inspiration! The “unrealism” and “idealism” served only to heighten their positive effects on their viewers! Be like an Ancient Greek!
What’s next, protesting the Venus of Willendorf for being too thicc? “Unrealistic image ideals” have millions of historical precedents. They are fertility symbols and they can serve to inspire if only you choose to be inspired! Choose to be inspired. :)
In a way, yes. Men are shown ads or muscular, successful men with chiseled jawlines reminding us that we're inferior, our clothes style sucks, how we can't be a man because we don't smoke the same cigarettes as he.