A complete and total side note: comments on MySpace advertisements

I hate all the advertisements on MySpace. A lot of them are just annoying, flashy, and asking me to shave some lady's legs (or more recently, Brittany's head) to win something I'll never get without jumping through hoops. However, there are others that I have HUGE issues with. ... And actually lead me to more broader thoughts than just MySpace.

1. All the models from Victoria Secret ads are totally airbrushed and altered, and it makes me want to frown. While I'm not necessarily all for Dove, this little film thing is interesting. http://youtube.com/watch?v=L_aDpmfAzxI
This brings into question, then: What is beauty? Is there such a thing as beautiful women who AREN'T altered, either literally or through digital imaging? I think this gives into a totally falsification to men and feeds into a fantasy of 'perfect women.' Granted, not all men are affected this way and I praise them for that, we need more of them around standing up against artificial portrayals of women. Don't believe me that there's an issue? Why is it, then, that companies like Victoria Secret feel like they have to airbrush every little thing on a woman's body? Why is it that comic books are so overrun by female characters with outlandish curves?


2. In my opinion, True.com is just a glorified version of prostitution. Now hear me out: the website says "love" but really all they're promoting is lust with their advertisements. The ones here on MySpace appear "tame" but I've seen others that are totally geared to rustle up some hook-ups and anything but love... typically at the same time exploiting women.. Which they are obviously trying to counter the claim by now portraying men in their ads. I'm not the only one to notice this. http://www.onlinedatingmagazine.com/columns/2005editorials/april2005.html

Which all of it actually brings into mind the media's definition of love and twisting sexual activity. How many times did Joey hop into bed with some boyfriend on Dawson's Creek, or the characters on the O.C., because the characters "loved each other?" They broke up how many times? Who didn't end up staying with who? The media often times suggests that love is an impulse, and in order to satisfy that impulse completely you have to have sex right now. If you don't - well, you're not really in love, you just thought you may have been. Or, after some time after sex, the relationship is terminated.
So, it's kind of like saying it's okay to just go out and hook-up with whoever and then call it a night. Or that it's okay to sleep with your boyfriend, even if you may end up breaking up after an indefinite amount of time. I think that sort of thing tears at the insides of a person, no matter how much they say they're okay with it and that they don't deal with feelings of having been used... that is to say, the occassional pang of feeling worthlessness or wanting recognition as a human being.

We're more than just the sum of our body parts, after all.

... So that's my two-cents, and the vehement dislike of those sorts of advertisements. I did go on a bit of a tangent, and it may not be altogether coherent, but that's what I've got for you. It rubs me the wrong way every time I see those ads.