Friday, February 20, 2009

Bikini-Clad Women as Objects, or Why I Like Going to the Beach...

You've got to love this CNN story, "Men See Bikini-Clad Women as Objects, Psychologists Say":

Foxy Lady!

It may seem obvious that men perceive women in sexy bathing suits as objects, but now there's science to back it up.

New research shows that, in men, the brain areas associated with handling tools and the intention to perform actions light up when viewing images of women in bikinis.

The research was presented this week by Susan Fiske, professor of psychology at Princeton University, at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

"This is just the first study which was focused on the idea that men of a certain age view sex as a highly desirable goal, and if you present them with a provocative woman, then that will tend to prime goal-related responses," she told CNN.

Although consistent with conventional wisdom, the way that men may depersonalize sexual images of women is not entirely something they control. In fact, it's a byproduct of human evolution, experts say. The first male humans had an incentive to seek fertile women as the means of spreading their genes.

"They're not fully conscious responses, and so people don't know the extent to which they're being influenced," Fiske said. "It's important to recognize the effects."
Umm, I'm reminded of my breast blogging on Ann Althouse. Cracker asked how do I respond to "questions about the blog author's obsession with another blog author's breasts"?

Well, let's just chaulk it up to evolutionary biology, or as Jimmy Carter once said:

I've looked on a lot of women with lust. I've committed adultery in my heart many times.... This is something that God recognizes, that I will do and have done, and God forgives me for it.
And don't forget, as Little Miss Attilla has noted , "There is a marked tendency for heterosexual men to be interested in women."

**********

P.S. I'm forwarding this to my breast-blogging mentor, Robert Stacy McCain, for a vote of approval on some shameless blogwhoring.

9 comments:

  1. I don't care for pornography or public nudity but I do appreciate feminine beauty. An attractive woman is a both a real person and an exquisite work of art by God Himself. We should not simply see them as objects but appreciate both the person and the beauty. Those who can't stand for men to look at women are simply jealous.

    In my job I am required to occasionally pass through the womens' locker room (which is empty at night as I am the only one in the plant) and the pictures I see taped to the wall tell me that me that it goes both ways.

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  2. I'm being a little facetious at the post, Shoprat. What's funny is how no feminists were linking to this at Memeorandum.

    It goes both ways big time: Remember Judith Warner and untold numbers of Democratic women are having sex dreams of Barack Obama!

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  3. Personally, I don't have a problem with the whole idea of seeing beautiful women in bikinis as "objects". To me such a vision is comparable to walking through the Louvre in Paris. Lot's of very beautiful works of art to catch the eye, and I can't afford to keep even one.

    Besides, my wife would kill me if I offered to make payment arrangements.

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  4. My wife forgives me. I see a Nobel prize in the future for Professor Fiske. I hope she gets around to studying why my wife's eyes are fixated on the TV when a really good looking guy in a bathing suit is on.
    Hello...honey...look at me...stop laughing.

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  5. Hey, Don. I was going to post on this story but in the process of picking out just the right hot chick in a bikini for the accompanying picture I got...distracted. You made a fine choice. Glad to see that there are still some things we can agree on.

    And shoprat: you should really check out some pornography; it's the best.

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  6. Is there such thing as neo-con porn?

    (other than reppy's christian spanking sites)

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  7. Any guy that claims to not have checked pornography even on occasion, is:

    A) A big fat liar

    B) A bigger fatter liar

    C) The biggest fattest liar

    or last but not least........drum roll........

    D) Impotent


    Have a nice day :)

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  8. I may try this on my political blog--hope my wife agrees.

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