The lead picture of the woman who had buttock "enhancement" is more disturbing than titillating. Ditto on Kim Kardashian, The fact that she's an accomplished businesswoman with a chain of clothing stores is never mentioned - apparently it isn't as significant as the size and shape of her booty - but as both of these women are certainly consenting adults - I blame them alone for allowing themselves to be exploited this way.

Even more disturbing is that Slate is pandering to fetishists with this piece, under the psuedo-intellectual guise of "the sex issue." Using sex to sell readership is certainly nothing new and I like reading about it as much as the next woman. But I don't know - this seems especially seedy, in a Hustler kind of way.

"Even more disturbing is that Slate is pandering to fetishists with this piece"

Its part of the Libertine mentality.

I agree about that lead picture being disturbing -- even more so than the oversized fake tits that seem to be the trend in certain circles.

I don't have a fundamental problem with women (or men) having body reshaping work done, but when it no longer looks like something that would naturally occur, it has all the eroticism of a Barbie doll.

I've noticed your outlandish comments on nearly every thread here. Is this your "home" board now?

topazz:

"... but as both of these women are certainly consenting adults - I blame them alone for allowing themselves to be exploited this way."

People tend to hang their hat on what works for them, and girls begin to determine what works for them a lot younger than the age of legal consent. The manner in which they begin to view themselves as desirable (in any sense) exerts a powerful impact on how they view themselves as people, and what attributes they might have that others would value, or find attractive.

It's hardly surprising that women with matching "assets" would use them to their advantage. Unfortunately, the social environment is such that if a girl is inequitably endowed, it may be difficult for her to learn to rely on much else - the men around her pay scant attention to anything else.

Little Brittney Spears is just starting to figure out (maybe) what she's been robbed of. Many of her contemporaries may never realize it at all.

What happened to all the feminists on Slate / the Fray?

if you're talking about liposuction, botox, breast enhancement, that kind of thing - I'm with you. But if there actually is a real surgical trend (outside of LA, I mean) where more women are considering getting their derriere's repadded and reshaped and/or designer vaginas - I can't help but think that kind of thinking verges on mental illness. Just as an anorexic has a distorted body image and needs psychological help, maybe so do they.

Yes, that is my point.

I don't know if the butt implants are really common anyplace outside of Hollywood or Miami, but even the breast enhancements have gone way too far, IMHO. First of all, seems to me that every pair of fake tits looks pretty much like every other pair, while real breasts are as individual as noses. I cannot say that I appreciate the loss of diversity in tits any more than I did with noses when, a generation or two back, everyone seemed to end up with one from the same mold.

I guess I am old-fashioned, but I prefer tits and asses that at least look like they are real.

I'm also a realist, and these women in the pictures aren't 14 year old girls - they're adults. It could very well be that they take great pleasure in displaying their bodies this way - and if so, that is their privilege - Kim Kardashian is a beautiful woman, more power to her. The fact that they're being exploited for it at the same time may not be a concern to them - but if it is, who else (but themselves) should they look to?

{Counting down the seconds till someone jumps in and accuses me of saying "they're inviting rape by the way they dress" argument. Which is absolutely not what I'm saying at all}

I don't know anything about the women you're referring to. Someone like Brittney Spears is a much more obvious example, however, of the nature sexual objectification exerts on children, and the ways in which this plays out in adulthood (such as it were). So while people tend to look at a Brittney Spears or Paris Hilton as exploiting sexist culture, I look at them as continuing a long exploitation by sexist culture - the directionality of the association being established long before adulthood. I'm pretty sure that's a more feminist position than saying they're solely responsible for their exploitation, as adults.

So when you ask who they should look to, I'd say they should look into their past. But that's my bias, I suppose. I suppose they should also look at the people around them, and the degree to which their approval is dependent on their participation in their own objectification. Coercion can be blindingly pervasive, and undeniably persuasive.

But I'm not really the best person to be making this argument. Like I said, where have all the feminists gone?

I've been here since MSN.

What are you going on about?

"Unfortunately, the social environment is such that if a girl is inequitably endowed, it may be difficult for her to learn to rely on much else"

Your view of humanity makes it seem that all girls are a bunch of pathetic, weak willed idiots that need to seek constant approval from everyone around them.

Wow, you are a complete idiot.

Even more disturbing is that Slate is pandering to fetishists with this piece, under the psuedo-intellectual guise of "the sex issue."

It's not only the buttocks article, but also the articles on whipping and vibrators.

I also think the articles -- or at least the headlines -- on lowering the age of consent and allowing more sex in nursing homes are a bit provocative. The seniors I know who are enjoying sexual partners are not those in nursing homes. As the age-of-consent article finally gets around to addressing, it's really about having various legal definitions of "consent" depending on the age difference between the 2 partners, just as we now have different definitions of rape.

MA

So, you think a person is more capable of consenting if their partner was 3 years older as opposed to 10 years older?

Did you read the article? What you said is only part of what the article said. If a 16-year-old boy has sex with a 13-year-old girl, the article says, he should not be penalized as much as a 40-year-old man who has sex with a 13-year-old girl.

MaryAnn, the 16 year old boy is tried as a juv and goes through a far less penalty.

So thats a straw man argument.