If my eyes don't deceive me there's something going wrong

It seems it's not just insecure women who endure chronically bruised self-esteem when faced by the endless barrage of images of hot, perfect, sexy models, the average schlub does too. Of course, the self-loathing comes about for different reasons, women beat themselves up for not being able to live up to the ideal to attract any man; the schlubs get upset because the feel they'll have to settle for a normal woman

The researchers say that by looking at idealized, sexualized women, guys feel less-than because they start thinking they need to measure up on the attractiveness scale to snag such a mate.

"Men make the inference that in order to be sexual and romantic with women of the similar caliber they see in Maxim magazine, they also need to be attractive," said lead researcher Jennifer Aubrey of the Department of Communications at the University of Missouri, Columbia. [LiveScience]

In a similar study, the male ego was not deflated when exposed to perfect nubile hotties posed with average looking boyfriend models. Hmmm, in the movies, the schlub ends up with the hot girl and the "average" girl? Well she either transforms like a butterfly or pretty much remains the best friend. There is no converse to the Joe Jackson song.

Tags: sexism media

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