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WHAT’S SEXY? We ask People from Different Cultures

admin — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 13:38:46 +0000

From head to toe, cultures around the globe
garner diverse perspectives on what it is to be sexy.

By Maria Tettamanti
Photography by Crawford Morgan

When Victoria’s Secret launched its “What is Sexy?” print and television campaigns, the ad designers didn’t leave much to the imagination. The lingerie powerhouse’s definition of desire was depicted through saucy snapshots of supermodel Gisele Bündchen in dental-floss-like lingerie while her unnaturally bountiful bosom runneth over lace-trimmed cups. The campaign undeniably defined America’s answer to sexy and that was:

Skin and bones + boobs to boot = sexy

Argh. The ads made me want to run to the nearest plastic surgeon and ask for a simultaneous boob job and tummy tuck. I’m not kidding. Being a reasonable woman, I didn’t do so, but I have met an American gal or two – sigh – who have fallen for this What is Sexy? stereotype.

Funny but true, this pea-brain Super Bowl halftime commercial actually stimulated my mind and begged the question: “On a global scale, what is sexy?” So I forged onward and asked folks of every creed and color the aforementioned question. Of course their answers were personal opinions and generalizations, and not scientifically proven facts, but they were nonetheless funny, frank, stimulating and sometimes heartwarming insights. Read on and you’ll see just what I mean.

“In order to exist, you must be thin. Otherwise, you are wallpaper.”

Blame Barbie, blame Hollywood, blame Brazil – the majority of the American men and women I encountered sided with my aforementioned theory that American men like huge tits, small waists and legs that go on for hours.” Many women seem to agree with this notion. Says one American woman, “Open up any publication or watch any TV show – the models and actresses are all skin and bones. It’s no wonder I find myself yoyo dieting and entertaining the thought of going under the knife.”

“Bling it on”

To add on to the superficiality quotient, many of my female U.S. specimens admitted to being attracted to – surprise, surprise – a gentleman by the name of Benjamin Franklin. “I want a man who can bring home the bacon – that’s sexy. I don’t want to have to pick up the dinner tab,” says one woman. Another emale source adds, “Ambition makes me so horny.” I like to call this gold-digging dogma as the cult of “Bling Believers.” After digging up a few bling believers, it’s evident that many American women are attracted to men with thick wallets and bank accounts surpassing seven digits.

“Women are valued for how they look, rather than for who they are.”

So while my American guinea pigs proved to be quite superficial, they were not alone in this shallow train of thought. In Argentina, for example, one male source says, “Argentina is known for its beautiful people. Our women are super skinny and sexy.” Personally, I couldn’t agree more. On a recent trip to the Paris of South America, I was shocked by just how “pin thin” every woman there is compared to the rest of the well-fed world. To be honest, I’m 5′9″ and 135 ounds, and I truly felt like a wildebeest among Buenos Aires’ boney babes. So it didn’t surprise me when I researched the fact that in Argentina, nearly 12 ercent of the adult female population suffers from anorexia and bulimia. That’s an estimated three times greater than in the U.S.”Women in Argentina are very stressed out over their appearance and their bodies,” says Juan Luis Linares, a psychiatrist in Albuquerque, New Mexico. “Our society is characterized by a certain machismo in which women are valued for how they look, rather than for who they are, so women are determined, at all cost, to be skinny, because that is what is currently perceived as beautiful.”

“I like big butts and I cannot lie.”

Well, it’s refreshing to know that not everyone believes bare bones are beautiful. In fact, the verdict is in: almost every African-American and Cuban I queried admitted to the sexual prowess of a “booty-licious” bottom. Think J. Lo or picture Beyonce jiggling her moneymaker. The booty has been immortalized through these entertainers. Even songs (like Sir Mix-A-Lot’s “Baby Got Back”) and poems have been dedicated to the glorious gluteus maximus and there’s a reason: some folks find big butts beautiful. One African- American source says it best: “Full, voluptuous bottoms are very much appreciated.” Another source states, “My African-American culture is all about thickness. Thickness being the lovely roundedness of breasts, hips, butts and thighs.” She adds, “I think both black men and women appreciate curves.” My Cuban informant says, “Sexy in my culture means curves, baby – in all the right places.”

“It takes a pretty face and grace.”

I was pleasantly surprised – because my Indian interviewees mentioned neither breasts nor buttocks. One woman from Punjab, India says, “For women in our culture, it’s typically sexy for them to have long black hair, big brown eyes, pink lips, a slender frame, and a complexion of the fairer side. These sexy standards are by all means changing in modern times, but typically this is what is portrayed in films and desired by some men who are looking for marriage partners.” As for the opposite sex, she adds, “For men, the standards are pretty much the same except sexiness is also defined by being taller and more muscular. It’s also sexy if they have a bubbly, outgoing personality, since Punjabis are definitely talkative, energetic people. Oh, and if you can dance bhangra or giddha well, then you’re definitely hot stuff!” Refreshing, right? Even more fascinating, one Indian source says, “Men appeal to the neck and throat of women – a woman’s grace, and to a certain extent, sex appeal is all in her throat area. Slender, longer necks and throats are more graceful.”

“The whiter, the better.”

I found the replies of my Honduran and Mexican interviewees most intriguing, for what they found provocative was rather peculiar. Their answers coincided with the notion that looking “white/American” (picture highlighted tresses and light skin) is deemed desirable. A Honduran source says, “Blonde and fair-skinned women garner a lot of attention, as there are not too many of them. This fascination fuels the thriving beauty salon business, as all women regularly lighten their hair.” It’s apparent that some South Americans shun their sun-kissed skin, dark manes and extrinsic appeal – and would rather channel the stereotypical “American” – blonde and fair. My Mexican male source puts it best: “I like gringas – light skin, light eyes, light hair. They are rare here in Mexico.” Proof of this proposal is evident in Latin American beauty pageants. Just take a gander at their contestants – they are generally very “white” looking and nothing like the “norm.” I truly find it ironic how we Americans revere the exoticness of the South American people and viceversa.

“Meet me at the beauty parlor.”

As a loyal fan of tri-monthly manicures and pedicures and constant trips to the hair salon, I was in total accordance with my Lebanese interviewees. A Lebanese source says, “I can assure you that Lebanese men love well-groomed ladies – Lebanese ladies get their hair done once a week. Women will not walk out of the house without their best clothes on, hair done, nails manicured and makeup on.”

“I dig my people.”

They say that “Bird’s of a feather, flock together,” and this proverb strongly pertains to my Jewish informants. Each one admitted to the belief that what they find appealing are people of their same faith. “I really find Jewish men sexy,” says one respondent. “Religion is very important to my family, so I would never date outside my Jewish roots. With that said, being Jewish is desirable.”

“Foot loose and fancy free.”

One Chinese source alluded to the fierceness of the foot, which was no surprise as foot binding (the act of crippling feet to stop growth and to appear “lily footed”) has China-based roots. Foot binding is intended to make a woman more desirable, increase her “marriageability” and increase her social status. My Chinese interviewee says, “Women’s feet are sexy, but feet are really just another part of the human body, one with a tremendous number of very sensitive nerve endings. Incorporating foot play into lovemaking can foster intimacy and trust.” Unfortunately, in our American culture, feet have become taboo – they symbolize dirtiness, animalism, ugliness and something to keep invisible.

From head to toe, cultures around the globe garner diverse perspectives on what it is to be sexy. But at the end of the day, this question can be answered with the old saying, “Different strokes, for different folks.” I like to think my Australian source classifies sexiness the best. He says, “I’ve been married for 20 years. And what I find sexy is her smile. No matter how old we grow, her smile stays the same, and that is sexy.”

http://www.visavismag.com/content/view/43/76/

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Crypt Above Marilyn Monroe’s Tomb Fetches $4.6 Million Bid On eBay

admin — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 09:59:13 +0000

The online bidding for the crypt above Marilyn Monroe’s tomb at the Pierce Brothers Westwood Village Memorial Park cemetery reached $4.6 million on Monday.

The crypt belongs to the husband of 80-year-old Elsie Poncher, who decided to transfer the remains to a nearby plot and sell the vault on eBay to generate $1.6 million as mortgage payment for her Beverly Hills home.

Poncher said paying the mortgage will free her kids from any financial obligation to the property.

The bidding started on Aug. 14 at $500,000.

The iconic sexy actress took her own life by drug overdose in 1962. She was 36. Poncher’s husband died at age 80, about 23 years ago and his body was placed on his tomb facing down as if looking at the blonde bombshell.

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Porn Banned in Ukraine

admin — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 09:34:53 +0000

Porn Banned in Ukraine, Unless Used for Medicinal Purposes

Possession of pornography is now a criminal offense in Ukraine, unless it is kept for medicinal purposes. Punishment can mean up to three years of imprisonment. Human activists and the art community protest.

So will it require a prescription

KIEV, Ukraine — Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko signed a law into effect yesterday making possession of pornography a criminal offense.

According to the Ukrainian Ministry of Justice, pornography may only be kept “for medical purposes.” Punishment for possession will include fines and up to three years of imprisonment.

…According to reports, the only working definition, featured in 2003 legislation, is based on personal judgment: “Pornography is vulgar, candid, cynical, obscene depiction of sexual acts, pursuing no other goal, the explicit demonstration of genitals, unethical elements of the sexual act, sexual perversions, realistic sketches that do not meet moral criteria and offend honor and dignity of the human by inciting low instincts.”

A new law which makes makes possession of pornography, except for medical purposes, a criminal offence in Ukraine, has raised the concerns of people who say it is an intrusion into people’s private lives.

Human rights activists, lawyers and the Ukrainian artistic community are among those who have protested the law’s signing.

A large child pornography bust occured in 2004, where 1500 girls worked for little wage, and were as young as eight years old.

The 2004 Ukrainian child pornography raids occurred in July 2004, when police in Ukraine raided a child pornography ring operating in the cities of Kiev, Kharkiv, and Simferopol. The ring had operated since 2001, and used a modeling agency as a front. Approximately 1,500 girls aged from eight to sixteen were said to have been to the agency. Pornographic and erotic materials produced by the agency were distributed over the internet to the United States and Canada.

Source: en.wikipedia.org

Meanwhile prostitution flourishes, though also illegal.

Prostitution in Ukraine is illegal but widespread and largely ignored by the government. Sex tourism rose as the country attracted greater numbers of foreign tourists. Laws criminalizing organized prostitution and penalties for human trafficking have had little effect because many convicted traffickers often do not end up serving prison time.

Source: en.wikipedia.org

More than 100,000 Ukrainian women, many of them minors, have been trapped and enslaved as prostitutes in the West. (International Organization for Migration, Piotr Bazylko “Poland, Ukraine to fight sex slave industry” Reuters, 16 July 1998)

Source: uri.edu

Present Prime Minister of Ukraine is Yulia Volodymyrivna Tymoshenko, the first female prime minister in that country, and a candidate for presidential elections in 2010.

YuliaVolodymyrivna Tymoshenko is a current Prime Minister of Ukraine….Before becoming Ukraine’s first female Prime Minister, Tymoshenko was one of the key leaders of the Orange Revolution.

Prior to her political career, Yulia Tymoshenko was a successful but controversial businesswoman in the gas industry, which made her wealthy. Tymoshenko first became Prime Minister in 2005 between January 24 and September 8. She was elected again as PM on December 18, 2007.

Tymoshenko is a candidate in the presidential elections in 2010.

Source: en.wikipedia.org

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College Students Get More Drunk When Drinks Are Cheap

admin — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 07:05:51 +0000

Cheap drinks at college bars lead to more intoxicated students and more health and safety problems, new research shows.

It’s not news that college students drink and the results can be injury
, violence and even death. But this study focused on the impact of drink discounts at college bars and found that cheap drinks come with a high cost.

The results will be published in the November print issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research and are available online in advance of publication.

“It may seem intuitive that cheaper alcohol can lead to higher intoxication levels and related consequences—such as fighting, drunk driving, sexual victimization, injury, even death—especially among the vulnerable college student population,” said Ryan J. O’Mara, a graduate research fellow at the University of Florida and corresponding author for the study, in a news release from the university.

“Nonetheless, ‘drink specials’ and other alcohol discounts and promotions remain a common feature of college bars in campus communities in the United States. This study’s results challenge assertions sometimes made by the management of these establishments that drink discounts are innocuous marketing practices intended only to attract customers to better bargains than those provided elsewhere,” O’Mara added.

In the study, the researchers collected data on 495 men and 309 women who had just left bars near a large university campus in the southeastern United States. The data was gathered on four consecutive nights during April 2008 at seven different bars. The participants provided an anonymous interview, survey information, breath alcohol concentration (BrAC) readings, and information on how much alcohol they consumed and how much they spent per unit of alcohol.

The study authors found that for each $1.40 increase in the average price paid for a standard drink, the study participant was 30 percent less likely to leave the bar with a BrAC above 0.08. In other words, higher drink prices were associated with a decreased risk of patrons being inebriated when leaving the bar, the researchers concluded.

More information

Learn more about college student drinking from the U.S. National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.

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Drunk College Girls

admin — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 06:57:08 +0000

Getting drunk college girls to do outlandish things may seem like a racy joke, but for the girl going through the experience it’s not a joke at all. College planning should always involve safety considerations as well.

Safety and Drunk College Girls

The image of drinking, parties, fraternities and sororities are all intertwined with the image of college life and parties on campus. Students, girls in particular, who are heading to college campuses

for the first time may believe that nothing bad will happen to them. Without some precautions, safety tips and strong willpower, however, it can happen to anyone.

Statistics are Staggering

The statistics related to drunk college girls and students are staggering. According to the National Advisory Council on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism:

70,000 college students are victimized by alcohol-related sexual assaults or date rapes every year
100,000 college students are reportedly too intoxicated to remember consenting or dissenting for sexual intercourse
25% of college students will suffer consequences, either legal or academic, directly related to their alcohol consumption

Do you attend a party college?

Safety First

Safety is the first concern for any student going to college whether they live at home with their parents, in on campus housing or an off campus apartment. Federal law prohibits the sale or consumption of alcohol by minors under the age of 21, although college students range in age from 18 to 22 and in some cases, much older. Girls attending college and seeking to avoid the “drunk college girls” image are advised:

Do not drink.
Do not attend parties where drinking is mandatory.
Always travel with a friend or two. Make plans to stick together.
Do not drink anything you have not seen poured yourself. Avoid drinking from anyone else’s cup.
If alcohol consumption is planned, make arrangements for a ride or safety escort to pick you up from the party at a designated time.
Appoint a sober monitor, one or more friends who will not consume alcoholic beverages, but will look out for you.
Avoid situations of social pressure, particularly sorority or fraternity pledging that requires unsafe or illegal behavior.
Pre-program your cell phone with designated HELP numbers that you can easily find while inebriated as well as an I.C.E. (in case of emergency) number that emergency personnel can find easily to contact.

Pressure and Drunk College Girls

Social pressure is enormous on young women to comply with body image, social standing and expectation. Social pressure from peers to drink is a powerful inducement to overcome safer behavior models, but it’s important to recognize that a person who wants another person to drink to ‘prove’ themselves is neither a friend nor someone who’s opinion should matter.

Bullying behavior comes in many different shapes and sizes. College students, particularly girls, need to recognize that bullies seek to denigrate and degrade. They force themselves on others with their obnoxious behavior and demands. Two reasonable questions to ask are “Do I want to do this?” and “Do I have to do this?” If the answer to the first question is “no” and the second question is “yes”, then that is your cue to leave whether you came with your significant other or not.

As difficult as it can be to stand up to others when the social situation is populated by other drunk college girls and guys, it’s equally important to be able to look yourself in the eye. If you do not want to do something, you have the power to say “no” and to walk away. Removing yourself from that situation is the smartest choice.

Follow the safety advice above and never attend a party alone and always appoint a sober monitor. Make a plan for someone to pick you up and don’t take a drink of anything you have not seen prepared. Unfortunately, there are people in the world that will take advantage of anyone having a good time. The last thing you want to be is a drunk college girl joke or statistic.

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Geek replaces lost finger with USB drive

admin — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 06:48:56 +0000

A Finnish computer programmer who lost a finger in a motorcycle accident had it replaced with a USB drive.

Jerry Jalava built a special prosthetic finger which contains computer storage for photos, movies and other useful files.

It looks like a normal finger but he can peel it back from the ‘nail’ and plug it into the USB slot on his computer, reports the Daily Telegraph.

The software developer, from Helsinki, lost his finger last summer after crashing his one week old Ducati Monster 696 motorbike.

He was rushed to Helsinki Hospital where he was examined by a hand surgeon who said they were unable to save it and amputated half of the finger.

When Jerry told doctors what he did for a living they joked he should have a USB ‘finger drive’ but that was good enough for him, and he set about making one.

He embedded a USB key in a traditional prosthetic finger giving him the world’s only two gigabyte finger.

The finger is not permanently attached to his hand meaning it can be removed when plugged into a computer.

“It is not attached permanently in to my body, it is a removable prosthetic which has a USB memorystick inside it,” said Jerry.

“When I’m using the USB, I just leave my finger inside the slot and pick it up after I’m ready.”

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