Gender

[scarreddaisy]

from the research that I have done on csp (for my own personal knowledge) this is a disorder that primarily effects woman... I believe we have had only 3 or 4 males on this site that I know of that were pickers...? Maybe it has to do with hormone levels... ? Too much/ too little estrogen... ?

[nix]

Or societal influence? I kinda figured it would mostly be women.

[watercracker]

Seriously, does anyone else think advertising, and media has affected our behaviors? I'm not trying to victimize myself, but I think it is a very important point to look at. Music videos, magazine ads, commercials...you can't escape women being portrayed as sex symbols.

[nix]

Oh my god, yes! Have you ever looked at an advertisement for make-up or anything really? The women pictured don't even have pores!

[tryingreallyhard]

Check out the link below for a look at what the 'real' photos look like versus the retouched photos that we see in so many ads.

This is just one example. I saw another magazine while I was in line at the grocery store the other day that showed celebrities (women, of course) without makeup. They look just like you and me!! Uneven skin tones, blemishes, splotches, etc.

users.bigpond.net.au/richardsharah/Retouching_1/retouching_1.html

Hey, if we all had make-up artists to attend to us we could all be famously beautiful too. But the majority of us don't, so we have to deal with it and not let those unreatlistic images get us down.

[tryingreallyhard]

Here's another shockingly retouched photo example.
Should make us all feel a lot better about ourselves.
Just mouse over the photo to see the original image!

homepage.mac.com/gapodaca/digital/bikini/

[FarmGirl]

Trying, those pictures are a RIOT! The chick in the bikini is still totally beautiful and I wouldn't find myself complaining if she swapped bods me me

I think the funniest thing is how they completely re-did her belly button!

The makup industry totally feeds off our insecurities. I swear some of them puree feces and package it into pretty jars.

As long as we continue to watch TV, purchase magazines, let guys in suits in la la land continue to tell us what they believe is beautiful, and we continue to be mindless sheep in general, we will always have these insecurities. I was watching NBC nightly news the other night and at each commercial break, 3 out of 4 commercials were for some "pill" and the other was for skin cream! WTF!

It's all quite silly when you stand back from it all. We only live for blink as far as the universe is concerned and to think we waste it on vanity and worries about what other tards think.

Time to break away from the herd!

[watercracker]

Who here has family members with this disorder? My Mother, My Grandmother and my Great-grandmother all picked. Who knows how far back it really goes.

[nix]

my sister and my mother both do it, but they know when to stop before it causes scarring. In fact, my sister used to do it to me when I was a little girl and that's what got me started.

[Secret]

My dad tottally encouraged me to pop my zits, but he also told me that when I see clear white fluid come out I need to stop, but what he didn't know was that I had csp in my blood.

[marker]

i agree that the media has a lot to do with our obsession with perfect skin. but we all know whats real and whats fake..i don't think we need to be reassured that photos are touched up, etc. --only for entertainment value, which feeds our obsession with skin more. i mean, we all know a few people with great skin..in fact, the majority of ppl have better looking skin than us probably, since they don't pick...and they're bombarded with the same images of perfect skin. i just think that ur either a picker or ur not. and the media just reflects what the people want to see.

[Carree]

My father used to pick when he was younger but somehow he stopped, I never even knew about his picking until recently....