Does anyone else find this 'photo essay' stupid and sexist?

[Beaverhausen]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/10/the-women-of-fifth-avenue-by-leland-bobbe-photos_n_3255413.html?1368221453&ncid=edlinkusaolp00000009#slide=more296795

I find so much wrong with this. Why pick on these women? Why take bad pictures and post them, trying to make some stupid point.

I just don't get it.

[Sheldon Cooper]

1. Yep.

How dare they not be attractive? They can't even justify their crime of being unfuckable because of poverty - they're rich enough to at least try to turn me on.

It's a disgusting photo shoot, indeed.

[NYC_SKP]

2. Stupid, sort of. Sexist, as much as any other fashion photo essay.

My guess is that it's a social commentary on the upper upper class older generation female denizens of Fifth Avenue (and Upper East Side).

I don't think the pictures are bad, or unflattering, or intended to be.

Quite the contrary; the women are well-dressed and well-coiffed, great makeup and accessories.

If anything, some seem to be trying to look younger than their years, but we are only human.

[enlightenment]

3. Because the latest hot trend is

to make fun of rich people. Or just people who look rich. Especially if they are old and imperfect. It's easier to paint with a very wide brush, judging people on their appearance, their wealth, and their shopping habits. It's harder to actually determine the character of individuals. That takes time - and who has that? If you hesitate, you'll find that the trend-boat you were trying to board has sailed and a new one has docked . . .

[Warren DeMontague]

4. I agree with you.

Any sociopolitical point that could be made is lost in the haze of "why are you hassling these random people". I think the idea is that you're supposed to feel automatic contempt for them, or something, which is pretty lame in and of itself.

You could just as easily do "fat, drunk, and sunburned dudes of NASCAR", too.

[Skittles]

5. he is definitely judging

I doubt he would like someone doing the same regarding "his type"

[shraby]

6. Not one looks like they enjoy their life.

[lunasun]

13. I was thinking "so it is true money may not buy happiness!!"

[femmocrat]

7. I think he intentionally photographed them in unflattering light

because he regards them with disdain.

[Gravitycollapse]

8. The male gaze. Huffington Post is garbage. This merely reinforces that point.

[enough]

9. Perhaps equal parts agism and sexism. Of course these two things are linked.

I think though that the main point of these photos is: "Look how disgustingly OLD these faces are. Look how they're still trying to make themselves up, dress themselves up. How deluded these women are!"

It's almost as if older women should shut themselves up, wall themselves in, or at least wear the veil. But by all means DON'T go out in the street where the rest of us will have to look upon you."

I'm as old as many of these women, and have taken a different path from them. My first reaction to these photos was to ridicule them for trying to "look young" (which never works) or look artificial. That hasn't been my preference for myself. But I do believe we all have the right to go out looking any way we want. And if you despise old age, you will have a very easy time filling up slide shows with photos making old women (and old men) look pathetic. If this is what a photographer wants to do with his or her life, well ........

[pacalo]

10. Not after reading the reason behind the theme.

The women seem pathetic to me; their joy is in how much sparkly & lavish clothes they can acquire. In my world, that ostentatiousness seems ridiculous & embarrassing. As the commentary described, they "seem to exist in their own bubble of leisure, insulated from the rest of us (in the real world)."

The point is, in today's world, they don't "blend" in with the majority.

This says "out of touch":

[Jasana]

11. I'm not sure it's sexist...

These appear to be photos of real older women in real light just taken randomly.

I don't really get it either.

[baldguy]

12. In Bobbé's own words:

per your link:

Fifth Avenue, between 50th street and 60th street; home of Trump Tower, Gucci, Bergdorf Goodman, Saks Fifth Avenue, Prada, Luis Vuitton and more; a playground for the rich, ladies who shop and lunch. Behind their jewelry and their sunglasses these women “of a certain age” seem to exist in their own bubble of leisure while the hustle and bustle of working New Yorkers and tourists swirl by. With these images my intention is to capture these woman seemingly in their own wealthy world, insulated from the rest of us.

[Honeycombe8]

14. Yes, it is sexist and shows a dislike of women generally. There's "celeb women w/o makeup,"

"bad surgery" photos, "not aging well" photos, awful shots in swimwear photos. There are some men in these photo mantages, but most are women, and the focus is usually older women.

But when it's famous people, well, they are celebrities, so they put themselves out there (think Kardashian). But those that are of non-celebrities is not cool. Would YOU want to be photographed in public then put on the internet in unflattering photos, as an example of how BAD you look? If the answer is no, that's the answer.

It's unkind and sexist and most are ageist (is that a word?).