Sex sells

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Sex sells
Bucharest (Romania), July 6th 2014	printable version

Bulgaria is a macho country. Here, the division of roles between men and women is often still very traditional. The guy is tough and is the breadwinner in the house, while the wife has to please the man and to take care of the children. From a Western point of view, this is a division of roles that does frown the eyebrows of many western people. Maybe not of all Western men, but certainly that of feminist-minded woman. But not in Bulgaria. Here they seem to accept the traditional division of the roles between the sexes. It is a society where it feels that these roles are natural and that they are not looking for a more emancipated role for women. For the average Bulgarian man the image of the ideal woman can be described in one word: sex kitten. He is not interested in a woman that reads the newspaper, interferes with his 'business', and certainly not in a woman who has her own opinion. No, the ideal woman is a trophy of the man and is solely judged on physical beauty. In a TV documentary, we heard how a successful Bulgarian 'business man' described his ideal woman: "She must look like a potential porn star and she must also be willing to accept other female beauties to share the bed with us." Yes, 'with us', is what he literally said, referring to the fact that real Bulgarian men can’t be satisfied with only one woman.

An advertisement of vodka

You would expect that the average Bulgarian woman bursts out laughing when she hears this kind of men, ‘philosophy’ on the role of the woman. But this is not true. Many Bulgarian women find a "shady business man" not that repulsive. To the contrary, seedy business men have lots of money and status, are tough, have a Mercedes with tinted windows and a credit card that is on the disposal of this trophy. And that are the ideal ingredients of a dream life in a society where women often play the second fiddle. The whole Bulgarian society is full of tough men and sexy women. Of course, not everyone is equally tough and beautiful, but everyone tries to find the ideal partner within its own league. The advertisement business in Bulgaria is a striking example of the division of roles between men and women. While companies in the West are trying to advertise their products by emphasizing the quality and the unique characteristics of the product, this is completely different in Bulgaria. In Bulgaria you just picture the product with a tough guy or sexy looking woman; success guaranteed!

Sexy advertisements are everywhere in Bulgaria