First blog post
Victoria Paradise
Shortcomings of the Body
Girls, boys, men, and women almost always have an idea of what the ideal female should look like, especially what her body should look like. This notion is due to the images we have been fed all of our lives–the only women represented in the media (esp. the fashion industry) in a positive light are over 5’10” tall and very thin, with a large bust and flattering curves. We see this woman in magazines, on TV, and children’s dolls.
These images have led girls, starting as early as 10 and women up until their senior years, to struggle with their body image and confidence. It is almost impossible to find a woman that is completely happy with the way she looks–it has almost become wrong to love your body for the way it is if you are female. Some of women face smaller issues like poor confidence, while other women are driven to the point of anorexia, bulimia, binge eating, over exercising, and even death.
Many have joined movements to change the way that girls and women see their bodies. There has recently been a body image movement among many women that offer solutions to body image issues. However, many of these movements are focused on individual treatments rather than focused on systemic change. Although the goals of these movements are genuine, they are just not hitting the target.
Countless inspirational websites and YouTube videos offer solutions that women can “try at home” if you will. These summarily, are about learning to love your body, teaching our girls that beauty is not skin deep, ignoring messages in the media, going to a therapist–the list goes on. These messages are sweet, really, but they are missing the mark. It is almost impossible to ignore messages that the media sends us when we are seeing hundreds of these messages per day, and these messages are ingrained in our impressionable minds.
Other movements have begun to address the issue like it should be–as a systemic issue that needs a cultural movement to change. Big fashion brands like Gucci, Yves Saint Lauren, Louis Vuitton, and Christian Dior are joining forces to stop representing models that are too thin and unhealthy to be leading a healthy lifestyle. Some modeling agencies have begun to represent women that are sizes 8-12, also known as the “in-between” models that were rarely, if ever, represented. Barbies body shape is changing to have more realistic proportions (prior to this change, Barbie’s proportions were physiologically impossible). These are all great first steps in the movement toward a cultural change around body image issues, but there is much more work to be done.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__2AayArYfs
______________________________________________________________________________________________
Let’s Challenge Beauty Standards:
Caroline Maddaloni
With the digital age growing day by day, we are all almost too easily connected and influenced by one another. Through digital mediums such as film, television, the internet, and social media platforms, people all over the world take in and absorb what others portray about themselves. This becomes a problem when major game players such as the modeling, fashion, and entertainment industries use exemplar, shockingly beautiful, talented, and extremely thin people to represent the face of these industries and products. This is a serious problem because the rest of the population sees these select few people who appear to be “perfect” and “flawless” and try to live up to that unrealistic standard. There is substantial research that mass media is a potent and pervasive source of influence which results in body dissatisfaction due to portrayal of unrealistic beauty standards the average person tries to achieve. So how can we actively change this corrupt system many of us subconsciously abide to even though it causes great dissatisfaction? We can start by having regular looking people represent these industries.
Audience members are not the only people trying to reach an unrealistic goal. Many models and celebrities struggle and strive for perfection because that is what they believe is expected of them. Let’s take Amy Schumer for example. When Schumer was filming her movie, Trainwreck, that made her highly recognized in Hollywood and amongst audience members, she had a producer tell her, “if you weigh over 140 pounds, you will hurt people’s eyes.1” Schumer took the advice as she was new to the whole business, but became very unhappy with the results. She felt like she wasn’t being authentic to herself and the thin body “wasn’t her”. She gained the weight back and was very happy with how she looked, even though it was not Hollywood’s standards of “thin”. I think we can all learn something from Schumer. Why lose weight because you feel pressure from other people? Schumer sets a great example because she is someone who is not stick thin and still has a very fulfilled and successful career. You don’t need to be a size 0 for people to like you.
Another example of someone in the entertainment industry taking a stand against unrealistic beauty standards is model Charli Howard. Howard was dropped from her modeling agency because she appeared to be out of shape. Let’s keep in mind that Howard is 5’8” and a size 2. Howard was outraged and said, “here’s a big FUCK YOU to my (now ex) model agency… I will no longer allow you to dictate to me what’s wrong with me looks.2” Since being dropped from her model agency, Howard has actively made an effort to bring real change to our corrupt view of what beautiful is. She says since speaking out about this issue, women from all over the world have shared their stories about how they have suffered from eating disorders and how her speaking out has helped them realize that models are people with flaws too. Howard explains that during her modeling days she definitely did some unhealthy things to make her look a certain way and that most models are not as thin as the industry wants them to be. Howard appreciates that people want to buy into fashion and the fantasy surrounding it, but a dream is not limited to one body size, height, or color3. Howard believes change lies in the hands of designers, editors, model agencies, and creative directors. These people create clothing to fit one body size and if they upped the sample size, more women would be able to comfortably fit in the clothing. People like Howard are the key to change because someone in the industry is finally taking the time to address the disgusting truth behind it all. By Howard talking about this issue, it opens the door to having more models and more audience members recognize the problem, find change, and embrace their inner beauty.
A part of the fashion industry has also taken a stand to not funnel into the stereotypical marketing and advertising methods other companies use to sell products. And by that I mean using skinny, beautiful, tall white women. The clothing company aerie launched their ‘Aerie Real Campaign’ in 2014 in efforts to break the high beauty standards that our entertainment, fashion, modeling industries set. The purpose of this campaign is to have your average everyday looking girl as the face of Aerie to show customers that is what normal people look like. Aerie uses young girls of all body and skin types and they do not touch up or Photoshop the images whatsoever. Aerie’s demographic ranges from 15-21 (high school and college students) and research shows that young women’s sense of body confidence is often influenced by images of female beauty in the media4. Aerie sets a great example for other clothing companies because when girls try on clothes, they aim for the article of clothing to look like how it looked on the model. But news flash, almost all of us do not have the type of body a model has, so by having normal looking girls showcase the clothing, customers will feel more confident in their clothing.
There are so many ways to change these corrupt powerhouse industries, but the change lies within all of us. We must resist these unrealistic standards. Although few people and companies have done things to make a difference, we are not where we need to be. We need young audience members to understand that what they see is not real and we need the heads of the industries to revaluate who they have representing them.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXEY92V3z44