Negative body image of women is a very hot topic these days! The female body image, and what a person should or could look like in marketing and advertising in particular, is a controversial issue. It is noticeable that the body size of women, as portrayed in mass media, has been steadily getting smaller. Marketers will do anything that they can to sell a product and make profit. However, the collage shown below does not portray what a normal body image should be. You do not need to be #flawless, no one is perfect. You do not need to have a thigh gap, you do not need to have Kylie Jenner’s lips, and you do not need to be resemble a Barbie doll to be beautiful. Everyone is beautiful in their own way. In fact, there are certainly some very direct messages associated with body weight in the media; celebrities, fashion models and show hosts are often seen as role models, especially by teenagers. They appear to demonstrate what it is to be successful and popular. Their body weight, appearance and beauty are often associated with their popularity and wealth.
Beauty sells, and this is somewhat of a problem when the media produce unattainable images for women. In fact, photos in magazines are photoshopped all the time. One of the main strategies used to reinforce and normalize a distorted idea of “average,” which sparks body anxiety when we do not “measure up”, is media’s representation of women as being extremely thin (meaning much thinner than the actual population or what is physically possible for the vast majority of women). This is done by consistent use of models and actresses that are extremely young and thin and by making the models and actresses fit their idea of thinness and beauty through digital manipulation. In the collage I constructed below, I included Barbie, a well-known brand of doll representing a slim, shapely young woman, especially one with blond hair, blue eyes, and fair skin. You might be wondering about the connection between Barbie and body image. Well, the average American girl between the ages of three to 11 owns ten Barbie dolls, according to “Barbie” by Sara Pendergast. If Barbie was a real woman, she would be 5’6” and weigh 120 pounds. Her body fat percentage would be so low that she would not be able to menstruate. Her measurements would be 38-18-34. The average woman’s measurements, on the other hand, are about 41-34-43. In the book “Ken and Barbie at Life Size,” author Kevin Norton states that only about one in 100,000 women actually match the Barbie body image. The average American girl grows up surrounded by the Barbie body image. The effects of Barbie and body image run deeper than you might imagine. All in all, what was perceived to be media’s ideal body image simply is not real.
Sources Used:
Beauty sells, and this is somewhat of a problem when the media produce unattainable images for women. In fact, photos in magazines are photoshopped all the time. One of the main strategies used to reinforce and normalize a distorted idea of “average,” which sparks body anxiety when we do not “measure up”, is media’s representation of women as being extremely thin (meaning much thinner than the actual population or what is physically possible for the vast majority of women). This is done by consistent use of models and actresses that are extremely young and thin and by making the models and actresses fit their idea of thinness and beauty through digital manipulation. In the collage I constructed below, I included Barbie, a well-known brand of doll representing a slim, shapely young woman, especially one with blond hair, blue eyes, and fair skin. You might be wondering about the connection between Barbie and body image. Well, the average American girl between the ages of three to 11 owns ten Barbie dolls, according to “Barbie” by Sara Pendergast. If Barbie was a real woman, she would be 5’6” and weigh 120 pounds. Her body fat percentage would be so low that she would not be able to menstruate. Her measurements would be 38-18-34. The average woman’s measurements, on the other hand, are about 41-34-43. In the book “Ken and Barbie at Life Size,” author Kevin Norton states that only about one in 100,000 women actually match the Barbie body image. The average American girl grows up surrounded by the Barbie body image. The effects of Barbie and body image run deeper than you might imagine. All in all, what was perceived to be media’s ideal body image simply is not real.
Sources Used:
- http://www.mirror-mirror.org/body-image-of-women.htm
- http://www.mirror-mirror.org/barbie-and-body-image.htm
- http://www.webmd.com/mental-health/eating-disorders/understanding-eating-disorders
- http://www.beautyredefined.net/photoshop-phoniness-hall-of-shame/
Basically, the message I want my audience to understand and remember is that everyone is beautiful in their own way. Do not lose yourself and become consumed over how you look based on how society wants you to look because you are a LION! 🐯