I have to rant for a minute here. I was talking with a group of people recently about women in media giving the rest of the country's female population poor self- image. Now I get the feeling I'm on the opposite side of most of this country's views on the subject but I have no problem seeing skinny women who look like what's considered beautiful in my magazines and billboards and t.v. etc.
People always want to say it's not a realistic image. What?! Of course it's realistic. People who are willing to work at it achieve it. It's not achieved by most women, but it's not important to the lives of most women. Similar to doctorate degrees. Some women will say "it's impossible to get a doctorate, the only women who get doctorates are women who do nothing but study, have no family demands, and have been privileged enough to be able to afford it." It's true that some less educated working mothers would find it hard to achieve, and some with certain learning disabilities may find it down right impossible but does that mean it's not achievable and therefore should not be seen or celebrated or that it's rare and takes a lot of work? Most women don't need model bodies, they're nurses and teachers and it's not important, similarly most women do not need doctorates they’re middle management and retail workers. So do we call for the end of doctorate holding women portrayed in the media? No.
Models look the way they do because they market their bodies. That is their livelihood. A model must be able to say I can make those clothes attractive to customers, I can attract purchases by showcasing how great the product can look. I'm an attractive canvass your product is the paint. You don't put beautiful intricate brushstrokes and devote your life and career to a masterpiece to put it on an unattractive canvas, Who buys paintings with holes, or tears, or rough edges etc.? Similarly who buys a bathing suit displayed on an unattractive model. It’s not necessarily fair but really, you can’t see yourself wearing the product because of the frame it was hung on, and if you can’t see yourself in it, you won’t buy it.
But some say that what is considered attractive today is not. And I say that it may not be attractive to you but it may be to most people. Are you even the demographic the advertiser is trying to reach? Most people like to look at the slender, tanned, full breasted models permeating the media, I know this because I can see the direct data. Products boasting “attractive” spokes persons sell. If a consumer driven market does not like the advertising they won't buy the product, thus the advertisers must change the outside image or lose profits.
The easiest way to see the outcome is to look at the face of advertising through US history. We've seen pleasantly plump ladies with extremely pale skin since early on a robust figure and little sun exposure was a sign of wealth and beauty. One who lived "with the beautiful people" had slaves or servants to work outside and cooks to feed them generously. We've seen the smiling slim waisted homemaker, who epitomized what was considered femininity. We've seen the bucksome pin ups and voluptuous starlets promoting anything to everything. Marilyn Monroe (the height of sexy beauty) was a size 14. We today see the slender, tanned international model, since emphasis on thinness with fitness as well as outdoor activities and globe trotting are considered desirable. They are, signs of wealth and happiness (however true you believe that to be). As the country’s tastes in beauty shift so do the models who help advertise. I just hate that everyone is so angry at the models. If there were reason for anger which I don't think there is it should be directed at the marketing machine who you believe isn't listening to your dollars (which just wouldn't happen).
People say “well most women don't look like that so it doesn't represent everyone”. It's not supposed to. The modeling industry's purpose is not to accurately display the current shapes of the American body. It's to sell the current American body a product, clothes, shoes, makeup, houses, etc. I do not complain that the NBA is wrong for not having players who are bad at basketball. I am poor at basketball and so is most of America but you would never say to the sports industry that they do not accurately display US sports abilities. They are not there for that, They are there to sell game tickets no one buys a ticket for a team who can't play.
Besides it being the consumer/industry not necessarily the models idea of beauty, and modeling not being a US mirror but a sales component, the women who model work very hard at it, and deserve respect for that. It's different when your work/profession has nothing to do with your personal body. A surgeon can go home relax and do whatever they want, eat whatever they want, a model goes home and has to workout, every time they eat breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks they know their career and livelihood is what they are putting in their mouths. Like trainers, no one says "for shame" to personal trainers for being what's considered by most Americans to be "fit". People admire the work and dedication it takes.
My last point is this, if seeing images of women who are different than most causes serious self crisis there is something fundamentally wrong in the viewer. If you are a complete, fully actualized person, knowing that your face and body may not be what sells clothes and creams in the current US market should not be a self destructive voice. Those who love who and what they are, don't look at a picture of a woman considered beautiful and doubt their own beauty. Women come in all shapes, colors, sizes, etc. Seeing the media coverage of one body type does not negate the others. If that were so, I as a 6' tall, natural hair textured, black woman I would just be devastated. Where are the women who look like me? I know my image wouldn't sell products to general America, I'm not white or slender nosed, I don't have European hair, or a small shoe size, but I know my beauty and no picture changes that. Especially one I know is trying to sell me something :) Basically ads shouldn't be changing your world-view or self-image and if they do, you should work on you and perhaps only look at Sears, or J.C. Penney, etc. catalogs. They usually have advertising that reflects who really shops there, and the general American public.
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