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Tuesday, February 28, 2017
Models Are Still Pressured To Be Ultra-Thin, Survey Says
NPR: A majority of models say they're threatened with job loss if they don't shed pounds. Researchers worry this contributes to poor body image and might increase eating disorders among teenage girls.
From a young age, I have been obsessed with reality shows that are quite honestly crypt shaming of body images for girls. Shows like Project Runway and America's Next Top Model try hard to bring in models of all sizes and backgrounds, and yet it is obvious that body image and weight shamming are still huge issues in the media industry today, especially in modeling. I think it is so easy today to be disillusioned by the idea of humans progressing and becoming kinder more accepting people. But, it is facades such as these that blind us to the true threats still lying beneath. Yes, Barbies now come in all shapes, colors and sizes, but is this change enough to outweigh generation upon generation of shaming and stereotyping alone. No. Our society has weaved a lie that as women we must be thin and the "world's" version of beautiful. To untangle this lie it will take more than a new toy or even a few add campaigns. Total change will result when as a community of human beings we can look at modeling, entertainment, toys and society as a whole and say "We are all beautiful. This. Will. Stop."
I mean yeah well obviously. Sadly, I do not think this is something that is going to change any time soon. We can make as many steps as we want in trying to be more inclusive of all different body types on modeling television shows or in advertising campaigns, but at the end of the day, modeling is always going to be an thin-centric industry. That being said, I am discounting in any way the value of said steps. I think Aerie's recent advertising campaign in which they do not Photoshop their model's bodies to unrealistic standards is beautiful and to be admired. I also am all for shows like Top Model and Project Runway trying to bring in models with more different body types. However, it is going to be a long time before you see someone of an average body type walking down the runway at Fashion Week. When you think about it, it does not make a ton of sense, since the goal is to sell clothing, and very few people are as thin as models and thus will not look like the models in that clothing. It would be more effective to have more average-sized models that still look good in the clothing, since people would then see that and want to buy those clothes. But oh well.
I like Claire's thoughts above, this is not any new information. I would say that their has definitely been progress in the ideal body image for a women as presented by the media, but of course their is still pressure on models to look a certain way. I do agree that it leads to changing other, especially young girls, opinions on their bodies if they do not look like the size 00 model. However, I think we are outdating the kind of media young girls are seeing now. With the internet and social media, their is a lot of choice of what to see, and I know that many middle school girls that I have worked with have Instagram accounts and that this their form of media than a fashion magazine or TV commercial. I don't think that we would ever get to the point where any person can be hired as a model with their own body type as is, at least not any time soon. But, I think that we really need to as friends of children, and peers, not models and and agents change the ideas on body images. We have so much more power now with social media to love our own bodies and share that with others - which will get seen more than a magazine cover now a days. Just recently I posted a photo of myself commenting how I am proud of myself for gaining weight and my body is filling out more, and an old friend of mine reached out and said she was proud of me for sharing it and not being ashamed or thinking about wanting others validation. So I know that we have so much more a power than agents in an office with a camera man, and we have to uplift each other, not blame the media.
First of all, I would like it if the introductory portion of this article mentioned what the transcript was from (is it a podcast?).
As for the content of the transcript, it is difficult to comment because it is all so unfortunate. Body image has and continues to be a main concern for women, and I despise the fact that women, even myself sometimes, wish they were just skinnier when, in reality, they should be aiming to be healthier instead. I often find myself wanting to lose weight for the sake of losing weight, but the real reason to shed pounds is so I do not inherit some of the diseases that my family members suffer from due to being overweight. I believe the models that the transcript talks about should be able to have the same concerns – they should be able to focus on body image for the sake of health rather than career. It is so awful that they are being pressured to suffer from eating disorders (and “inspiring” young women to do the same) in order to be able to provide for themselves. There is so much irony in the fact that the purpose of having a job is to sustain yourself (and your family), but these models’ careers are essentially causing them to live malnourished lives.
I am cynical enough to believe that while there is starting to be a shift in beauty standards for body type, that it will only ever be so inclusive. More likely we are just entering a new era with different beauty standards, different measures to achieve those beauty standards, and still have body image issues. Trends will always develop within society. Trends turn into aspirations, which leads to standards. It hits models harder because they are supposed to be a beauty aspiration, but I think it effects everyone. Weight as a beauty standard can lead to some particularly dangerous behaviors. Small feet as a beauty standard for Chinese women was also a damaging beauty standard. I was really surprise by the last line in this article, that European countries set standards for model’s health and weight. I don’t know how I feel about that. On the one hand, I think it is good that whomever is in the position to be pressuring models to lose weight or refusing to hire them for that reason lose their influence. On the other hand, how did they determine those standards? Could that become a government enforcement of future beauty standards?
Models being thin isn’t exactly a breaking news headline, but it’s definitely worth talking about. Unrealistic beauty standards have shaped my life more than I’d like to talk about in a 2 point comment, quite frankly. Living in Los Angeles, potential models and wannabe actors and actress are everywhere you look. Time after time young models make themselves very vulnerable and get turned away for someone slimmer. There is an inexcusable lack of diversity in media and entertainment, and slowly this issue is starting to get addressed. However, I think that there needs to be a diversity of appearance and body type in the media, but I don’t see that getting addressed really and don’t think I’ll see it get addressed anytime soon. The most successful people according to media and entertainment are all very slim. They all look the same and if you don’t look a certain way, they won’t make it. When introducing myself to people I often tell them that I go to the School of Drama, and almost always they assume I’m an actress. I’ve recently noticed that when this comes up, I say something along the lines of “oh, I could never be, I don’t look like that,” or “no I’m not an actor, my skin isn’t nearly clear enough for that,” instead of just correcting them or explaining what I do and why I do it.
The fact that models are still being pressured to get thinner and thinner is something that most people already know, but don't really do much about. Although it's true that curvier models are now getting some modeling opportunities it's always viewed as a political statement. I mean, how many articles have we seen that basically say "wow, this company used a model that's larger than a size 2, how groundbreaking!". Hiring curvier models should be viewed as normal as opposed to revolutionary. The reality is that people want to see people who look like them advertising products. Look at Aerie, they stopped retouching their models and are now hiring curvier models and they've seen an increase in sales. However they are the exception, not the rule. I'm not saying that people should stop hiring thin models, but rather take the pressure off them to keep losing more and more weight. Some people are naturally very slim, and that is not something that we should shame.
To add on to Sarah's previous comment, as much as I'd like for the concept of the "perfect body type" to disappear, I don't see that happening in the near future. I definitely have seen a little bit of a shift in ads and their catering towards body types, such as Aerie's "Love The Swim You're In" campaign. The saddest part of campaigns such as theirs is that when I see an ad with a heavier model, I immediately think how cool it is that they're using these models. The fact that it is NOT normal to see curvy women with stretch marks or cellulite in ads is extremely saddening. However, to go back to Sarah's point, there will always be trends in societies and ultra-thin happens to be popular. I hope that these beauty standards will become irrelevant soon, but in order for them to be irrelevant our entire culture must change. Perhaps in 30 years it will be different? Hopefully!
8 comments:
From a young age, I have been obsessed with reality shows that are quite honestly crypt shaming of body images for girls. Shows like Project Runway and America's Next Top Model try hard to bring in models of all sizes and backgrounds, and yet it is obvious that body image and weight shamming are still huge issues in the media industry today, especially in modeling. I think it is so easy today to be disillusioned by the idea of humans progressing and becoming kinder more accepting people. But, it is facades such as these that blind us to the true threats still lying beneath. Yes, Barbies now come in all shapes, colors and sizes, but is this change enough to outweigh generation upon generation of shaming and stereotyping alone. No. Our society has weaved a lie that as women we must be thin and the "world's" version of beautiful. To untangle this lie it will take more than a new toy or even a few add campaigns. Total change will result when as a community of human beings we can look at modeling, entertainment, toys and society as a whole and say "We are all beautiful. This. Will. Stop."
I mean yeah well obviously. Sadly, I do not think this is something that is going to change any time soon. We can make as many steps as we want in trying to be more inclusive of all different body types on modeling television shows or in advertising campaigns, but at the end of the day, modeling is always going to be an thin-centric industry. That being said, I am discounting in any way the value of said steps. I think Aerie's recent advertising campaign in which they do not Photoshop their model's bodies to unrealistic standards is beautiful and to be admired. I also am all for shows like Top Model and Project Runway trying to bring in models with more different body types. However, it is going to be a long time before you see someone of an average body type walking down the runway at Fashion Week. When you think about it, it does not make a ton of sense, since the goal is to sell clothing, and very few people are as thin as models and thus will not look like the models in that clothing. It would be more effective to have more average-sized models that still look good in the clothing, since people would then see that and want to buy those clothes. But oh well.
I like Claire's thoughts above, this is not any new information. I would say that their has definitely been progress in the ideal body image for a women as presented by the media, but of course their is still pressure on models to look a certain way. I do agree that it leads to changing other, especially young girls, opinions on their bodies if they do not look like the size 00 model. However, I think we are outdating the kind of media young girls are seeing now. With the internet and social media, their is a lot of choice of what to see, and I know that many middle school girls that I have worked with have Instagram accounts and that this their form of media than a fashion magazine or TV commercial. I don't think that we would ever get to the point where any person can be hired as a model with their own body type as is, at least not any time soon. But, I think that we really need to as friends of children, and peers, not models and and agents change the ideas on body images. We have so much more power now with social media to love our own bodies and share that with others - which will get seen more than a magazine cover now a days. Just recently I posted a photo of myself commenting how I am proud of myself for gaining weight and my body is filling out more, and an old friend of mine reached out and said she was proud of me for sharing it and not being ashamed or thinking about wanting others validation. So I know that we have so much more a power than agents in an office with a camera man, and we have to uplift each other, not blame the media.
First of all, I would like it if the introductory portion of this article mentioned what the transcript was from (is it a podcast?).
As for the content of the transcript, it is difficult to comment because it is all so unfortunate. Body image has and continues to be a main concern for women, and I despise the fact that women, even myself sometimes, wish they were just skinnier when, in reality, they should be aiming to be healthier instead. I often find myself wanting to lose weight for the sake of losing weight, but the real reason to shed pounds is so I do not inherit some of the diseases that my family members suffer from due to being overweight. I believe the models that the transcript talks about should be able to have the same concerns – they should be able to focus on body image for the sake of health rather than career. It is so awful that they are being pressured to suffer from eating disorders (and “inspiring” young women to do the same) in order to be able to provide for themselves. There is so much irony in the fact that the purpose of having a job is to sustain yourself (and your family), but these models’ careers are essentially causing them to live malnourished lives.
I am cynical enough to believe that while there is starting to be a shift in beauty standards for body type, that it will only ever be so inclusive. More likely we are just entering a new era with different beauty standards, different measures to achieve those beauty standards, and still have body image issues. Trends will always develop within society. Trends turn into aspirations, which leads to standards. It hits models harder because they are supposed to be a beauty aspiration, but I think it effects everyone. Weight as a beauty standard can lead to some particularly dangerous behaviors. Small feet as a beauty standard for Chinese women was also a damaging beauty standard. I was really surprise by the last line in this article, that European countries set standards for model’s health and weight. I don’t know how I feel about that. On the one hand, I think it is good that whomever is in the position to be pressuring models to lose weight or refusing to hire them for that reason lose their influence. On the other hand, how did they determine those standards? Could that become a government enforcement of future beauty standards?
Models being thin isn’t exactly a breaking news headline, but it’s definitely worth talking about. Unrealistic beauty standards have shaped my life more than I’d like to talk about in a 2 point comment, quite frankly. Living in Los Angeles, potential models and wannabe actors and actress are everywhere you look. Time after time young models make themselves very vulnerable and get turned away for someone slimmer. There is an inexcusable lack of diversity in media and entertainment, and slowly this issue is starting to get addressed. However, I think that there needs to be a diversity of appearance and body type in the media, but I don’t see that getting addressed really and don’t think I’ll see it get addressed anytime soon. The most successful people according to media and entertainment are all very slim. They all look the same and if you don’t look a certain way, they won’t make it. When introducing myself to people I often tell them that I go to the School of Drama, and almost always they assume I’m an actress. I’ve recently noticed that when this comes up, I say something along the lines of “oh, I could never be, I don’t look like that,” or “no I’m not an actor, my skin isn’t nearly clear enough for that,” instead of just correcting them or explaining what I do and why I do it.
The fact that models are still being pressured to get thinner and thinner is something that most people already know, but don't really do much about. Although it's true that curvier models are now getting some modeling opportunities it's always viewed as a political statement. I mean, how many articles have we seen that basically say "wow, this company used a model that's larger than a size 2, how groundbreaking!". Hiring curvier models should be viewed as normal as opposed to revolutionary. The reality is that people want to see people who look like them advertising products. Look at Aerie, they stopped retouching their models and are now hiring curvier models and they've seen an increase in sales. However they are the exception, not the rule. I'm not saying that people should stop hiring thin models, but rather take the pressure off them to keep losing more and more weight. Some people are naturally very slim, and that is not something that we should shame.
To add on to Sarah's previous comment, as much as I'd like for the concept of the "perfect body type" to disappear, I don't see that happening in the near future. I definitely have seen a little bit of a shift in ads and their catering towards body types, such as Aerie's "Love The Swim You're In" campaign. The saddest part of campaigns such as theirs is that when I see an ad with a heavier model, I immediately think how cool it is that they're using these models. The fact that it is NOT normal to see curvy women with stretch marks or cellulite in ads is extremely saddening. However, to go back to Sarah's point, there will always be trends in societies and ultra-thin happens to be popular. I hope that these beauty standards will become irrelevant soon, but in order for them to be irrelevant our entire culture must change. Perhaps in 30 years it will be different? Hopefully!
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