Nowadays, with advertisements like that, we think of the models featured in them as the “ideal” image of how women should be like.Are you someone who is like that? Now think again.
The reason why, is because we perceive women who look beautiful, slim, have flawless skin, to be the most successful in life. This distorted perception comes mostly from the media. From magazine covers to dramas, many people tend to believe that celebrities have perfect bodies and lead glamorous lives. To live up to this expectation, some people take drastic measures to lose weight, which maybe detrimental to their health. The pursuit to attain this "ideal" image is endless.
Yet, we all know that whatever we see in magazines is not an accurate portrayal of how majority of women look like. A standard, that is almost impossible to attain.
“Better Skin. Better Style. Better Shape. For a Better Me.”
And not forgetting their Mission: To help people of the world develop a stronger sense of self-image and confidence.
Clearly, this advertisement tells us that being who you are simply isn’t enough. You need to have clearer skin, a more defined figure, in order to step out into the world today. Simply because someone else looks good, you need to look good as well.
But why can’t we be comfortable just who we are? Is it really necessary to lose those few pounds so that you can fit into that skirt? Or to lose sleep because there are one or two pimples on your face?
There needs to be a change in current definitions of feminity. We do not measure one’s self-worth by the way one looks like. In this case, education would play a very big role in alleviating the emphasis placed on the “ideal” figure. With the amount of advertisements one is inundated with everyday, education can change the way one perceives the messages of these advertisements.
We do not have to be passive consumers of these slimming advertisements which tell us that it is wrong being ourselves. Instead, we can write in to newspaper columns, call in to radio stations, to stand up and speak up against this “ideal” image. First, by learning to love ourselves for who we are, then can we understand what it means like to love others.
4 comments:
I can't believe no one has commented on this yet! It's a wonderful topic. As in, especially at times when popular culture has managed to totally warp our
"'ideal' image of how women should be like".
Sigh. Can it really be helped? If someone did a check on how the physique of women in more developed countries with thriving mass media has changed over the generations, would one be able to throw up clear evidence of any sort of phenomena? Probably so. (Makes me wonder about a similar study on the guys as well. Hmmm...)
Then again many places are battling against population obesity and its health complications. While it is necessary to keep an eye on one's health, the anorexia and bulimia cases have shown that this is often done to an extreme, and clearly an issue of of an extreme desire to achieve a certain body image. Which of course, has been propagated by all these images and ideas in the media.
Alpha males and slender babes has too often been portrayed in the media as the "ideal", and uneducated and impressionable minds can often be misled to take these as the optimum.
No one should be able to take away a woman's self-esteem simply by refering to the condition of her skin, or the shape of her body. And self-worth is definitely not inversely proportional to one's waistline.
Your call to arms, Trix, for us to be proactive consumers, to stand up against these prevailing misrepresentations, is applaudable! And Education is definitely necessary when transmitting the correct values.
Trixia! Yes I agree with Tony, it is an awesome topic indeed! The image of being thin or sometimes even stick thin has caused many young impressionable adolescents to be adversely affected! Even in our own society we have seen many young women who have developed the habit of anorexia and Bulimia. Seeing such images as clearly led to a psychological defect in these people.
I'm glad that there are such things like plus size modelling but there isn't much media exposure for this unlike for normal modelling and slimming advertisements such as this jean yip one. More people should stand up to this or atleast be ignorant to this!
Hmm... this reminds of of episode 2 of ugly betty's season 1! If u have time, go watch it!
Anyway, i'm sure everyone remembers the dove ad with plus size models. I remember seeing it for the first time with a male friend, and to cut a long quarrel short, his reaction was basically "ewwwwwwww".
Why is that?
The women had good skin. Flawless. Isn't it the whole point? Dove shower cream for moist and smooth skin. Why would body size matter in that ad right? But no, everyone expects stick thin people to grace to cover of magazines and posters.
I occasionally get teased by friends for being "big" or even fat.. and my brother likes to call me meaty! but i don't think i am! (ok, i'm not sure how many of them meant it, but IF THEY DID SCREW THEM) hahahaha Shouldn't people take this attitude more often?
of course like tony said, health complications require people to keep a healthy weight. And reports show that skinny people are not necessarily healthier than people who are heavier or bigger size than them! Think of how much stress you put on your body when you take extreme dieting/weight loss options...
Anyway Trixia, i have to dispute something! i have this really nice pair of jeans, that are one size too small! but they're expensive! And well, me being me, of course i can't really be bothered to lose weight JUST to fit into a pair that i'll only wear once a week or less. BUT if lets say someone can't afford bigger clothes... then.. i guess it would be necessary to lose whatever they have unwantedly gained!
yes good point there! the mass media indeed shapes our perception on beauty and perfection.. as a result ppl with less-than-perfect figure often feel very pressurised .. the society views thin as beautiful.. so it's no wonder you see so many slimming centres coming up with slimming sessions for women who are seeking the perfect figure.... but wat exactly is the perfect figure?No one can answer tht..
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