Models – the ever-discussed topic in the realm of fashion. Are they too skinny or too fat? Do they really eat? Or are the myths about the triple C diet (cocaine, coffee, cigarettes) true? Unnatural bodies may be a common topic when discussing virtual realities and Barbie, but the reality is we see them on a daily basis – on magazine covers.
Photographs have since their birth had a big influence on peoples’ way of life. Photos have not only fixed and delimited time, but also started the creation of the visual culture we live in today. Marshall McLuhan definitely had a point when he stated that photos mirror the world (190). Never have designers’ ideals and models’ bodies been as questioned as they are today. The average American model was 5’11” and 117 lbs in 2008 (NEDA). However, I would like to twist and turn McLuhan’s argument slightly. These models are not merely photographs reflecting what people look like in society, but are at the same time advertisements trying to sell a brand and its’ accompanying ideology. This ideology is often something such as “thin is in”, or if you wear our clothes this and that is going to follow. As they show us what we ought to look like, we get skinnier, they once again show us how much skinnier should get, and many of us abide. As a result, an evil circle of representation of ideals is constructed. Young girls then, reach new weight extremes shown in the ramping statistics of both obesity and eating disorders (Stop Obesity; NEDA). This fact shows that we have become more self-critical and changed our “inner lives” to comply with our new set of standards (197).
I think it is time for us to question whether this kind of idealization in society is reasonable? We ask wherefrom the sudden increase in eating disorders comes, when all we need to do is look to visual media’s daily ubiquity (Women’s Health). The frustration of not being able to relate to what media shows us leaves us with this desperate urge to become able to identify. This frustration leads to an obsession, obsession with weighing as little as possible. Now, in a society where fitting into the two number weight categories is a merit, it is hard to consider as something natural. All of our bodies and these bodies in particular, are hence what Meirzoff would call Virtual bodies (116). They are bodies that undergo some kind of transformation from their once fundamental state. Mierzoff’s theory emphasizes the fact that media, and therefore our culture, influence our perceptions of beauty and its definition. “None of us inhabit a purely natural body and no one’s body is complete,” he further states (117). Suggested is then that not only virtual bodies, as found in online gaming worlds or better yet Second Life, are virtual per se. Rather, with today’s access to make-up, gyms, plastic-surgery and diets – we all virtualize our bodies to become something unnatural. Where do we draw the line?
The ubiquity of media cannot be the mere factor to the increasingly skinny models and the ideal they represent saturating our society. What made us abandon what I would like to call the “healthy virtual body” of the 50s – virtualized through make-up and hairspray at its most? The time where models represented the “average” woman with beautiful features has transformed to this below-size-zero society. I believe that the digitization of media has had a huge effect on this transition. The 50s beauties Marilyn Monroe and Sophia Loren are still considered beautiful women, yet what would they have looked like after Photoshop? Photos of today have taken us to an extreme where awareness of the digital modification of the original has become something natural, something original. We have “hyperrealized” our perception of ideals (Baudrillard 57); there is no longer an original. Nowadays, young women strive for the skeleton model bodies, which never seem to have a birthmark out of place or a sudden breakout. The process through which the original photo has gone through is irrelevant, because we identify with the virtualized version. Hence, Baudrillard’s point is proven, we live in a society where the copy is more real than the original. Living close to Hollywood, I saw a couple of “beautiful” actresses that indeed where as skinny, or even skinnier, than they looked on every photograph. But, they were not as “beautiful.” However, that did not stop me from having a subconscious urge to be as beautiful and skinny as they were on the pictures, not as seen in reality.
Another piece of “common knowledge” that we choose to surpass in our idealization with these fatless bodies, is that of the camera adding 10 pounds to one’s real weight. The models are therefore even skinnier than they look in the pictures, making the abnormality of their “weightlessness” even harder and striving for it virtual, as such. This was not a problem in the 50s, as the “natural” female was not seen as fat or skinny, merely beautiful. To clarify, it is not a coincidence that we refer to and know of Marilyn Monroe and Sophia Loren as “timeless beauties” and not Lara Stone.
Therefore, if the ideal is a result of a combination of ubiquitous media and digitization – what makes us young women overlook our awareness of the dangerous lifestyle of most models to fit in to this ideal? The “complete” body that Meirzoeff mentions no one has (117), if it were to be characterized today, it would be the body featured on every movie-cover and in every magazine – the thin body. The more I observe fashion magazines and ad campaigns, the more astonished I am of these girls ability to stay alive. Granted, models Ana Carolina Reston, Hila Elmalich, Maiara Galvao Vieira, Eliana and Luisel Ramos did not. They all died from, weighing as little as 60 pounds for a 5’6” body (Martin).
In conclusion, Marshall McLuhan, Jean Baudrillard and Nicholas Mierzoeff all predicted this happening and created a thesis as to why and how. Even though writing as long ago as almost 50 years and as “close” as 11 years ago, they were right – media has affected our inner perceptions as much as the level of superficiality we live after. How is it then that we, young women, are so reluctant to understand that we are being manipulated and pressured to unattainable and more importantly, unhealthy body ideals? We might look to virtual realities and other games when we speak about virtual bodies. Why bother when all we need to do is step to the closest mirror?
Mirror, mirror on the wall,
who's the thinnest of us all?
Works Cited
Baudrillard, Jean. "The Implosion of Meaning in Media." Simulacra and Simulation. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan, 1994. 55-60. Print.
Martin, Jennifer. "5 Models Who Died From Eating Disorders | Made Manual." Mens Online Guide & Mens Lifestyle | MadeMan.com. 13 Mar. 2010. Web. 18 Nov. 2010. <http://www.mademan.com/mm/5-models-who-died-eating-disorders.html>.
McLuhan, Marshall. "Media as Translators." Understanding Media; the Extensions of Man,. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1964. 56-61. Print.
Mirzoeff, Nicholas. "Virtual Bodies, What Is Visual Culture." An Introduction to Visual Culture. London: Routledge, 1999. Print.
National Eating Disorders Association. Www.NationalEatingDisorders.com. Publication. National Eating Disorders Association, 10 Feb. 2008. Web. 19 Nov. 2010. <http://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/uploads/file/Statistics%20%20Updated%20Feb%2010,%202008%20B.pdf>.
Stop Obesity Alliance. Fast Facts: Obesity Trends. Publication. The George Washington University: School of Public Health and Health Services, 2010. Web. 19 Nov. 2010. <http://www.stopobesityalliance.org/wp-content/themes/stopobesityalliance/pdfs/FastFacts_ObesityTrends5-2010.pdf>.
Women's Health Queensland Wide. "Student Factsheets - Eating Disorders - Women's Health Queensland Wide." Home Page - Women's Health Queensland Wide. WDG, 30 Oct. 2007. Web. 20 Nov. 2010. http://www.womhealth.org.au/studentfactsheets/eatingdisorders.htm.
I think this is a very sensitive topic, but a very important one as well. I feel, too, that the media has a way of creating unrealistic ideals, but I also acknowledge the fact that a lot of it's airbrushed. A picture in a magazine is rarely ever the "real deal". And while airbrushing can have it's negative affects, I also think if can have positives, like erasing blemishes or fixing lighting to be more flattering.
ReplyDeleteLike many would probably agree, I would like there to be models of all sizes, and beautiful clothing tapered to all types of people, no matter how tall or whatever size they are. Hopefully the media will agree fully on this idea one day, although I do feel like there is a lot of positive body image today than before for the beauty in all shapes and sizes.
-Lisa T
I agree that it is a very sensitive topic and that is why I put it in this blog, because I feel that it is a prevalent health danger in today's society.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I do not agree with your stance on airbrushing, as it today has gone to the extreme. Not much of the models is left to stay intact in its natural shape or form, but is instead modified as to construct something many of us refer to as "perfection."
Just commenting on your statement that there ought to be "models of all sizes," I do agree. Yet, the point of my entry is not that the models are thin, a lot of people are genetically or just biologically skinny. Instead, I want to emphasize the amount of unhealthy activities that constitute something that we look up to. I do not think it is something that should be conveyed to young women that are already struggling in their search of identity as it is.
- Jovana
It's really interesting that we might realize that media representations are hyperrealized, and yet we still strive to conform to societal standards of beauty. I can say that personally, even though I study media and identity, I still wake up in the morning and put on makeup, I continue to dress a certain way, I still go to the gym to make sure I stay "fit"- all the while knowing that I am laboring over my body, striving to achieve an ideal that may very well be unattainable. I feel like just because we can think critically about beauty and representations of beauty, we might not necessarily do anything to change it in our own lives. I wonder who else has thought this in our class...?
ReplyDelete-Ellen
I got my first set of highlights when I was in eighth grade and ever since freshman year of college I've been dying my hair almost every month. I've been blonde, red, black - even blue. I got contacts when I was 16 and have realistically only worn the designer eyeglasses I had my parents buy me right before bed and right after waking. For all intents and purposes, they were a complete waste of money, but at least I can say that I have them if I am ever asked.
ReplyDeleteWhere did my desire to change my appearance originate? I'm sure the media had something to do with this and the point of me bringing up these less extreme examples of altered body image is to show you that men can be affected by the same insecurities as women - not necessarily to the same degree. That being said, manorexia and boy-lemia exist just as the social pressure to be super muscular and hairless in all the right places.
As the only guy in our class, I've felt like I had to rep the "male opinion" when we've discussed femininity and the media. It's not something that I particularly care about or even believe that I am the most qualified to do so. But here I am, doing it anyway.
We all change our bodies/identities - men and women alike - because we believe that the alterations will make us look more attractive. The question remains by whose standards?
I can honestly say that I never go to the gym, but I do try and eat healthy for my body's sake and not for anyone else's. I do right by myself as best as I can and as long as we are content with the person that we are, I don't se a problem with it. At the end of the day, as long as we are aware of the media's role in constructing these "desired" identities, we have the power to resist them.
Joe,
ReplyDeleteThere is no question about the existence of health dangers or beauty-ideals, like the ones mentioned in my entry, for men. Yet, as I wrote some of it based on own experience, I felt it would be more effective to write about the pressure on women exclusively, since I am one.
The problem is just that a lot of people aren't content with themselves as a result of this "perfection-saturated" media. If media weren't omnipresent and constant, I believe that being content with oneself would be a lot easier than it is today.
I agree with Lisa, there should be models of all heights and shapes. I mean c'mon, I know I don't only feel pressure to be as thin as the models in Vogue, but I also feel an extreme insecurity being 5'3'' and not 5'11''. I don't know if anyone else feels this way,but my heels can only go so high. I intern at Teen Vogue, and I dread whenever there is a model casting, because I hate feeling physically and emotionally below these beautiful skeleton avatars. Who says you have to be as tall as a basketball player to be beautiful?
ReplyDelete-Olivia
Jovana--
ReplyDeleteThis is something that I've been interested in for awhile, and I'm glad you wrote about it. I think that you're right in that being content with oneself would be much easier if we weren't surrounded by media 24/7. Additionally, most of the media is implying that looking "beautiful" and like the models requires only purchase of particular products, which I think makes it difficult to realize that media gives us impossible standards. They seem less impossible when all one has to do is take a diet pill and be skinny, and buy the right products to look beautiful. Additionally, having a single standard of beauty rules out any other look that doesn't conform. When we look in the mirror and see something that isn't supposed to be there, that isn't represented in media--or is even chastised in media--it feels wrong. This is where I would personally have to disagree with Lisa in that airbrushing does not have any positive affects. It surely does erase blemishes or alters our appearance so we look "better," but that "better" is relative in that it conforms to the impossible standard we are given. It erases what makes us human and unique, and makes us into something impossible that doesn't exist. By changing what was natural, it marks the natural as deviant. Isn't it those blemishes and imperfections that make us human and interesting in the first place?
The fashion industry and the modeling world is one that will always be a thorn in the side of new age feminists, doctors, nutritionists, and physical trainers who try desperately to encourage women to be as conscious of their outward appearance as they are of their inward appearance. Sure, a model on this so-called triple C diet might look glamorous and polished on the outside, but if she were to be turned inside out I'm sure it would be a horrific sight because all of those C's have a tremendously negative affect health-wise on the body (I'm picturing a Dorian Gray-esc transformation here).
ReplyDeleteIt is truly a shame that people - and women especially - are praised and "scored" more for their physical stature and features, because ironically that is something that people have no control of (aside from having financial means to undergo cosmetic surgery). They are born with the bodies they are meant to have; its impossible for parents to knowingly manufacture an attractive child. There should be WAY more emphasis today on people's health consciousness in conjunction with how they appear on the outside, and perhaps since photography and the brutality of the lens put body image in the place it is today, the least the medium could do is work to influence good health and positive health practices.
Clearly a hot topic (and one that is central to my Beauty and the Body class, for those of you who are not seniors and may be interested in taking it next year). It's important to be able to break down the logic behind these "beauty" systems, in an effort to feel more empowered and less of a victim.
ReplyDelete