After working on the magazine cover project I started to pay more attention to the hundreds of advertisements that are thrown at me every day, and nine times out of ten women are portrayed as sexual objects, in a decorative way that makes them less than human. We live in a society that is so influenced by the media and message that your body should be your most prized asset, so its no wonder most girls have such a skewed perception of what they should look like. I remember a couple months back Glamour put out an issue that featured plus sized models completely naked, no air-brushing and beautiful.
This may have been a baby step but I think it was a great thing for Glamour to put out an image of strong beautiful women that is actually relatable to young girls. Being bombarded with unrealistic images of too-tiny models is only perpetuating the myth that you need to be physically perfect to be desired, powerful, and succeed in life. For the most part I think I've grown out of it, but I'll admit it, there have been times that my confidence has been shaken by seeing a gorgeous 5'10" model posted up on some billboard and I think most girls would agree. I realize now thats just not going to happen for me considering I'm 5'2" on a good day. The media obviously knows the power they have over society, so why do they insist on putting out unrealistic images of models? Why not be more relatable like Glamour has tried, and save girls from growing up with unrealistic expectations of what they should look like.
I'm so glad you blogged about this because I was completely thinking about this Glamour article/topic during class the other day. The coolest part of the entire article...or maybe it was a short series of articles? was how the magazine listed different comments and reactions from readers about individual model you posted a picture of. Here are some comments-
ReplyDelete"The most amazing photograph I've ever seen in any women's magazine,"
"This photo made me want to shout from the rooftops."
I especially liked this one-
"When I read them I got teary-eyed! I've been that girl, flipping through magazines trying to find just one person who looked a little bit like me. And when I didn't find it I would start to think there's something wrong with the way that I looked."
This totally hits home to so many women-and completely reminded me of Kilbourne's "Killing Us Softly" explaining how when the media presents us with images of "what is normal", we easily feel like we are not measuring up to standards set before us.
I agree that Glamour is trying to take a step in a new direction. It's great that they are trying to give a realistic view of what every day women look like, but I am still taken back by the nude part of it. I understand that they are trying to make a point, but why don't they have the models wearing normal everyday kind of clothing instead? I guess that goes back to the "shock factor" and what sells. Posing in the buff will of course cause more of a commotion than if they were to wear clothes. I still see a lot of "sex" added to their poses in the top pic and the fact that they are naked definitely plays that up even more. But overall, I agree they are at least attempting to make a step in a better direction!
ReplyDeleteWow I really liked that you brought this magazine cover into perspective because I just like you have had this magazine cover in mind. A part of me is shocked they would put this on the cover and a part of me is happy to see that the cover of a famous magazine can entitle of more than your 5'10, flawless model or actress. Sometimes I also feel the same way as you about my body perception. Most of the time I am confident in my own skin but once in a while comes the time when I will take a quick glance at a billboard and realize that my body doesnt fit that body, does that mean I need to change or does it simply mean that ads worldwide need to change to relate more to the average girl? I believe your typical model seen on billboards will never change...yes there may be more billboards with average women but they will never get rid of the "model".
ReplyDeleteI commented on dylans profile earlier saying that society has dug itself a hole it cant get out of, and I think that applies to this subject as well. There has undoubtedly been a mold created throughout the years for how women should look on magazines and billboards, and that mold has become incredibly hard to break. I couldn't see marketing execs suddenly deciding they were going to throw out the air brushed, "perfect", model look after so many years, I feel that they would fear the outcomes would be to drastic, and that sales may go down. In the irony of those thoughts however, sales may actually go up, women might relate to a product better if they see that it can relate to their body style, not a 5"10" 90 lb model. I think that what glamour did was very admirable, however I couldn't see it becoming a popular trend, simply because of a fear of change.
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