Today, especially through advertisement, women are being told repeatedly that thinner is better and they are being continuously hyper-sexualized. Not a day goes by where a woman does not see or hear of an ad that gives her ways to 'improve' her figure, her looks, or even her skin tone. These ads main goal is to have women see them and think of themselves as needing some form of improvement that they can achieve only through purchasing the product on display.
This Victoria Secret ad in particular claims to have the "perfect body" all figured out. Would you agree? This ad only shows the thinnest of the thin models as well as predominately white models. Granted there is one darker woman to the far right of the ad but she is not nearly as dark skinned as most African American women are. Some could even argue that she is merely tanner that the rest of the models in the image. Also, it seems that the she is pretty squished to the right side of the ad with her arms directly at her sides and legs pressed together where the other models have more wiggle room to turn and move as they please. The "darker" skinned woman isn't really seen at all in the full picture. This brings out societies form of 'new racism' that sends out more subliminal messages of whites being the "better" race than using forms of segregation.
This Victoria Secret ad sparked a loud debate and huge backlash by women everywhere in saying they themselves are perfect just the way they are. Dear Kate women's underwear line came up with their own response to Victoria Secret's campaign with their own interpretation of the perfect body in featuring what a REAL woman looks like with all shapes, sizes, colors, hair lengths, and ethnicities.
Although a nice attempt at a response to the Victoria Secret ad, this Dear Kate advertisement very well may not be seen by the public unless searched on the webs. However, the Victoria Secret ad will be placed in every super mall and shopping center where the business is offered. This then leads to the promotion of low self-esteem in the community of women as well as the mindset of their bodies not being seen as good enough because they do not fit into the narrow standard of beauty that has been set before them. These thoughts that are being promoted in their heads encourages negative body images and eating disorders. Because of all these outcries from women, Victoria Secret decided to change their slogan from "The Perfect 'Body'" into "A Body For Every Body" yet nothing has changed about their advertisement. This is a huge win for all of the body-positive campaigners but there are still multiple problems with the image of the women. There is still one body shape and still one skin color/tone.
Their attempt to fix the wrong that they had already unleashed backfired again. Girls everywhere have developed a hash-tag known as #iamperfect that is trending on twitter proving to Victoria Secret as well as the standards set by society that all women are beautiful regardless of size, shape, color, or ethnicity.
Society places standards around women saying they have to walk, talk, speak, look, and become a certain way, agencies like Victoria Secret and advertisements willingly promote these narrow standards of the "perfect body" being thin, having a thigh gap, and an extremely thin waists but if these agencies opened their eyes and looked out their window once in a while they wouldn't see pencil thin models strutting the streets, they would see the beautiful women who are actually out there giving the world what they can by being themselves.
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I agree with you arguments that agencies like Victoria Secret are creating false images about what its like to have a perfect body. I think that you could strengthen your argument more by adding historical aspects to it, and talking about the evolution of a woman's body. Comparing today's ideal body to the ideal body image back then could emphasize the problem that we face today. For example in the early 1900's women wanted to gain more weight, the society perceived the curvy body like Marilyn Monroe as perfect and beautiful, and today, bodies like Marilyn Monroe would be considered as overweight.
ReplyDeleteI too agree with you arguments and I believe you make one argument that stands above the others. The pictures of the different women holding up the hashtag "iamperfect" shows the audience how this problem is actually affecting people in the public. This adds an entire new element to your argument that the preliminary argument did not make. By seeing women actually affected, you really start tugging on the pathos strings. One argument that I thought could have been better supported was the segregation of the darker skinned woman. I do agree that there is not enough diversity in the image; however, I think it is a stretch to say that she is more cramped than the other women. They all appear to be making some sort of pose and hers happens to be on the outskirts of the picture. You may have something with this argument but more examples are needed.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Pat. Your argument was amplified tremendously when you placed the picture of the girl holding the sign with the hashtag. I agree with your argument. "The Perfect "Body"" was a bit of an edgy title, that was bound to raise controversy. However, there is always going to be this issue. I think it would have been better to incorporate a few more examples of this case, not in a victoria's secret ad.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Pat. Your argument was amplified tremendously when you placed the picture of the girl holding the sign with the hashtag. I agree with your argument. "The Perfect "Body"" was a bit of an edgy title, that was bound to raise controversy. However, there is always going to be this issue. I think it would have been better to incorporate a few more examples of this case, not in a victoria's secret ad.
ReplyDeleteI would also have to agree. Victoria secret is best known for their fashion shows, perfect models, and displaying a false sense of hope in a way to young girls who see their advertisements display. I agree with your argument completely. Victoria secret is giving a false sense of what the actual woman looks like and it does not set a great example for young children out there. Additionally, I agree with Pat's comment on how in the diverse woman's photo the women look as if they are uncomfortable and posing in odd ways. I think that these women although are making more of a clear statement towards the perfect body seem a bit awkward by their poses. I think your blog overall is great and definitely gets a powerful message across. I would have to agree though maybe a few more examples could of been more beneficial throughout your blog post.
ReplyDeleteI would also have to agree. Victoria secret is best known for their fashion shows, perfect models, and displaying a false sense of hope in a way to young girls who see their advertisements display. I agree with your argument completely. Victoria secret is giving a false sense of what the actual woman looks like and it does not set a great example for young children out there. Additionally, I agree with Pat's comment on how in the diverse woman's photo the women look as if they are uncomfortable and posing in odd ways. I think that these women although are making more of a clear statement towards the perfect body seem a bit awkward by their poses. I think your blog overall is great and definitely gets a powerful message across. I would have to agree though maybe a few more examples could of been more beneficial throughout your blog post.
ReplyDeleteI would definitely agree that this Victoria's Secret ad is very controversial to society because portraying women with the words "The Perfect Body" can be very offensive to a lot of people. Showing women and basically telling us that if you do not look like them then you aren't perfect? that's ridiculous. I like the dear kate ad, this shows that girls of all shapes, sizes, and races are perfect just the way they are and there shouldn't be anyone telling them that they have to be a certain size to be beautiful. I wouldn't say that the ad with the Victoria's Secret models would be racist though, there are 2 African american women in that picture and I wouldn't necessarily picture them as pushed off to the side or negatively portrayed. I do agree 100% with what you are saying about the body image portrayal though, and how this is becoming a problem withing our society.
ReplyDeleteI love reading about this issue, it is one that is near and dear to my heart and I think you did an amazing job covering this issue. Your arguments had a good and substantial amount of evidence to back them up. Victoria Secrets ad's is very controversial and offensive to most people because hardly ANYONE looks like those girls in the ads so it is shaming women around the world for not having what the ad portrays as a perfect body. I would have to agree with Katie though, I don't think the ad is necessarily racist, I don't think the african america women featured in the ad are placed where they are for a racist affect. Overall your blog was well organized and I really enjoyed reading it. OH and your pictures helped so much with your argument I loved them!
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with the issue you are presenting. There are many body types and no one person is better or more attractive than another. I am especially proud of Dear Kate and everyone who is going against the institution (Victoria's Secret). I wonder though, if those people have stopped buying from the company. I guess that is the real test, though they pissed people off, it's not really taking a stand unless you refuse to engage with the constitution at all. Unfortunately, though I admire Dear Kate's campaign, it actually allowed VS more publicity.
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