Arka
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 p.1 #7 · Diet Pasta - Ad Print Concept | |
I hesitate to reply to your post, as it seems you have a very strong view on this issue. However, I respectfully disagree with you, and I hope you won't take my rebuttals personally.
cbliss wrote:
If you reread the post, you will in fact see that Dan refers to her as "fat".
Before... fat. After... thin. She is not fat.
Well, that's debatable. I know many people whose faces don't appear "fat," but once you see the head on the body, you can't help but think they are of an unhealthy weight. While I don't see the OP's example as a poster child for obesity, her features aren't exactly "heroin skinny" either.... more on the side of healthy and hearty, or maybe a little more than that.
Obesity and anorexia can both develop from the hopelessness young women feel when pressured by the media to be thin.
A size 0 is what many, unfortunately, strive for.
As a woman, I've seen the harm done by the constant barrage of 'thin'; it's been going on in this country for many decades.
The social ideals governing what we think is beautiful have changed as our societies have changed. Where food was limited, the portrayal of a slightly "fatter" woman was attractive, because it indicated wealth, health, and the ability to bear children. In a society where food is no longer scarce (though nutrition, unfortunately, is quite scarce), thin is in. Whether that bias has been manufactured by advertisers, or advertisers are following social trends... I can't say.
Your experience as a woman is obviously different from the women I know and love. Most of my friends and loved ones have not measured their self-esteem by an advertiser's social expectations... indeed, I hardly think it the responsibility of corporations to buttress the self-esteem of women. Would you really want corporate boards performing that function? Self-worth and confidence in one's own image are forged in the social relationships a young woman (or man) experiences... in school and at home.
If the social culture represented by modern advertising inspires someone to pursue a healthy lifestyle, I don't see a problem. I recognize, of course, that the same culture might prompt a young person to become bulimic, anorexic, or turn to cigarettes, drugs, or plastic surgery as a method of weight control. That's sad, and I wish things did not come to that pass. But advertisers aren't necessarily the problem there... some people just want to look beautiful using unnatural approaches... so they visit real-life Photoshop retouchers who offer them Botox injections, tummy tucks, and diet pills.
That is too bad... I agree. But ultimately, the goal of an advertiser is not to teach healthy living.... it's to sell stuff. There's a lot of high art directed towards achieving that goal, and of course, a lot of excess. However, I much prefer the current norm to an alternative where being visibly overweight or obese is construed as being "acceptable." We certainly have a lot of that in this country already. As someone fighting to lose a few pounds of his own, I certainly would not want to be told that my personal pudge is 'acceptable.'
Only recently have a few ad campaigns become more responsible, showing the female body in a normal state... Dove for instance.
I know the Dove campaign, as do a number of women I know and work with. Most find it patronizing, though I personally think it was a nice effort. It certainly earned Dove a lot of attention, which is good for selling soap and lotion.
That said, I think your final link sums up the role advertising should play in a young girls self-image... "Talk to your daughter before the beauty industry does."
Arka C.
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I get the concept.