Women feel thin models are more elegant, interesting and pleasant

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Women feel thin models are more elegant, interesting and pleasant

Gemma Ward

Model Gemma Ward has no plans to return to modeling any time soon after being criticized for her recent weight gain. Ward took a break from the fashion industry after the death of Heath Ledger, who she was romantically linked to, and recently reemerged with a fuller figure. When images of her new body showed up on the internet, many joked about her weight and called her fat. Fashion blogger Bryanboy posted photos and captioned them by saying, “She's a very beautiful woman and I think she could make a name for herself in the plus-size niche.” The problem is Ward doesn’t even look plus-sized. Compared to her former super skinny and boney look, she just looks healthy. But apparently anything over stick thin is seen as fat by the modeling industry.

This is a major problem of the media. When a woman gains a little bit of weight she’s immediately branded with terms like fat or plus-sized. The reality of the situation is that she just looks like someone who is at their normal weight. If other normal sized girls/women see the fashion industry tearing her down like this and calling her fat, what would they think about themselves if they looked the same way? It’s not fair that the fashion industry does this and they should be more accepting of people of all sizes.

Why should anyone have to feel bad about looking normal?

Statistics

This image shows statistics about the way women and men feel about the ideal body type of a woman. The image is based on UK sizes, so Size 8 is equivalent to the U.S. size 6, size 12 is a U.S. size 10 and size 16 is a U.S. size 14. So why is it that women feel they need to be more than half as thin as most women actually are? It’s highly possible that the media is affecting women. Let’s look at some statistics:

• According to Prevention magazine, a "healthy weight" for a woman who is 5'9" is 129-169 pounds. An average 5'9" model's weight is somewhere around 110-115 lbs.

• Recent statistics provided by Natural Health magazine found that the average woman's dress size is 12 and the average mannequin's dress size is 6.

• Twenty years ago, the average model weighed 8% less than the average woman—but today’s models weigh 23% less

• Women’s magazines have 10½ times more ads and articles promoting weight loss than men’s magazines do

• Over ¾ of women’s magazine covers have at least one message about how to change a woman’s bodily appearance

Magazines feature thin models and actresses, or digitally alter them to be thinner, to satisfy advertisers. By presenting women who have a body that is very difficult to achieve and maintain, the cosmetic and diet industries are assured to grow and make a profit. This is not without consequence however. Research shows that seeing images of thin, young, air-brushed female bodies is linked to depression, loss of self-esteem and the development of unhealthy eating habits in women and girls. Magazines need to rethink their approach and start making a change, or women across the world are going to continue to have body image issues.

Reality TV star Kim Kardashian posed for the cover of Complex Magazine's April/May issue. The pictures stirred some controversy when the unphotoshopped images were posted on Complex Magazine's website. After finding out, Kim was flustered, but later responded by saying, "So what: I have a little cellulite. What curvy girl doesn't!?...I'm proud of my body and my curves and this picture coming out is probably helpful for everyone to see that just because I am on the cover of a magazine doesn't mean I'm perfect.” Kim's choice to speak out against this issue shows women and young girls everywhere that even celebrities aren't perfect. These women are portrayed in a way that makes people believe that in order to be sexy, they must have flat stomachs and smooth thighs when, in reality, this standard of beauty is set by airbrushing and photoshopping pictures to remove what are believed to be "flaws". How can anyone be comfortable in their own skin if they feel as though they have to live up to these standards in order to be considered beautiful? There is no one definition of beauty, and women of all shapes and sizes should be encouraged that you don't have to be a size zero to be beautiful.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYhCn0jf46U

It's clearly not enough anymore just to airbrush people, this shows that people (or companies) are taking extra steps in order to remake and re image people. In this situation especially we have a woman who is taken pictures of and then completely transformed physically. However it doesn't even stop there because they continue to warp her through computer imaging programs.

It's important to realize that the issue doesn't just occur physically, but also through image enhancement programs. The computer is a powerful tool that can completely remake a person or change her enough so that the company will find her usable. Looking specifically at this woman's eyes in this video you can see they completely change them and make them far bigger than hers actually are. This model doesn't seem to mind (probably because she's a "plant") but in a real life situation it would raise the question whether models in this sort of industry specifically (billboard models) care about being transformed like this or whether they just care about the money.

More Than Meets the Eye

September's issue of SELF magazine featured a digitally enhanced image of Kelly Clarkson on the cover. The magazine's editor-in-chief Lucy Danziger claimed Clarkson was retouched so she could "look her personal best,” which apparently means thinner. An interview with Clarkson inside the magazine quotes her as saying, "When people talk about my weight, I'm like, 'You seem to have a problem with it; I don't. I'm fine!" Readers of this issue spoke out on SELF's blog saying things like "Thanks for telling me that, 'Your best is someone who doesn't even look like you' I'm off to find a magazine that treats me with less contempt."

Clarkson isn't the only celebrity comfortable with the way she looks who nonetheless gets digitally altered by magazines. Curvy actress Kate Winslet has had numerous run-ins with overeager Photoshoppers. The worst case occurred in an issue of the British version of GQ magazine, in which Winslet's legs were altered so she would appear taller and thinner. Winslet spoke out about Photoshop, saying she'd rather look natural and real. “The retouching is excessive. I do not look like that and more importantly I don’t desire to look like that”. In fact, Winslet preferred the original photo to the one that appeared on the cover. "I actually have a Polaroid that the photographer gave me on the day of the shoot… I can tell you they’ve reduced the size of my legs by about a third. For my money it looks pretty good the way it was taken,” Winslet said.

Not only do these false images give readers an unrealistic representation of what a person should look like, but if celebrities are comfortable with the way they are, what right does the magazine have to go and "make them better." How would you feel if you took a picture you felt you looked great in and then it appeared completely altered on a magazine cover with editors saying you look so much better that way? Personally I would be pretty upset by this, and I wouldn't want readers to see this and think that's what women look like.

Should magazines stop altering photos of celebrities who love themselves the way they are? If they continue to alter photos, should they let the reader know this with some type of disclaimer? What do you think?

Ralph Lauren goes too far...

A recent advertisement for Ralph Lauren features a model with a beautiful face but something about the photo wasn't right...
Her head was disproportionally large for the very tiny frame. This picture sparked a controversery and made alot of people aware of the outrageous use of airburshing. This ad and others have caused people to question the ads they are seeing and in some cases, taking legal action. In the U.K. Olay featured and advertisment with a compleyley wrinkel free 59 yearold model 'Twiggy' ( which it doesnt take a scientist to figure out that the majority of 59 yearold women have wrinkles. duh), the ad caused such a stir that the British parliment recently proposed an outlawing touchups in advertisments targeted towards teenagers.
Jo Swinson who is the leader of the the nations democarats, the group that intiated the ban said,
" "Today's unrealistic idea of what is beautiful means that young girls are under more pressure now than they were even five years ago. Airbrushing means that adverts contain completely unattainable images that no one can live up to in real life. We need to help protect children from these pressures and we need to make a start by banning airbrushing in adverts aimed at them. The focus on women's appearance has got out of hand - no one really has perfect skin, perfect hair and a perfect figure, but women and young girls increasingly feel that nothing less than thin and perfect will do."

If the British can do it, why can't we??

Below is the picture of model Filippa Hamilton who is 5'8, 120 pound and a size 6...