Airbrushing the Unattainable?
Monday, July 26, 2010 at 9:11AM Y'all know that I'm a big believer in promoting a healthy body image, even though I don't always practice what I preach. I mean, I am a woman living in America who reads magazines and watches TV. How can I not slip up from time to time?
It's this unattainable that the media heaps onto unsuspecting people that really does us in. I mean, it's coming at us from every side. Let's think about this for minute.
I read recently that the average American household gets 6 credit card offers per month. Let's say that each of those offers gives you a $10,000 limit. That's $60,000 a month and $720,00 a year of credit. Add in that nasty 15% interest rate and you are FINANCIALLY FUCKED if you take the bait on just one card. For the rest of your life. But we've got all these banks and credit card companies happily sending out this garbage to entice you to bite. Even after all that is happening in this economy, these offers are still pouring in from the banks and companies who started it in the first place. Dicks. But my point isn't necessarily about finances here - it's about achieving the unattainable. This paragraph happens to address money.
Then there's a lifestyle. Let's talk about that for a second. Look at all of these reality shows. All of the "real" housewives from Bravo? Oh. My. God. It's a fucking train wreck that I can't tear my eyes from. Over and over these women mutilate their bodies and their souls all to achieve youth and beauty and notoriety. What the fuck? Really? And have you paid any attention to the kids these beastly women created? I don't know about y'all, but if I disrespected my parents the way these kids do, I would have been smacked or grounded for life. Or both. I certainly would not have be rewarded with designer clothes or an SUV. And these kids expect it. Sad.
And think about Friends. How big was that damn apartment, 1500 square feet, with a freakin' deck? Granted it was supposedly rent controlled through Monica's grandmother or some crap like that, but do you really think a chick waiting tables at a coffee house and an aspiring chef could actually afford to live there? Please. I have a friend who lives with his partner in Chelsea and pays $1500 a month for this:
So, please with your rent controlled bullshit.
And of course, because all things come around to weddings, we can once again talk about the unattainable. The rustic bird-cages and antique books and letterpress invitations and all the top-of-the-line bullshit shown in every magazine, across every fancy website and even sometimes in this blog. I consider myself lucky that I am a creative, artsy type person - it's the only way I could have had the wedding I did. Otherwise, I would have been pulling my hair out more than I already was to try to get the wedding I wanted on the budget I had.
All of these things can and do lead to body image. Seriously. Think about how all these things can just weigh on your unsuspecting soul. All the "Bridal Boot Camp" workout sessions and magazine article how-to's on pre-wedding weight loss - how does this help anything? It doesn't.
But there is a light at the end of the tunnel - and perhaps the point in this crazy, ranting post: air brushing. That's right, air brushing. Check this shit out:
The British government plans to pressure the fashion industry to reduce or eliminate airbrushing in magazines and advertisements, reported the Guardian.
Equalities Minister Lynne Featherstone said that starting this fall, she will chair a series of meetings with representatives from different corners of the fashion industry aimed at discerning how best to promote body confidence in teenagers.
The first discussion will focus on airbrushing, which Featherstone said contributes to "the dreadful pressure that young people, girls and women come under to conform to completely unachievable body stereotypes."
"I am very keen that children and young women should be informed about airbrushing, so they don't fall victim to looking at an image and thinking that anyone can have a 12-inch waist," she told the Sunday Times.
She will campaign for a health advisory or identifying mark on airbrushed images.
Featherstone also intends to promote body diversity among models, citing Mad Men's Christina Hendricks as an example of a healthier ideal.
You can read the entire article here. How about that? Go Britain! I think this is the best damn thing I've read in a looooong time. Because we certainly do NOT need any more of this:
Source Ralph Lauren
I know that Lauren got nailed for airbrushing this chick to within an inch of her life - but what kind of statement does this make? And who does it make it to? All I know is that this is fucking disgusting. If the Brits are taking a step in a direction to stop this, LET'S ALL STAND UP AND APPLAUD THOSE CRAZY EFFERS ACROSS THE POND!
Our own Jamie Lee Curtis made her own effort a few years ago in More Magazine. She bared all in briefs and a sports bra with no make-up and no airbrushing. More Magazine paired the JLC with all makeup and extras as well to show reality from fantasy. That takes balls.
I'm just excited that someone somewhere has recognized that this crazy media-laden world and some of it's practices are screwing with women's minds, both young and old. I read an article once about a woman who was 5'5" tall and weighed 140 pounds. She said that she'd be willing to sacrifice 5 years of her life to weigh 125. Seriously people? What the fuck? How, as an intelligent, thinking society, have we allowed ourselves to get here?
Designer, TruLu Couture
Blogger. Wife. Smart Ass.
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Reader Comments (8)
Applauding you from my cubicle. I struggle with the issues daily and am currently wishing I was British. I also wish Twiggy had never been "discovered". Bitch.
I love it when you talk body image- love it.
Has Sir Mix-A-Lot taught us nothing? You tell em baby.
It's funny but these discussions always make me think, don't wedding gowns look so much more beautiful on real women with curves? I applaud you as well, now where's my VISA to work in England (lol)
LOVE IT. That airbrushed picture is downright creepy. *shudder*
And I love that article and photoshoot that Jamie Lee Curtis did. So real, so beautiful. She looked effin' great.
The Brits seem to to have lots of good heads on their shoulders. They are not only doing some forward thinking about body image, but about inside the bodies too.
Over there, McD's has to use at least 10% juice in their orange drink. In the good old USA - ZERO PERCENT!?! They put warning labels on foods with dye in them. They make a Snickers bar with real vanilla and no corn syrup (A Feingold momma's dream!!!). And they are working on banishing Hydrogenated Oils completely.
I might move.
Seriously. That photo of the model is disgusting and not just for what it represents. Awesome post.
UM yeh. Way to go, Brits. Time someone stepped up to renounce the glorification of size 0. In January I promised myself I'd go on a more strict diet, work out every other day, completely give up fried foods and sweets to look more trim in my wedding gown. Riiiight. January passed...then March...then May got here...less than a month before our wedding and I finally decided I didn't care...as long as I was conscious of what I was eating and worked out when I could...I wasn't going to make myself miserable just to shed 5-10 pounds. And you know...I feel like I looked darn great on my wedding day. Kudos on this great post, Louise. :)