Perfume ads. Clothing ads. Magazine ads. We girls are surrounded by images of beauty that do not in nature exist. Our eyes are assaulted nearly every day with ads for products that promise us unattainable beauty. Some of us can't escape trying to achieve these ridiculous standards, and are caught in a self loathing trap of feeling inadequate.
Our brains know that most ads are filled to the brim with Photoshop, but these images still stick with us as a bar for which to compare ourselves. This clip from the Dove Campaign for Real Beauty really hit home for my friends and me. I was reminded of the need to post this video for those Girls in the Hall who haven't seen it yet when I stopped by the mall on a hunt for some new jeans (I know the general concede is that diamonds are a girl's best friend, but I will take a great pair of jeans any day).
When I first walked into the GAP, I spied this denim section:
I then left in a bit of a huff and went to Old Navy a few stores down, where the slogan "Lights, camera, plastic!" beamed down in bright spring colors from the entrance. The plastic part of the line, for those of you who have not seen the ads, is in reference to their new mascots, mannequins. Could we get anymore transparent than a PLASTIC MODEL as the face of a clothing company? Unfortunately, these are just two stories in the thousands that comprise the rabbit hole of ridiculous beauty standards in our society.
If the media won't do something to change, we need to find strength in ourselves and each other. We are uniquely us--they can't tell us what we should always be unless we give them the power. I vote that we take control back of our minds and tell the world what we always are.
I am always.... creative.
I am always.... thinking.
I am always... on the hunt for another pair of jeans.
What are you always?
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2 comments:
I am always saddened when I walk into auditions and am the heaviest girl there. There are times when I think "If I just lost those 20 lbs I'd work all the time" and I definitely think that my desire to make a career out of acting is greater than my desire to eat carbs but at the same time I just can't help but think there would be nothing wrong with "average" being the size of the average actress instead of stick thin. When I watch movies from the 40's and 50's, those women were beautiful and talented and twice the size of many of the stars today (and often have twice the talent). I'm always hopeful that beauty and talent will trump weight in the media again. I'm also always on the hunt for a new pair of jeans (I recently snagged a pair at Banana Republic that were miraculously $4.95!)
Agh, I hate the jeans section at the GAP! Not just the "Always Skinny," but do you notice that ALL of the fitting options imply necessary skinniness? They're all "slim" through the hip or leg. If *you* aren't slim through the hips and legs? Screwed. I'm relatively thin (just pear-shaped), and still there are almost no jeans comfortable enough for me, because they're ALL trying to make you look skinnier.
I've had good luck with Eddie Bauer, and Old Navy's Sweetheart fit is okay, but I still had to buy a pair way too long in the leg to get them big enough in the hips.
(Emily B.)
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