Body
Natural vs. Media
Photoshop
Is any image 'real'?
A little taste of "natural" beauty in media
As the video above demonstrates, even models don't look like the models that media portrays as 'natural'.
Photoshop, the tool used to alter everything from hair length to waist circumference to foot size, is extremely popular in many areas of media, especially advertisement and entertainment media. This is what manipulates the looks of models that are shown as 'natural' through these media. In Jane Ogden and Faye Sherwood's evaluation Reducing the Impact of Media Images, they found that often, women respond to media images of the 'ideal body' with increased body dissatisfaction regarding their own bodies. This is extremely problematic because not even the models of media look like the models in media.
And to make matters worse, everything in the media is photoshopped. 100% of the images. This means that the absurd measures women judge themselves by are all fake. There is no way to attain anything remotely 'natural' to a model in a magazine because there is nothing natural about them after photoshop.
Disability
In 2015, Kylie Jenner posed in a wheelchair for a photoshoot (seen on right). The images immediately received huge backlash, particularly from the disabled population. Several women with disabling diseases that keep them wheelchair-bound started posting images in which they imitated Jenner's photos, bring about discussion of disablement in advertisement and entertainment media.
Where them girls at?
Media has inaccurately portrayed people with disabilities by using harmful and negative stereotypes for a long time, if they are included at all. In a 1991 study, Paul Hunt found there were 10 stereotypes that the media used to portray disabled people. These included:
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The disabled person as pitiable or pathetic
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An object of curiosity or violence
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Sinister or evil
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The super cripple
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As atmosphere
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Laughable
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His/her own worst enemy
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As a burden
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As Non-sexual
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Being unable to participate in daily life
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Clearly, these stereotypes do not do justice or represent disabled persons accurately. It can be extremely harmful for both disabled and abled persons when media inaccurately portrays disabilities. Abled people label those with disabilities according to the stereotypes they've seen portrayed and disabled people can begin to view themselves in a negative light because the media portrays them poorly.
Limited Expansions of Beauty
Earlier on, we took a look at different messages on beauty from media giants Victoria's Secret and Dove. It was noted that both companies emphasize the idea that beauty is a physical characteristic. Here, we'll examine more closely Dove's Campaign for Real Beauty, which looked good at a glance, but has faults when scrutinized more closely.
It's clear that Victoria's Secret fails to be inclusive. Some of the requirements to even be considered for a Victoria's Secret model include:
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Be between the ages of 18 and 30
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Be healthy and in great shape
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Have a slim build, yet be slightly more voluptuous than a typical runway model (34-24-34, give or take an inch, is the industry standard)
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Be between 5’8’’ and 6’0’’
These qualifications automatically exclude a large portion of females from the general population. Some women have begun speaking out against Victoria's Secret about these standards.
Not representational of the general population
Dove, on the other hand, successfully incorporated women who do not match the stereotypical beauty ideal, "meaning they were not young, tall, ectomorphic, blonde women, with long, straight, shiny hair, blue eyes, blemish-free skin, and a tiny waist" (Roedl 3). Dove models "have curves, wrinkles, short hair, thick waists, disproportionate bodies, and are petite (Roedl 3).
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However, Dove still fails to represent all, or even most, members of the female population. Represented by Dove are only two races and women who may be labeled as slightly overweight, if not average. None of the models depicted are severely overweight, of multiple races, or disabled, ignoring a huge segment of our population.
