From a young age we are told myths- from the small ones such as Santa Clause, the Tooth Fairy and the Easter Bunny, to the more harmful ones- in this particular case body image. Throughout our lives, the media has reinforced the images of the "ideal" body type, whether that is through advertisement, TV programmes or on social media.
The first media product is the famous Kardashian waist trainer. This product aims to give you the desired "hour-glass" figure by, pretty much, squishing your organs. This shows to what extent people will do to get the "perfect" body image. This product makes it seem as though it's "common sense" as it depicts lots of people using it, provoking people's need to fit in and to belong to a group. In addition to this, the use of celebrity endorsement makes the product look efficient and reliable as fans will usually trust their favourite celebrity's opinion.
This body standard can also be seen in magazines. These media products often use models with the "perfect" body on the front, as seen above. Throughout this text, the body type shown is described as "ultimate" and "perfect", suggesting that this is the image that all men should be working towards. In addition to this, the use of the model with the ideal body makes the male audience desire to look like this, having an impact on self esteem, this is where the problems of the ideal body type come in. Also, the use of this body type connotes that the encoders expect the average person to look like this, creating the idea that this is "common sense" that people would have this appearance.
Furthermore, reinforcing the myth of the "perfect" body type can be seen in most advertisement, as seen in my second example above. This text shows that the myth has carried on right through history, with this advert being from 1967. The product has used the myth to make buying their product seem like "common sense" and it is almost as if they are suggesting that all women would want to look like this. It also suggests that most people do not have the "perfect" body image, and the product will help them reach this. This is suggested by the line, "we reshape your top". This connotes that the "average", normal looking body is not what people should be striving for, suggesting that people should not feel good about themselves as they are. Moreover, the most shocking part of the advert the the print that reads, "This is no shape for a girl.", furthermore reinforces the myth of body types as it tells the audience what is accepted by society and what isn't. It also suggests an element of disgust towards anyone who does "look like a pear", due to the use of the word "this".
An example of what people now called "body shaming" is the hate Lady Gage received after her performance at the Super Bowl. Many news articles wrote about the artist's figure and how it has changed over the years. This hows the effect that the body image and the standards it brings has on people.
A video made by Buzzfeed shows the ideal body type of women in different parts of the world throughout history. In a way, this busts the myth because each "acceptable" body type throughout history varies. For example, in Greece, 300 BC, the ideal body type is described as more "plump", contrasting with the modern ideal body type of a flat stomach, a thigh-gap and a large bum. This leaves us with the realisation that there is no actual ideal body type as inconsistent throughout history.
Watch the video here:
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