Friday, March 5, 2010

PAPER!!!

Naomi Wolf's idea of “the beauty myth” permeates almost every facet of the culture in which we live. It is especially prevalent in advertisements, since they saturate every type of media, be it television, magazines, movies or the Internet. It can be very easy to overlook the perpetuation of the beauty myth in advertisements, because they are often subtle. But when looking through an educated and sensitive lens, it becomes obvious that people (I'd venture to say mostly women) are being attacked by a barrage of images and words that leave them feeling dissatisfied with themselves and their bodies.

So what is the beauty myth? Naomi Wolf says it is a societal backlash to women gaining more and more power. She cites historical examples such as the ideal of the “flapper,” a very thin woman, developing after women got the right to vote; and the ideal being Marilyn Monroe, a larger woman, when the cult of domesticity in the 1950s was strongest, and then immediately changing to Twiggy when women became more liberated in the 1960s. Wolf explains, “the more legal and material hindrances women have broken through, the more strictly and heavily and cruelly images of female beauty have come to weigh upon us.



Today's beauty myth, she says, tells a story. The story is that the idea “beauty” is universal, objective, and attainable by all women. The typical ideal portrayed by most advertisements is an image of a woman who is blonde, thin, tall, young, white, with sizable breasts. Wolf says of this mythical beauty, “women must want to embody it and men must want to possess women who embody it. … Strong men battle for beautiful women, and beautiful women are more reproductively successful. … None of this is true.” Yet it is still maintained in our society.

The relationship between popular culture and body image is a complicated one. The myth is constantly played out on television, in magazines' ads and editorial content (which is often influenced by advertisers, as they essentially keep magazines in business), and in film. Women across the country internalize the images they see in the media and compare themselves to those images. When it's not a match, insecurities arise. Thus we observe the overwhelming rates of eating disorders in our country which, when juxtaposed against the high obesity rate, creates a very intriguing picture of body image in the United States. What is going on here?

A good example of the beauty myth in pop culture is the show “Friends.” I really like this show, as do a lot of people. It's funny and clever and it has a very basic cultural root: everyone can relate to having a close-knit group of friends with whom they share everything. But the characters on the show are all just perfect-looking.




The female characters in “Friends” are thin and busty, with long pretty hair. Two of them are blonde. Monica was fat in high school, and they all tease her about it from time to time in a “Thank God you're skinny now!” kind of way. The men also fit into a mold of male beauty; they are all tall, thin, dark-haired, with distinctive facial features. Because the characters were relatively “normal” – that is, unglamorous and relatable with actual problems and insecurities – they were seen as what the typical woman should look like.



This is a bothersome ad that I found online for the clothing company Sisley. The image shows two young women, very gaunt and heavily made-up, holding straws next to a white dress. The text underneath the Sisley name is “Fashion Junkie.” The white dress is meant to represent cocaine, and the women seem to be pretty coked-up, with their sunken eyes and emaciated appearance. Sisley seems to be a repeat offender, as a Google search for their brand name brings up a host of ads featuring women being sexually objectified in some way.

This ad is offensive because of the message it sends. In 2007, 199,262 women were arrested for drug abuse violations (from the Office of National Drug Control Policy web site). This advertisement glamorizes drug abuse and makes it look cool. These women are wearing beautiful dresses, and they fit the ideal of very thin with long hair. The demographic that this ad is targeting is young women and teenage girls who like fashion.

Additionally, the women in this ad are portrayed not as strong and independent, but as weak addicts. The word “junkie” communicates that they need their drug of choice to sustain them, be it cocaine or fashion. They are hunched over the table in a passive position, needing to get their fix. The stereotypes about women that this ad preserves are that women are weak, can't rely on only themselves (usually they need a man to help them; here, they need their drug), and silent. The women are communicating nothing but desperation. Only one of them has her eyes open, and they are sunken back into her head. These women are dolls.

Here is an example of a positive ad that I found. It's for Kohl's department store, New Balance shoes in particular.



I think this ad sends a positive message about women for several reasons. Firstly, it communicates that women do indeed play sports! These women are active instead of passive. I love the big smiles on their faces; it's really refreshing to see women in advertisements being truly happy and joyful as opposed to a typical fashion ad where women appear either grouchy or orgasmic. The woman on the left in the sports bra looks like a more normal woman that is typically portrayed in ads: her belly isn't completely flat, her arms aren't like twigs, and you can see lines on her face from smiling. Also, since she is a woman of color, it's good that her hair appears curly and more natural.

The women look like best friends who do active things together, instead of dolls that exist only to please men. I couldn't say exactly how old they look, but they seem to be older than the typical 18-22 year old models that are usually seen in fashion ads. This ad is probably targeting women who exercise, or just women in general. I think it's applicable for all ages. It's very empowering for women as well as enforcing a different kind of femininity.

There is still a long way to go when it comes to the beauty myth in advertising. We are bombarded with negative images of women, and images that reinforce the impossible ideal. But, with ads like this Kohl's one, the Dove Real Beauty Campaign, and others, change is on the horizon.

No comments:

Post a Comment