Victoria’s Secret Reveals the “Perfect Body”
Just when we thought we were making progress on valuing women’s realistic shapes and sizes, Victoria’s Secret jumps in to tighten the measuring tape again. The lingerie baron recently launched a marketing campaign for their “Body” line of lingerie that features the slogan “The Perfect ‘Body’.” The lacy creations are modeled by ten of the Victoria’s Secret “Angels” — thigh gabs, visible ribs, protruding collar bones, and all. Questionably-nourished models are nothing new for Victoria’s Secret; emblazoning the word PERFECT...
Read MoreChildren as Heirs to the Culture of Thin
We’ve seen the campaigns: activists calling for the end of excessive Photoshopping; retailers and advertisers pledging to represent diverse body types; and organizations of every kind promoting confidence and positive body image. So why does the culture of thin still reign? Because its unrealistic standards and harmful ideals are being imprinted on the most vulnerable among us: our children. Click here to read my article on eating disorders in children, “Today’s Lesson: Thinner Is Better” on HealthyPlace.com, America’s largest consumer mental health site. Share...
Read MorePhotoshop Used in Music Videos?
Thanks to widespread awareness campaigns, we’re getting better at spotting media fakes. We know that, because of Photoshop “enhancing effects,” the women and men we see on posters and in magazines whose physiques seem too good to be true are just that—untrue. But would we think to turn that same suspicion onto videos? Apparently, the reach of Photoshop has extended beyond still-life. Over the weekend, I caught up with a cousin whose son Evan is a successful film student in California. When I asked what Evan was doing at his current internship, my cousin told me that he was working with a...
Read MoreIt’s Not (Just) About Weight
If you know even just slightly more about eating disorders than which celebrities have been stricken by one, then you probably know that eating disorders have a myriad of causes. Society, however, tends to zero in on the obsession with weight loss, which gives the impression that eating disorders, at their core, are exclusively about the pursuit of a “thin ideal.” This assumption might come in part from a general cultural allegiance to that ideal, an allegiance that manifests in fad diets, a preponderance of film stars and models who glamorize thinness, and the overuse of Photoshop to mold...
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