For years now the advertisement industry has been portraying the same idealized “average Joes” : in this fantasy world, females are tall and thin and males are lean and muscular, not to mention taller than the already lanky girls. This has been changing recently after this business received tons of criticism from the general population… Are we headed in the right direction with this sudden shift?
Anorexia (an eating disorder in which one restricts eating to lose weight) and orthorexia (a mental disorder characterized by an obsession with healthy eating and working out) are known to be largely encouraged by medias putting out pictures of these “perfect” models ; models who most likely happen to be underweight and appearing in highly processed (or “photoshopped”) pictures. Seeing this content is sure to have long-lasting negative psychological effects on certain more influenceable demographics, hence the impact on body image and, ultimately, appearance of eating disorders. These disorders affect both boys and girls, and everyone was getting tired of being bombarded with constant promotion of unhealthy eating or exercise habits, until…
Maybe it was because of all the criticism different companies were receiving in response to their advertisement. Maybe it was because of new studies like one from the University of Kent, which proved women ages 18-25, especially ones who considered themselves to have low self-esteem, reacted better to “average-sized” models than they did to size zero models. Nevertheless, companies have started expanding their horizons when it comes to the measurements of their models. Aerie, a section of American Eagle Outfitters, for example, launched their #AerieReal campaign. With four recognizable faces (singer-songwriter Rachel Platten, Olympic athlete Aly Raisman, body-positivity activist Iskra, and actress Yara Shahidi) modelling for the movement, it is sure to impact their younger audience in a positive way. These four women all have different body types, and representation in media is crucial in making anyone feel like they belong.
Now, this isn’t the only body-inclusive campaign put out there by a clothing brand; Calvin Klein had their “Perfectly Fit” campaign featuring Myla Dalbesio, a size 10 model. This sparked controversy when media outlets such as Elle referred to Dalbesio as a “plus-size” model. When the average woman is about a size 14 in the U.S.A., there is no way this model could be representing the “plus-size” population! Yet when looking at the models who do fit this mold, like Ashley Graham, most of them are smaller than the common woman, Graham having a 30 inch waist and the average waist size being about 37 inches. Myla Dalbesio, however, stated in interviews that she felt she wasn’t pretending to be plus-size, but in fact being who she was and representing “in-betweenies”, models too curvy to be in the “straight-size” category but not quite curvy enough to fit in with plus-size models. This is an interesting point of view, as you can’t define beauty as either being very thin or bigger and curvier; beauty exists in all colors, shapes and sizes.
Even if there is some evolution in the world of advertisement modeling when it comes to diversity, we aren’t quite there yet, with some corporations such as Victoria’s Secret still prioritizing size zero models. Hopefully, there will come a day when all types of people will be celebrated by all, and all will feel they identify with at least one person in mainstream media!
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