“The perfect body.”
“Feel your sexiest.”
“Double your cup size.”
Lingerie companies such as Victoria’s Secret use these phrases in their ads and campaigns to convince women and teenage girls to buy their products. They make females feel like the only way they can feel sexy is by giving into the ads and buying the “body transforming” lingerie.
But what does this do to the fragile self-esteem of young girls? They are constantly shown images of too-thin models that only a small percentage of women in the United States actually look like naturally.
These images lead to young women developing eating disorders so they can obtain society’s standard of how women should look. The images are also photoshopped to get rid of the “flaws” the models have such as folds in their skin and birthmarks.
According to the National Eating Disorder Association (NEDA) 20 million women and 10 million men suffer from an eating disorder at some time in their life.
New Look clothing line in the United Kingdom surveyed 2,000 women about body image and found that “Fifteen percent of 18 to 24-year-olds surveyed, were convinced that the images of models and celebrities in advertisements, magazines and billboards accurately depict what these women look like in real life.”
“Images impact us all the time. We are bombarded with images constantly,” Dr. Michelle Filling-Brown said. “The reality is we cannot avoid these ads and images and they do influence us in some way and it is not something we are totally conscious of.”
Filling-Brown is involved with the Body Language Learning Community, Body Image Coalition and the gender and body studies major/minor.
The NEDA also reported that 69 percent of elementary age girls in the United States that read magazines reported that the pictures influenced their perception of themselves and 47 percent want to lose weight because of the pictures.
They also stated that it is estimated in the United States that 19 percent of adults and three percent of kids are on a diet at any given time. Forty-two percent of children are afraid of becoming fat.
“Ads and magazine covers have headlines about how we should lose pounds, or that we should try to be sexier for someone else rather than tell us that we are fine the way we are,” Filling-Brown said.
Over half of the population of young girls and approximately one-third of boys practice unhealthy weight management habits such as skipping meals, vomiting, taking laxatives, fasting and smoking cigarettes.
The NEDA reported that dieting causes stress, anxiety, depression and low self-esteem. Twenty to twenty-five percent of “normal dieters” progress to having eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia.
In the fall of 2014 Victoria’s Secret launched their “Perfect Body” campaign and it was not well received by the public. The ad displayed a row of seven models who all had the same thin body type.
A Change.org petition was created and requested an apology from the company and that they change their campaign. The petition had over 27,000 signatures after it was written.
The petition said, “Every day women are bombarded with advertisements aimed at making them feel insecure about their bodies in the hope that they will spend money on products that will supposedly make them happier and more beautiful.All this does is perpetuate low self-esteem among women who are made to feel that their bodies are inadequate and unattractive because they do not fit into a narrow standard of beauty. It contributes to a culture that encourages serious health problems such as negative body image and eating disorders.”
In response to this Victoria’s Secret changed their ad and it currently reads “a body for every body.”
“At times the models can make me and anyone feel self-conscious. However, it’s rather sad the horrible diets those models go through just to be a model and the labels that come with it,” sophomore graphic design major Paige Wagner said.
However there is one lingerie company that is changing the societal norm for body image standards. Aerie, the lingerie line of American Eagle Outfitters, launched their campaign #aerieReal.
In a press release that came out at the start of the campaign Jennifer Foyle, Aerie’s Chief Merchandising Officer said, “”The purpose of ‘aerie Real’ is to communicate there is no need to retouch beauty, and to give young women of all shapes and sizes the chance to discover amazing styles that work best for them. We want to help empower young women to be confident in themselves and their bodies.”
Jenny Altman, style and fitness expert, began working with the company to help them design merchandise.
“In an industry that promotes an unrealistic fantasy about women’s bodies, I have joined Aerie for an incredible campaign that celebrates the power and beauty of real women,” she said in a press release.
The company’s goal was to spark a conversation about beauty standards society. They want to celebrate all body types.
“Any ad campaign that interrupts and disrupts the blast of images that are maybe unrealistic because they are really photoshopped or images that are overly sexualized or images that communicate that whatever our body type is isn’t what is valued by society is a good thing,” Filling-Brown said.
The 2016 edition of Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue did something that shocked the world. The company put size 16 model Ashley Graham on one of their three covers.
Model Cheryl Tiegs criticized the magazine on Twitter for showcasing an “unhealthy” size for women. She then later posted an apology explaining that she just wants everyone to be healthy.
In an interview with E! News, Graham responded to the negative comments with a call to change.
“What’s great is that—the fact that she said it—it means that other women think like her. And what that means is that we really need to change the industry,” she said.“There are too many people thinking they can look at a girl my size and say that we are unhealthy. You can’t, only my doctor can!”
Body image education and learning how to absorb the constant stream of retouched ads and images is key to maintaining a healthy mindset. Beauty standards are constantly changing and the “perfect” body type varies from country to country.
“Body image is something that impacts people their entire life. So I think these conversations are important to have and it is not something that is just a women’s issue,” Filling-Brown said.
Victoria’s Secret seems to be able to get away with their overly sexual ads and slogans and high prices because of the quality of the merchandise and a loyal consumer basis.
“I go there because I like their stuff and they actually have my size in bras and they’re cute bras, not old looking, and there underwear is cute and comfortable,” sophomore major Hannah Krady said. “I shop there because their products are good. It may be expensive but they have good products. They last for a long time.”
One great way to stay body positive is to surround yourself with positive people.
“I think surrounding yourself with people who are positive is always a good thing. Surround yourself with people who bring you up rather than tear you down,” Filling-Brown said.
