We have known Barbie’s body to be impossible – a slender figure
and absurdly small waist that doesn’t leave enough room for her internal
organs, and small wrists and feet which would actually leave her crawling
around. Yet, this Mattel icon remains a standard of beauty for many young
girls, leading younger girls to self-objectify, to be conditioned to see
themselves through the gaze of media and boys; and thus leading to a whole laundry
list of problems from eating disorders to low self-worth. The team at HSB has
put together these instances of pop culture and instances are they advocating
positive body imagery or negative ones? What say you, HSB readers?
“All About That
Bass”, or “All About That Boys”?
A call-out to embrace inner beauty, positive body imagery
and self-acceptance, Meghan Trainor’s “All About That Bass” had its controversy,
with critics dismissing it as being anti-feminist. Some said it uplifted ideas
of body positivity by putting down other women, “boys they like a little more
booty to hold at night”, and some said that it reinforced the idea that women
existed for the pleasure of men.
“Bass or treble” - Memes
of fellow BFFs Karlie Kloss and Taylor Swift show that they are all treble and
no bass.
cr.thegloss.com
Cr.livememe.com
A couple of years ago, netizens jibbed at Numero’s new cover editorial starring top
model (also VS Angel) Karlie Kloss, it was, specifically, a jab at Karlie’s
ribs. Greg Kadel, photographer, wanted
to “represent Karlie as she naturally is… slender, athletic and beautiful” but Numero took it all away, airbrushing
away Kloss’s bones. People fail to see that the result of maintaining a special
job-requirement, measuring 34” - 24”- 34” at most for straight-size fashion
models, results in bones and musculature that become more visible. Looks like people
don’t like to be confronted with images that show the consequences of being
that skinny in a realistic way.
In our patriarchal society, history (read: not her-story)
has deemed that a naked female body is a huge boo-boo. There has always been
the commodification of the female form, from porn, to modelling – some might say
that it is putting the female body out for show. Some girls might even have
been at the receiving end of slut-shaming, or victim-blaming. Taking Kim K for
example, her body has been sexually objectified , with her body tied to her
worth – cheap to some when she bares it all, and expensive for the money she
racks in.
Too much emphasis on
what the female body looks like
There has been way too much emphasis on what the female body
looks like, instead of what the female body can do. Australia-based artist Wendy Fox was struck
by the diversity in female body types when watching the 2012 London Olympics,
and celebrates this diversity – the worth of the female power, her project
proves, comes in all shapes and sizes.
Cr. Cosmopolitan.au
Cr. Womensgoldmedalists.com
Love your lines
Cr.LoveYourLines
Two mothers have started an Instagram account dedicated to
celebrating stretch marks, with almost 100k followers, and saw hundreds of
women using the hashtage #LoveYourLines
to submit images of their own stretch marks, and the stories behind them.
Comments on the Instagram account have been filled with support from people,
celebrating these women who sometimes share pain from their stories, victorious
embraces of their beauty after childbirth, and the growth into womanhood.
Move away, Barbie and
Ken
While real-life Barbie doll, Valeria Lukyanova is on her way
to subsisting solely on air and light and Justin Jedlica, real- life Ken is
adding on to his over 100 plastic surgeries, the team at HSB celebrates the
beauty of all human bodies.
Says Jada Pinkett Smith of her own daughter: “Willow cut her
hair because her beauty, her value, her worth is not measured by the length of
her hair…even little girls have the right to own themselves”.
No comments:
Post a Comment