Body Positivity
I am part of a community called Your4, we get a bunch of different tasks on a weekly basis, it's exciting because I get to share my opinion on topics that usually wouldn't always come up in a discussion with my friends. It makes me think about society and also ways in which I approach certain tasks helps me gain skills of discussion and share ideas with other people. The most recent task we spoke of was body positivity. Here is my view, part of it is on the Your4 community page, this is an extended version!
Body positivity in the UK is improving, in the sense that more 'plus size' models are getting recognition, for example the dove campaign, love your own skin. However isn't that an issue in itself? that corporation specifically designed to make you feel awful about yourself so you can buy into their product to make yourself look 'better' are the same ones now telling you to be comfortable in your own skin. similarly to the Garnier 'Because You're Worth it', worth what? being made to feel insecure and given hope when the new spring collection of skin care comes out. Don't think so. They are making the assumption that anyone who is classed as plus size isn't comfortable in their own skin, which is completely false, many people are comfortable and proud of they are, it's society that we have constructed that has created this issue.
The promotion of 'plus size' is great, but why do magazines have to make a big deal that they are one of the only ones doing it, it should be done? Anyone no matter what size is beautiful in their own way and excluding that particular area of society is disgusting. However I don't believe in skinny shaming those who are slim just to make it an 'even playing field' which has been suggested by a few magazine articles. If people weren't so obsessed with how others look it wouldn't be as much of an issue, I don't believe we are born wanting to be thin, it is the force of the media and society which has contrasted that and that mind set needs to be transformed. The idea of this 'summer body' that you must have a slender figure and nice golden brown tan is not only ridiculous but gives the impression that people have to make themselves look good for the view of others, based on the assumption that in summer you wear less clothes and are more forthcoming about showing your body.
TV and Films I would say have become better at promoting all shapes and sizes and encouraging body positivity. Although if we look back to the 90's and early 2000's chick flicks we can see that there is a correlation between the skinny female who is popular and the slightly larger than a size 0 who gets bullied and told she isn't pretty. And look how it ends, yes the unpopular girl gets the boy, however doesn't this just suggest that in a normal society the popular boy wouldn't even look at the girl unless she was skinny??? TV and film are more open to body positivity than fashion, but we aren't there just yet. Fashion is another story, some of it is completely degrading and only recently in one or two maybe more have they began to include a wider variety of different sized women. Can't say I really read magazines anymore possibly on the basis of that it is a bad representation of society and every girl magazine talks about boys and the idea that boys are central to a woman’s life, what rubbish! What is even worse is that in these magazines they always have a section with celebrities on and their before and after bodies with comments like 'now we can look at her hot bod' as if anything but this idea of perfect size 0, is horrendous to look at. This then creates celebrities that get sponsored by sport/ weight loss campaigns and turns losing weight into a money making system that exploits those who don't fit the acceptable criteria. I understand being overweight is a health risk, but this is not what these magazines class as overweight, to the fashion industry a size 10 is seen as unacceptable and that is truly degrading.
We had this conversation in my politics class the other day while on the topic of feminism, it came up about body positivity for men, some boys said in the class it's because men don't care as much about image as women do, although I feel there is more to it. There is a suggestion which has been there for many years that women have to make themselves attractive for men, rather than the other way round, and although this is a backward looking idea, it can be proved by the commercials we still see today, especially perfume adverts, where the woman is making herself smell good in order to get a man. However this is also evident for males more recently I see the body image of men becoming more forced like woman as it is crossing over. For example the Lynx advert with the chocolate man, and females biting his bum, this doesn't necessarily link to body positivity but the idea of females being degraded on a sexual level, this also reinforces how it has become in a sense more equal between the sexes. Although there wasn't massive upheaval about this advert some may argue that if this was a woman in the advert the circumstances would be different.
Body positivity effects everyone and is becoming an increasing issues in male self confidence, perfume adverts, underwear adverts and even in fashion magazines, there is a page on male bodies and how they should look. I feel that they (the media and as a result society) are trying to make it even so that females possibly will carry the mindset that, we are equal now because men feel just as insecure and exposed as us. No matter if you are male of female now, society has constructed this idea of the 'perfect' or 'ideal' body which unfortunately has took control when it comes to the media, and the classroom. However this is completely wrong and an awful mindset, if men are beginning to suffer the same treatment women receive from the media and society this should make females and males unite against these stereotypes and expectations and if anything reject this whole idea.
Body Positivity
I am part of a community called Your4, we get a bunch of different tasks on a weekly basis, it's exciting because I get to share my opinion on topics that usually wouldn't always come up in a discussion with my friends. It makes me think about society and also ways in which I approach certain tasks helps me gain skills of discussion and share ideas with other people. The most recent task we spoke of was body positivity. Here is my view, part of it is on the Your4 community page, this is an extended version!
Body positivity in the UK is improving, in the sense that more 'plus size' models are getting recognition, for example the dove campaign, love your own skin. However isn't that an issue in itself? that corporation specifically designed to make you feel awful about yourself so you can buy into their product to make yourself look 'better' are the same ones now telling you to be comfortable in your own skin. similarly to the Garnier 'Because You're Worth it', worth what? being made to feel insecure and given hope when the new spring collection of skin care comes out. Don't think so. They are making the assumption that anyone who is classed as plus size isn't comfortable in their own skin, which is completely false, many people are comfortable and proud of they are, it's society that we have constructed that has created this issue.
The promotion of 'plus size' is great, but why do magazines have to make a big deal that they are one of the only ones doing it, it should be done? Anyone no matter what size is beautiful in their own way and excluding that particular area of society is disgusting. However I don't believe in skinny shaming those who are slim just to make it an 'even playing field' which has been suggested by a few magazine articles. If people weren't so obsessed with how others look it wouldn't be as much of an issue, I don't believe we are born wanting to be thin, it is the force of the media and society which has contrasted that and that mind set needs to be transformed. The idea of this 'summer body' that you must have a slender figure and nice golden brown tan is not only ridiculous but gives the impression that people have to make themselves look good for the view of others, based on the assumption that in summer you wear less clothes and are more forthcoming about showing your body.
TV and Films I would say have become better at promoting all shapes and sizes and encouraging body positivity. Although if we look back to the 90's and early 2000's chick flicks we can see that there is a correlation between the skinny female who is popular and the slightly larger than a size 0 who gets bullied and told she isn't pretty. And look how it ends, yes the unpopular girl gets the boy, however doesn't this just suggest that in a normal society the popular boy wouldn't even look at the girl unless she was skinny??? TV and film are more open to body positivity than fashion, but we aren't there just yet. Fashion is another story, some of it is completely degrading and only recently in one or two maybe more have they began to include a wider variety of different sized women. Can't say I really read magazines anymore possibly on the basis of that it is a bad representation of society and every girl magazine talks about boys and the idea that boys are central to a woman’s life, what rubbish! What is even worse is that in these magazines they always have a section with celebrities on and their before and after bodies with comments like 'now we can look at her hot bod' as if anything but this idea of perfect size 0, is horrendous to look at. This then creates celebrities that get sponsored by sport/ weight loss campaigns and turns losing weight into a money making system that exploits those who don't fit the acceptable criteria. I understand being overweight is a health risk, but this is not what these magazines class as overweight, to the fashion industry a size 10 is seen as unacceptable and that is truly degrading.
We had this conversation in my politics class the other day while on the topic of feminism, it came up about body positivity for men, some boys said in the class it's because men don't care as much about image as women do, although I feel there is more to it. There is a suggestion which has been there for many years that women have to make themselves attractive for men, rather than the other way round, and although this is a backward looking idea, it can be proved by the commercials we still see today, especially perfume adverts, where the woman is making herself smell good in order to get a man. However this is also evident for males more recently I see the body image of men becoming more forced like woman as it is crossing over. For example the Lynx advert with the chocolate man, and females biting his bum, this doesn't necessarily link to body positivity but the idea of females being degraded on a sexual level, this also reinforces how it has become in a sense more equal between the sexes. Although there wasn't massive upheaval about this advert some may argue that if this was a woman in the advert the circumstances would be different.
Body positivity effects everyone and is becoming an increasing issues in male self confidence, perfume adverts, underwear adverts and even in fashion magazines, there is a page on male bodies and how they should look. I feel that they (the media and as a result society) are trying to make it even so that females possibly will carry the mindset that, we are equal now because men feel just as insecure and exposed as us. No matter if you are male of female now, society has constructed this idea of the 'perfect' or 'ideal' body which unfortunately has took control when it comes to the media, and the classroom. However this is completely wrong and an awful mindset, if men are beginning to suffer the same treatment women receive from the media and society this should make females and males unite against these stereotypes and expectations and if anything reject this whole idea.
